"Ron Goulart - The Panchronicon Plot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goulart Ron)

to a table which would give him a view of the beach. There were a dozen or so other customers
scattered around, including a black man in a 1-piece lycra running suit who was sharing his
breakfast with his pet squirrel.
She saw Geer anyway. He could feel the recognition on the back of his neck. Nevertheless he
sat down, began fiddling with the menu dial. "Mother of mercy, what kind of yoohoo food do they
serve here? Carrot cakes? Squash toast? Pumpkin danish?"
"Go away."
Geer hunched, then turned to face the dark girl. "I have to talk to him."
"No, you don't. Jake doesn't work for you anymore, he's not a WTD agent anymore."
"Ah, now technically he is, Mrs. Conger," said Geer. "He's been on Temporary Retirement Pay
ever since that Sandman fiasco lastтАФ"
"I suppose you do consider it a fiasco," said Angelica Conger. "Since Jake decided to save my
life rather thanтАФ"
"I personally don't think it a fiasco, no," protested Geer. "I'm merely passing along the feelings
of some of the people at the United States Remedial Functions Agency. After all, like it or nay,
RFA can still tell the Wild Talent Division what to do. You don't realize how I had to romance
those RFA yoohoos to get Jake those checks."
"Yes, we appreciate that," said Angelica, sitting opposite the WTD boss. "We put most of the
money into our restaurant-market operation here. But, Mr. Geer, Jake doesn'tтАФ"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't make too much of my name. This visit isn't exactly clandestine,
but there's no need toтАФ"
"All right, okay. We appreciate what you did. Could you leave now before Jake gets back?"
2 RON GOULART


"Where is he?" Geer looked around anxiously.
"Jake doesn't get a chance to jog until this hour most mornings," explained Jake Conger's wife.
"This is one of the quiet spots in our day."
Geer hunched further in on himself. "I have to see him," he said, almost whispering. "It's vital,
urgent, important to the fate of the nation."
The dark girl eyed him. "You almost sound as though you want Jake to work for the Wild
Talent Division again."
"I do," said Geer. "I do."
Angelica shook her head. "I don't want him to."
"Jake hasn't changed that much in a year. He's not the kind of yoohoo who'd let his wife make
his decisions."
Sighing, she said, "No, you're right. Walk down our neowood ramp to the beach. You should be
able to see him jogging from there."
Geer pushed back his chair. "Thanks."
Angelica caught his gnarled hand. "This is something that might get Jake killed, isn't it?"
Geer said, "Yes."


"No," said Jake Conger.
"Listen awhile before you go refusing."
Conger, a lean tan man of thirty-two, was sitting on a huge black boulder, frowning down at his
ex-boss. "You saw the Vegetable Patch, saw Angelica," he said. "Don't go asking me toтАФ"
"Jake, you know I'm not the kind of yoohoo who bullshits his agents."
"No, that's true. I also know I'm no longer your agent." He wiped perspiration from his forehead
with a plyotowel.