"Simon R. Green - Deathstalker Prelude 01 - Mistworld" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

fall of the vibrations where it was safe and where it was not. He slowly worked his way forward, inch by
inch, until he was sure he'd located the main pattern, and then he opened his eyes, stood up, and padded
confidently down the hallway, easily avoiding the treacherous areas.

Just like the old game, he thought dryly.Step on a crack, break your mother's back . . . And then he
frowned, remembering how long it had been since Mistport could afford to maintain paved sidewalks.
The times were not what they had been. Cat shrugged, and moved quickly on to the lower of the two
doors. The sooner this part of the job was over, the better; the same white suit that hid him in the snow
and the mists was wildly conspicuous in a dark deserted corridor.

He stopped before the closed lower door, and studied it warily. His fence had briefed him as thoroughly
as possible on the house's exterior, but hadn't been able to tell him much about the inside. The door had
to be booby-trapped in some way; it was what Cat would have done. He ran his fingers gently over the
harsh-grained wood, but couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary. He took a pencil torch from inside
his right boot and thumbed it on. Then, leaning closer, he ran his gaze over the door frame, inch by inch.
Sure enough there was a small, slightly raised button high up on the frame; a simple catch that was
released when the door opened. Cat shook his head dolefully at such a meagre testing of his talents, and
taking the steel probe from his boot, he slipped it quickly past the button to turn it off. And then Cat
frowned, and pulled back the probe. The alarm button was already in the off position; they must have
forgotten to set it before going to bed. Cat rolled his eyes heavenwards. This was becoming ridiculously
easy. He snapped off the pencil torch, put away both torch and probe, and taking a firm grip on the door
handle, slowly eased the door open. He checked quickly for backup alarms, and then peered cautiously
into the bedroom.

A sparse light filtered past the bolted shutters to show him a dim form huddled under thick blankets in
the canopied bed that took up most of the small bedroom. A few glowing coals burned redly in the
fireplace to his right, taking the chill off the air. Cat slipped into the room, closed the door behind him and
moved over to the bed, silent as the ghost he seemed. He paused briefly as the sleeper stirred and then
lay still again. Cat didn't carry any weapons; he didn't believe in them. He was a roof runner and an artist
at his craft, not some bully boy vandal or heartless thief in the night. Cat had his standards. He stood
motionless beside the bed until he was sure it was safe to move again, and then he leant forward over the
sleeping shape and reached out his hand. Judging his moment nicely, he eased his hand under the pillow
and drew out a small brass-bound casket. The bed's occupant slept on, undisturbed. Cat stepped back
from the bed, drew a small key from the pouch at his belt, and tried it cautiously in the casket's lock. The
key turned easily, and Cat grinned broadly as he pushed back the lid and the crystal in the casket blazed
light into the room.

As an Outlaw planet, Mistworld was cut off from Empire trade, and high tech was limited to what the
smugglers could bring in on their infrequent visits. A computer's memory crystal thus became far more
tempting loot than any diamond or ruby. Cat didn't know what information the crystal held, and didn't
care. His fence said she had a buyer for the jewel, and that was all that mattered. Cat reached into the
pouch at his belt and brought out a blank crystal, glowing twin to the jewel in the casket. He carefully
substituted one crystal for the other, closed the casket lid, and locked it. He dropped the key back into
his pouch, and then leaned forward and deftly replaced the casket where he'd found it. His hand had
barely left the pillow when the bedroom door suddenly flew open. Light flooded the room, and a tall
figure with a lantern filled the doorway.

Cat pulled the blankets from the bed and with one desperate heave threw them over the newcomer's
head. The bed's occupant sat up sharply, pulling a silk nightdress about her, and Cat paused to drop her
an appreciative wink. The newcomer struggled furiously on the floor, helplessly entangled in the