"Charles L. Harness-Stalemate in Space" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harness Charles L)

Tharn. The gun was lowered, and the man was circling to creep up behind her. He did not bother to
notify his men. He wanted her first. He had seen her uniform, but that deterred him not a whit.
Afterwards, he would call up the squad. Finally, they would kill her and move on. Women auxiliaries had
no business here, anyway.
Hips dipping, Evelyn sauntered into the shattered copse. The man moved faster, though still trying to
approach quietly. Most of the radions in the mile-high ceiling had been destroyed, and the light was poor.
He was not surprised when he lost track of his quarry. He tip-toed rapidly onward, picking his way
through the charred and fallen branches, thinking that she must turn up again soon. He had not gone
twenty yards in this manner when a howl of unbearable fury sounded in his mind, and the dull light in his
brain went out.
Breathing deeply from her mental effort, the woman stepped from behind a great black tree trunk and
hurried to the unconscious man. For I.Q.'s of 100 and less, telepathic cortical paralysis was quite
effective. With cool efficiency and no trace of distaste she stripped the odorous uniform from the man,
then took his weapon, turned the beam power down very low, and needled a neat slash across his throat.
While he bled to death, she slipped deftly into the baggy suit, clasped the beam gun by the handle, and
started up the sooty slope. For a time, at least, it would be safer to pass as a Tharn soldier than as any
kind of a woman.
***


Two

* * *


The Inquisitor leaned forward, frowning at the girl before him.
"Name?"
"Evelyn Kane."
The eyes of the inquisitor widened. "So you admit to a Terran name. Well, Terran, you are charged
with having stolen passage on a supply lorry, and you also seem to be wearing the uniform of an infantry
corporal as well as that of a Scythian woman auxiliary. Incidentally, where is the corporal? Did you kill
him?"
He was prepared for a last-ditch denial. He would cut it short, have the guards remove her, and
execution would follow immediately. In a way, it was unfortunate. The woman was obviously of a high
Terran class. No-- he couldn't consider that. His slender means couldn't afford another woman in his
quarters, and besides, he wouldn't feel safe with this cool murderess.
"Do you not understand the master tongue? Why did you kill the corporal?" He leaned impatiently
over his desk.
The woman stared frankly back at him with her clear blue eyes. The guards on either side of her dug
their nails into her arms, as was their custom with recalcitrant prisoners, but she took no notice.
She had analyzed the minds of the three men. She could handle the inquisitor alone or the two guards
alone, but not all three.
"If you aren't afraid of me, perhaps you'd be so kind as to send the guards out for a few minutes," she
said, placing a hand on her hip. "I have interesting information."
So that was it. Buy her freedom by betraying fugitive Terrans. Well, he could take the information and
then kill her. He nodded curtly to the guards, and they walked out of the hut, exchanging sly winks with
one another.
Evelyn Kane crossed her arms across her chest and felt her broken rib gingerly. The inquisitor stared
up at her in sadistic admiration. He would certainly be on hand for the execution. His anticipation was cut
short with a horrible realization. Under the paralyzing force of a mind greater than his own, he reached