"Frank Herbert - Tactful Saboteur" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

The Tactful Saboteur
Frank Herbert, 1965




Chapter I

'Better men than you have tried!' snarled Clinton Watt.
'I quote paragraph four, section ninety-one of the Semantic Revision to the Constitution,'
said saboteur extraordinary Jorj X. McKie. ''The need for obstructive processes in government
having been established as one of the chief safeguards for human rights, the question of
immunities must be defined with extreme precision.''
McKie sat across a glistening desk from the Intergalactic Government's Secretary of
Sabotage, Clinton Watt. An air of tension filled the green-walled office, carrying over into the
screen-view behind Watt which showed an expanse of the System Government's compound
and people scurrying about their morning business with a sense of urgency.
Watt, a small man who appeared to crackle with suppressed energy, passed a hand across
his shaven head. 'All right,' he said in a suddenly tired voice. 'This is the only Secretariat of
government that's never immune from sabotage. You've satisfied the legalities by quoting the
law. Now, do your damnedest!'
McKie, whose bulk and fat features usually gave him the appearance of a grandfatherly
toad, glowered like a gnome-dragon. His mane of red hair appeared to dance with inner flame.
'Damnedest!' he snapped. 'You think I came in here to try to unseat you? You think that?'
And McKie thought: Let's hope he thinks that!
'Stop the act, McKie!' Watt said. 'We both know you're eligible for this chair.' He patted the
arm of his chair. 'And we both know the only way you can eliminate me and qualify yourself for
the appointment is to overcome me with a masterful sabotage. Well, McKie, I've sat here more
than eighteen years. Another five months and it'll be a new record. Do your damnedest. I'm
waiting.'
'I came in here for only one reason,' McKie said. 'I want to report on the search for
saboteur extraordinary Napoleon Bildoon.'
McKie sat back wondering: If Watt knew my real purpose here would he act just this way?
Perhaps. The man had been behaving oddly since the start of this interview, but it was
difficult to determine real motive when dealing with a fellow member of the Bureau of
Sabotage.


Cautious interest quickened Watt's bony face. He wet his lips with his tongue and it was
obvious he was asking himself if this were more of an elaborate ruse. But McKie had been
assigned the task of searching for the missing agent, Bildoon, and it was just possible ...
'Have you found him?' Watt asked.
I'm not sure,' McKie said. He ran his fingers through his red hair. 'Bildoon's a Pan-Spechi,
you know.'
'For disruption's sake!' Watt exploded. 'I know who and what my own agents are! But we
take care of our own. And when one of our best people just drops from sight ... What's this
about not being sure?'
'The Pan-Spechi are a curious race of creatures,' McKie said. 'Just because they've taken
on humanoid shape we tend to forget their five-phase life cycle.'
'Bildoon told me himself he'd hold his group's ego at least another ten years,' Watt said. 'I