"C M Kornbluth - Make Mine Mars UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

Хbenever we went into overdrive to break through the speed лf light. The Greenhough EffectЧknown to readers of the

Хoence features as "supertime"Чscared hell out of them. On

Хr&nary rocket drive, they just groaned and whimpered to mcb other the yak equivalent of "Thibet was never like this!" The Frostbite spaceport wasn't like the South Pole, but it ^ХB like Greenland, There was a bunch of farmers waiting lor their yaks, beating their mittened hands together and ex-

ХХ*л"Х long plumes of vapor. The collector of customs,

a rat-faced city boy, didn't have the decency to tarn them over and let the hayseeds get back to the administration building. I watched through a porthole and saw him stalling and dawdling over a sheaf of papers for each of the farmers. Oddly enough, the stalling and dawdling stopped as soon as the farmers caught on and passed over a few dollars. Nobody even bothered to slip it shamefac' fly from one hand to another. They just hanc.t-J.it over, not caring who sawЧRat-Face sneering, the farmers dumbly accepting the racket.

My turn came. Rat-Face came aboard and we were introduced by the chief engineer. "Harya," he said. "Twenny bucks."

"What forr

"Landing permit. Later at the administration you can pay your visitor's permit. That's twenny, bucks too."

"I'm not a visitor. I'm coming here to work."

"Work, schmurk. So you'll need a work permitЧtwenny bucks." His eyes wandered. "Whaddaya got there?"

"Ethertype parts. May need them for replacements."

He was on his knees hi front of the box, crooning, "Triple ad valorem plus twenny dollars security bond for each part plus twenny dollars inspection fee plus twenny dollars for decontamination plus twenny dollars for failure to declare plusЧ"

"Break it up, Joe," said a new arrivalЧa grey-mustached little man, lost in his parka. "He's a friend of mine. Extend the courtesies of the port."

Rat-FaceЧJoeЧdidn't like it, but he took it. He muttered about doing his duty and gave me a card.

"Twenny bucks?" I asked, studying it.

"Nab," he said angrily. "You're free-loading." He got out

"Looks as if you saved ISN some money," I said to the little man. He threw back the hood of his parka in the relative warmth of the ship.

"Why not? We'll be working together. I'm Chenery from the Phoenix."

"Oh, yeahЧthe client"

"That's right," he agreed, grinning. "The client What exactly did you do to get banished to Frostbite?"

Since there was probably a spacemail aboard from Mc-Gillicuddy telling him exactly what I did, I told him. "Chief thought I was generally shiftless."

"You'll do here," he said. "It's a shiftless, easy-going kind

of place. I have the key to your bureau. Want me to lead the way?"

"What about my baggage?"

Tour stuffs safe. Port officers won't loot it when they know you're a friend of the Phoenix."