"Keith Laumer - Galactic Odyssey" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

with a red glass thermometer on the side; and there were a few big elephant guns of Earth
manufacture. The whole room glittered like TiffanyтАЩs front window. I ran a finger along a stock
made of polished purple wood, with fittings that looked like solid gold. тАЬIt looks like Mister
Desroy goes first class.тАЭ
тАЬKeep your hands off the weapons until you know how to service them.тАЭ Sir Orfeo poked
buttons and a table tilted up out of the floor and a section of ceiling over it glared up brighter than
before. He flipped a switch and the lock-bar on a rack snapped up, and he lifted out a heavy -
looking, black-stocked item with a drum magazine and three triggers and a flared shoulder plate,
chrome-plated.
тАЬThis is a Z-gun,тАЭ he said. тАЬItтАЩs a handy all-round piece, packs 0.8 megaton/seconds of
firepower, weight four pounds three ounces.тАЭ He snapped a switch on the side back and forth a
couple of times and handed the gun across to me.
тАЬWhatтАЩs a megaton/second?тАЭ I asked him.
тАЬEnough power to vaporize the yacht if it were released at one burst. At full gain the Z-gun will
punch a three-millimeter hole through an inch of flint steel at a range of five miles with a five
millisecond burst.тАЭ He went on to tell me a lot more about Z-guns, crater -rifles, infinite repeaters,
filament pistols.
At the end of it I didnтАЩt know much more about the weapons Lord Desroy would be using on his
hunt, but I was feeling sorry for whatever it was he was after.


3
Sir Orfeo took me back to the little room IтАЩd waked up in, showed me how to work a gadget that
delivered a little can of pink oatmeal, ste aming hot. I sniffed it; it smelled like seaweed. I tasted it.
It was flat and insipid, like papier-m├вch├й.
тАЬSir Orfeo, I hate to complain about a free gift,тАЭ I said. тАЬBut are you sure this was meant for a
man to eat?тАЭ
тАЬJongo wasnтАЩt a man.тАЭ
I kind of goggled at him. тАЬWhat was he?тАЭ
тАЬA Lithian. Very good boy, Jongo. With me for a long time.тАЭ He glanced around the room.
тАЬDamned if it doesnтАЩt give me a touch of something-or-other to see you in his kennel.тАЭ
тАЬKennel?тАЭ
тАЬNest, pitch, call it cabin if you like.тАЭ Sir Orfeo beetled a fine eyebrow at me. тАЬDonтАЩt be putting
on airs, Billy Danger. IтАЩve no patience with it.тАЭ
He left me there to dine in solitude. Afterward, he gave me a tour of the ship. He was showing
me a fancy leather-and-inlay lounge when Lord Desroy came in.
тАЬAh, there you are, Desroy,тАЭ Orfeo said in a breezy way. тАЬJust occurred to me you might like to
have Jongo тАФah, Billy Danger, that isтАФdo a bit of a dust-up here in the loungeтАФтАЭ
тАЬHow now? Hast lost thy wits, Orfeo? Hie the mooncalf hence iтАЩ the instant!тАЭ
тАЬSteady on, Desroy. Just thought IтАЩd askтАФтАЭ
тАЬIтАЩve a whim to chide the varlet for his impertinence!тАЭ the big boss barked and took a step
toward me. Orfeo pushed me behind him.
тАЬDonтАЩt blame the boy. My doing, you know,тАЭ he said in a nice cool tone.
тАЬThy role of advocate for this scurvy patch would want credit, anтАЩ I stood not witness onтАЩt!тАЭ
We went on down the stairs. Instead of looking mad, Sir Orfeo was smiling and humming
between his teeth. He dropped the smile when he saw me looking at him.
тАЬI advise y ou to stay out of Lord DesroyтАЩs way, Jongo. For now, heтАЩs willing to humor me along;
I have a carefully nurtured reputation for temperament, you see. If I get upset, the game might
turn out to be scarce. But if you ruffle his feathers by being underfoot, he might act hastily.тАЭ
 тАЬHe has a strange way of talking,тАЭ I said. тАЬWhat kind of accent is that?тАЭ