"Keith Laumer - Retief !" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

Retief nodded. A man's task here was to win his way as high as possible; every stratagem was
important. He saw the blond fellow inconspicuously edge back as a hurrying referee paired off
the other four, called to him to stand by, and led the others to rings marked off on the dusty turf.
A whistle blew suddenly, and over the arena the roar of sound changed tone. The watching crowd
leaned forward as the hundreds of keyed-up gladiators laid on their lashes in frenzied effort.
Whips cracked, men howled, feet shuffled; here the crowd laughed as some clumsy fellow
sprawled, yelping; there they gasped in excitement as two surly brutes flogged each other in all-
out offense.
Retief saw the tip of one man's whip curl around his opponents' ankle, snatch him abruptly off
his feet. The other pair circled warily, rippling their lashes uncertainly. One backed over the line
unnoticing and was led away expostulating, no blow having been struck.
The number on the field dwindled away to half within moments. Only a few dogged pairs,
now bleeding from cuts, still contested the issue. A minute longer and the whistle blew as the last
was settled.
The two survivors of the group below paired off now, and as the whistle blasted again, the tall
fellow, still frowning, brought the other to the ground with a single sharp flick of the lash. Retief
looked him over. This was a man to watch.
More whistles, and a field now almost cleared; only two men left out of each original five; the
blond moved out into the circle, stared across at the other. Retief recognized him suddenly as the
fellow who had challenged him outside the gate, over the spilled fruit. So he had followed
through the arch.
***
The final whistle sounded and a hush fell over the watchers. Now the shuffle of feet could be
heard clearly, the hissing breath of the weary fighters, the creak and slap of leather.
The blond youth flipped his lash out lightly, saw it easily evaded, stepped aside from a sharp
counterblow. He feinted, reversed the direction of his cast, and caught the other high on the chest
as he dodged aside. A welt showed instantly. He saw a lightning-fast riposte on the way, sprang
back. The gauntlet came up barely in time. The lash wrapped around the gauntlet, and the young
fellow seized the leather, hauled sharply. The other stumbled forward. The blond brought his
whip across the fellow's back in a tremendous slamming blow that sent a great fragment of torn
shirt flying. Somehow the man stayed on his feet, backed off, circled. His opponent followed up,
laying down one whistling whipcrack after another, trying to drive the other over the line. He had
hurt the man with the cut across the back, and now was attempting to finish him easily.
He leaned away from a sluggish pass, and then Retief saw agony explode in his face as a
vicious cut struck home. The blond youth reeled in a drunken circle, out on his feet.
Slow to follow up, the enemy's lash crashed across the circle; the youth, steadying quickly,
slipped under it, struck at the other's stomach. The leather cannoned against the man, sent the
remainder of his shirt fluttering in a spatter of blood. With a surge of shoulder and wrist that
made the muscles creak, the blond reversed the stroke, brought the lash back in a vicious cut
aimed at the same spot. It struck, smacking with a wet explosive crack. And he struck again,
again, as the fellow tottered back, fell over the line.
The winner went limp suddenly, staring across at the man who lay in the dust, pale now,
moving feebly for a moment, then slackly still. There was a great deal of blood, and more blood.
Retief saw with sudden shock that the man was disemboweled. That boy, thought Retief, plays
for keeps.
The next two events constituting the First Day trials were undistinguished exhibitions of a
two-handed version of an old American Indian wrestling and a brief bout of fencing with blunt-
tipped weapons. Eighty men were certified for the Second Day before noon, and Retief and
Fitzraven were back in the inn room a few minutes later. "Take some time off now while I catch
up on my rest," Retief said. "Have some solid food ready when I wake." Then he retired for the