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

the Code you'd know a gentleman doesn't soil his hands with penny-grubbing, and that the
Emperor's highroad belongs to the mounted knight. So clear your rubbish out of my path, if you'd
save it."
"Climb down off that nag," shouted the tall young man, reaching for the bridle. "I'll show you
some practical knowledge of the Code. I challenge you to stand and defend yourself."
In an instant the thick barrel of an antique Imperial Guards power gun was in the gray-haired
man's hand. He leaned negligently on the high pommel of his saddle with his left elbow, the
pistol laid across his forearm pointing unwaveringly at the man before him.
The hard old face smiled grimly. "I don't soil my hands in street brawling with new-hatched
nobodies," he said. He nodded toward the arch spanning the street ahead. "Follow me through the
arch, if you call yourself a man and a Cavalier." He moved on then; no one hindered him. He
rode in silence through the crowd, pulled up at the gate barring the street. This would be the first
real test of his cover identity. The papers which had gotten him through Customs and
Immigration at Fragonard Spaceport the day before had been burned along with the civilian
clothes. From here on he'd be getting by on the uniform and a cast-iron nerve.
A purse-mouthed fellow wearing the uniform of a Lieutenant-Ensign in the Household Escort
Regiment looked him over, squinted his eyes, smiled sourly.
"What can I do for you, Uncle?" He spoke carelessly, leaning against the engraved buttress
mounting the wrought-iron gate. Yellow and green sunlight filtered down through the leaves of
the giant linden trees bordering the cobbled street.
The gray-haired man stared down at him. "The first thing you can do, Lieutenant-Ensign," he
said in a voice of cold steel, "is come to a position of attention."
The thin man straightened, frowning. "What's that?" His expression hardened. "Get down off
that beast and let's have a look at your papersтАФif you've got any."
The mounted man didn't move. "I'm making allowances for the fact that your regiment is
made up of idlers who've never learned to solider," he said quietly. "But having had your
attention called to it, even you should recognize the insignia of a Battle Commander."
The officer stared, glancing over the drab figure of the old man. Then he saw the tarnished
gold thread worked into the design of a dragon rampant, almost invisible against the faded color
of the heavy velvet cape.
He licked his lips, cleared his throat, hesitated. What in the name of the Tormented One
would a top-ranking battle officer be doing on this thin old horse, dressed in plain worn clothing?
"Let me see your papersтАФCommander," he said.
The Commander flipped back the cape to expose the ornate butt of the power pistol.
"Here are my credentials," he said. "Open the gate."
"Here," the Ensign spluttered. "What's this . . ."
"For a man who's taken the Emperor's commission," the old man said, "you're criminally
ignorant of the courtesies due a general officer. Open the gate or I'll blow it open. You'll not deny
the way to an Imperial battle officer." He drew the pistol.
The Ensign gulped, thought fleetingly of sounding the alarm signal, of insisting on seeing
papers . . . then as the pistol came up, he closed the switch, and the gate swung open. The heavy
hooves of the gaunt horse clattered past him; he caught a glimpse of a small brand on the lean
flank. Then he was staring after the retreating back of the terrible old man. Battle Commander
indeed! The old fool was wearing a fortune in valuable antiques, and the animal bore the brand of
a thoroughbred battle-horse. He'd better report this. . . . He picked up the communicator, as a tall
young man with an angry face came up to the gate.
***
Retief rode slowly down the narrow street lined with the stalls of suttlers, metalsmiths,
weapons technicians, free-lance squires. The first obstacle was behind him. He hadn't played it
very suavely, but he had been in no mood for bandying words. He had been angry ever since he