"Laumer, Keith - Retief of the COTUC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

open and aboveboard, so help me."

"Sorry," Retief said. He withdrew the ar-
row from the loam, fitted it to the bow exper-
imentally.

"You're not by chance a member of Hoobrik's
band, are you?" he inquired offhandedly.

"Too right it's not by chance," the Tsugg
said emphatically. "I went through the Or-
deal, same's the other lads."

"Lucky we met," Retief said. "I'm on my
way to pay a call on His Truculence. Can you

lead me to him?"
The Tsugg straightened his 290-pound bulk.

RETIEF OF THE CDT 31

"Tell yer crony to do his worst," he said with
a small break in his voice. "Fim Gloob's not
the Tsugg to play the treacher."

"It wasn't exactly treachery I had in mind,"
Retief demurred. "Just ordinary diplomacy."

"Yer threats will avail ye naught," Fim Gloob
declared.

"I see what you mean," Retief said. "Still,
there should be some way of working this out."

"No outsider goes to the camp of Hoobrik
but as a prisoner." The Tsugg rolled his shiny
black eyes at the Terran. "Ah, sirЧwould ye
mind asking yer sidekick not to poke so hard?
I fear me he'll rip me weskit, stole for me by
me aged mums it were, a rare keepsake."

"Prisoner, eh, Fim? By the way, I don't have
a sidekick."

"That being the way of it," Fim Gloob said
carefully, after a short, thoughtful pause,
"who'd be the villain holding the blade to me
kip glands?"

"As far as I know," Retief said candidly,