"Fritz Leiber - The Number of the Beast" - читать интересную книгу автора (Leiber Fritz)

THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

Fritz Leiber




тАЬI wish,тАЭ said the Young Captain, police chief of High Chicago, the turbulent satellite that hangs over the
merid-ian of the mid-western groundside city, тАЬI wish that some-times the telepathic races of the Galaxy
werenтАЩt such consistent truth-tellers and silence-keepers.тАЭ

тАЬYour four suspects are all telepaths?тАЭ the- Old Lieu-tenant asked.

тАЬYes. I also wish I had more than half an how to decide which one to accuse; But Earth-side has
muscled into the case and the pressure is on. If I canтАЩt reason it out, I must make a guess. A bare
half-hour they give me.тАЭ

тАЬThen perhaps you shouldnтАЩt waste it with a pensioned-off old louey.тАЭ

The Young Captain shook his head decisively. тАЬNo. You think. You have time to now.тАЭ

The Old Lieutenant smiled. тАЬSometimes I wish I hadnтАЩt.

And I doubt if I can give you any special angles on tele-

paths, Jim. ItтАЩs true IтАЩve lately been whiling away the

time on informal study of alien thought systems with

Khla-Khla the Martian, butтАФтАЬ

тАЬI didnтАЩt come to you looking for a specialist on tele-pathy,тАЭ the Young Captain asserted sharply.

тАЬVery well then, Jim. You know what youтАЩre doings LetтАЩs hear your case. And give me background. I
donтАЩt keep up with the news.тАЩ

The Young Captain looked skeptical. тАЬEveryone in High Chicago has heard about the murderтАФnot two
furlongs from hereтАФof the representative of the Arcturian peace party.тАЩ

тАЬI havenтАЩt,тАЭ the Old Lieutenant said. тАЬWho are the Arcturians? I tell you, for an oldster like me, the Now
is just one more historical period. Better consult someone else, Jim.тАЭ

тАЬNo. The Arcturians are the first non-related humanoid race to turn up in the Galaxy. Non-related to
Earth humans, that is. True, they have three eyes, and six fin-gers on each hand, but they are hairless
mammalian bipeds just the same. One of their females is the current burlesque sensation of the Star and
Garter.тАЭ

тАЬThe police found that a good spot to keep their eyes on in my day too,тАЭ the Old Lieutenant recalled,
nodding. тАЬAre the Arcturians telepaths?тАЭ