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

The room stank of disinfectants and unwashed alienity тАФthe familiar reek of the old-time police station
greatly diversified. The Young Captain felt the sweat trickling down his flushed forehead. He opened
wide the louver behind him and the hum of the satelliteтАЩs central con-course poured in. It didnтАЩt help the
atmosphere, but for a moment he felt less .constricted.

Then he scanned the four faces once more and the dead-line desperation was back upon him. Pick a
number, he thought, any number from one to two thousand. Grab a face. Trust to luck. SeanтАЩs a
stubborn old fool, but the boys always said he had the damnedest luck. . .

His finger stabbed out. тАЬIn the nexus of these assembled

minds,тАЭ he said loudly, тАЬI publish the truth I share with

yours, FaтАФтАЬ

, That was all he had time to get out. At his first move-ment, the Rigelian sprang up, whipped off his
head and buried it straight toward the centre of the open louver.

But if the Young Captain had been unready for thought, he was more than keyed up for action. He
snagged the head as it shot past, though he fell off his chair in doing it. The teeth snapped once, futilely.
Then a tiny voice from the head spoke the words heтАЩd been praying for;

тАЬLet the truth that our minds share be published forth, But first, please, take me back to my breath
source . . .тАЭ

Next day, the Old Lieutenant and the Young Captain talked it all over.

тАЬSo you didnтАЩt nab FaтАЩs accomplices in the concourse?тАЭ the Old Lieutenant asked.

тАЬNo, Sean, they got clean awayтАФas they very likely would have, with FaтАЩs head, if theyтАЩd managed to
lay their hands on it, Fa wouldnтАЩt rat on them.тАЭ

тАЬBut otherwise our fancy-boy killer confessed in full? Told the whole story, named his employers, and
provided the .necessary evidence to nail them and himself once and for all?тАЭ

тАЬHe did indeed. When one of those telepath characters does talk, itтАЩs a positive pleasure to hear him. He
makes it artistic, like an oration from Shakespeare. But now, sir, I want to ask the question you said you
didnтАЩt have time to answer yesterdayтАФthough 111 admit IтАЩm asking it with a little different meaning than
when I asked it first.

You gave me a. big shock then and 111 admit that IтАЩd

Sever have gone along and followed your advice blind the

way I did, except that I had nothing else to go on, and
I was impressed with that Bible quotation you had so pat

until you told me it didnтАЩt mean what it seemed to!