"Murray Leinster - The Pirates of Zan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Leinster Murray)

He grimaced again and swerved to the building where the landing-grid controls must be. He opened the door and
went in. The interior was smoky and vile-smelling, but the equip-
merit was wholly familiar. Two unshaven men in violently colored shirts, languidly played cards. Only one, a redhead,
paid attention to the controls of the landing-grid. He watched dials. As Hoddan pushed his way in, he threw a switch
and yawned. The ship was five diameters out from Darth, and he'd released it from the landing-grid fields. He turned
and saw Hoddan.
"What the hell do you want?" he demanded sharply.
"A few kilowatts," said Hoddan. The redhead's manner was not amiable.
"Get outta here!" he barked.
The transformers and snaky cables leading to relays out-sideтАФall were clear as print to Hoddan. He moved
con-fidently toward an especially understandable panel, pulling out his stun-pistol and briskly breaking back the butt
for charging. He shoved the pistol butt to contact with two ter-minals devised for another purpose, and the pistol
slipped for an instant and a blue spark flared.
"Quit that!" roared the man. The unshaven men pushed back from their game of cards. One of them stood up,
smiling unpleasantly.
The stun-pistol clicked. Hoddan withdrew it from charging-contact,, flipped the butt shut, and turned toward the
three men. Two of them charged him suddenlyтАФthe redhead and the unpleasant smiler.
The stun-pistol hummed. The redhead howled. He'd been hit in the hand. His unshaven companion buckled in the
middle and fell to the floor. The third man backed away in panic, automatically raising his arms in surrender.
Hoddan saw no need for further action. He nodded graci-ously and went out of the control building, swinging the
recharged pistol in his hand. In the warehouse, argument still raged over his possessions. He went in. Nobody looked
at him. The casual appropriation of unguarded property was apparently a social norm, here. The man in the purple
cloak was insisting furiously that he was a Darthian gentle-man and he'd have his shareтАФor else!
"Those things," said Hoddan, "are mine. Put them back."
Faces turned to him, expressing shocked surprise. A man
in dirty yellow pants stood up with a suit of Hoddan's under-wear and a pair of -shoes. He moved to depart with great
dignity.
The stun-pistol buzzed. He leaped and howled and fled.
There was a concerted gasp of outrage. Men leaped to their feet. Large knives came out of elaborate holsters.
Figures in all die colors of the rainbowтАФall badly soiled-roared their indignation and charged at Hoddan. They waved
knives as they came.
He held down the stun-pistol trigger and traversed the rushing men. The whining buzz of the weapon was
inaudible, at first, but before he released the trigger it was plainly to be heard. Then there was silence. His attackers
formed a very untidy heap on the floor. They breathed stertorously. Hoddan began to retrieve his possessions. He
rolled a man over, for this purpose; a pair of very blue, apprehensive eyes stared at him. Their owner had stumbled
over one man and been stumbled over by others. He gazed up at Hoddan, speechless.
"Hand me that, please," said Hoddan. He pointed.
The man in the purple cloak obeyed, shaking. Hoddan completed the recovery of all his belongings. He turned. The
man in the purple cloak winced and closed his eyes.
"Hm," said Hoddan. He needed information. He spoke to the man: "I have a letter of introduction to one Don Loris.
Would you have any idea how I could reach him?"
The man in the purple cloak gaped at Hoddan.
"He is . . . is my chieftian," he said, aghast. "IтАФam Thai, his most trusted retainer. "Then he practically wailed.
"You must be the man I was sent to meet! He sent me to learn if you came on the ship! I should have fought by your
side! This is disgrace!"
"It's disgraceful," agreed Hoddan grimly. But he, who had been born and raised in a space-pirate community, was
not too critical of others.. "Let it go. How do I find him?"
"I should take you!" complained Thai bitterly. "But you have killed all these men. Their friends and chieftians are
honor bound to cut your throat! And you shot Merk, but he ran away, and he will be summoning his friends to come
and kill you now! This is shame!" Then he said hopefully, "Your strange weapon . . . how many men can you fight? If