"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 15 - The Towers of Melnon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

Blade took a deep breath, and gradually felt himself return to normal. He didn't like getting the wind
up this way, but he was used to it now. He'd be a cast-iron bloody fool if he liked being fired off into
Dimension X, that was certain. He turned his attention back to the discussion between Leighton and J.
It was a discussion now bordering on an argument. In fact, somebody who didn't know the two men
involved would have said they were both working themselves into a foul temper. Blade knew them both
too well to believe that. Neither of them would ever give up an argument without stating his position
clearly and at length, and neither would push an argument beyond that point. Once each knew where the
other stood, they would settle down to hammer out a compromise. Project Dimension X, and what it
might do forEngland , was too important for anything else. So Blade listened, and tried to keep an
amused smile off his face as he did so.
"Now damn it, Leighton," J was saying, "anyone would think you didn't want us to come up with
more people besides Richard."
"That's nonsense and you know it perfectly well," retorted the scientist. "It's just that I can't see
delaying a mission that's all ready to go so Richard can do a simple consultant's job."
"Why not? Particularly when he's the only one who can do this job?"
"If you're going to insist on bringing the Project to a standstill every time you develop some new
notionтАФ"
"You're certainly the last person to talk about new notions. What was the bill for your last proposed
sub-Project?"
To that Leighton could not come up with a quick reply. He glowered in mock fury at J, then painfully
levered himself up out of his chair. On his polio-twisted legs he walked with surprising speed twice
around the table. His hunchback was visible under a tweed coat old enough to have been worn at
QueenVictoria 's funeral. Then he sat back down, fixed J with a penetrating stare from those large and
surprisingly alive eyes, and grinned.
"A point well taken, J. NowтАФhow long is this really going to take, with Richard?"
J was about to speak when Blade broke in. "It seems to me there's no need at all to delay the
mission. If the estate is as run-down as J says, I imagine it would be wise to get a surveyor and an
architect to give it a thorough going-over. Otherwise we might wind up putting in a new office one day
and then having the whole thing drop through the floor the next. That would be rather embarrassing. And
of course you'll be wanting to set up full security arrangements before you even start surveying. All this
will take time. And in the meantime I can head out to Dimension X and be backтАФ"
"In time for tea?" interrupted Leighton with a grin. "Quite so, quite so. Well, J?"
J nodded. "It seems reasonable enough, if it's all right with Richard. And if there's anyтАФdelayтАФin
getting you back, we can go ahead with some of the planning anyway."
It was obvious to Blade that J was simply trying to remind Leighton that Blade was not his property,
to be sent hither and thither like a case of canned asparagus. Blade appreciated J's efforts, but he
couldn't see the point of them.
All his debriefings after Dimension X missions were down on tape where any trainer or psychologist
could settle down with a beer and play them to his heart's content. And he didn't want to spend days or
weeks waiting around for "consultation" with a Dimension X mission hanging over his head. He wanted to
go down into the complex, into the computer, and into Dimension X as quickly as possible.
He did just that the next afternoon. The preliminary routine was the same as it had been fourteen
times before. In fact, the preliminary routine was threatening to become a crashing bore. But not even
Lord Leighton knew that much about Dimension X or the processes that would put Blade there. Not
even Lord Leighton could say for certain if leaving out any of the procedures would help or hinder. So
Blade and the scientist went through the same old routine with the conscientious care of fighter pilots
doing preflight checks on their planes.
Blade goes into the changing boothтАФcheck.
Blade strips himself nakedтАФcheck.
Blade smears foul-smelling black grease all over his body, to prevent electrical burnsтАФcheck.