"Ludlum, Robert - Rhineman Exchange" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ludlum Robert)

'I guess it was. How are you, Jack? ... Lieutenant, meet Mr. John Ryan;
formerly Major John N. M. 1. Ryan of Six Corps.'
The officer rose to his feet.
'Sit down, lieutenant,' said Ryan, shaking the young man's hand.
'Nice to meet you, sir. Thank you, sir.'
Ryan edged his way around the rows of black leather armchairs and sat down
next to the colonel in front of the glass partition. The organ music once
more swelled, matching the reintroduced sounds of the howling dogs. Several
actors and actresses crowded around two microphones, all watching a man
behind a panel in another glass booth - this one lighted - on the other
side of the studio.
'How's JaneTasked Ryan.,'And the childrenT
'She hates Washington; so does the boy. They'd rather be back in Oahu.
Cynthia loves it, though. She's eighteen, now; all those D.C. dances.'
A hand signal was given by the man in the lighted booth across the way. The
actors began their dialogue.
Ryan continued. 'How about you? "Washington" looks good on the roster
sheet.'
'I suppose it does, but nobody knows I'm there. That won't help me.'
'OhT
'G-2.'
'Yes, I gathered that.'
'You look as though you're thriving, Jack.'
Ryan smiled a little awkwardly. 'No sweat. Ten other guys in the agency
could do what I'm doing ... better. But they don't have the Point on their
r6sum6s. I'm an agency symbol, strongintegrity version. The clients sort of
fall in for muster.'
The colonel laughed. 'Horseshit. You were always good with the beady-bags.
Even the high brass used to turn the congressmen over to you.'
'You flatter me. At least I think you're flattering me.'
'Eeaagh!' The obese actress, still chewing her gum, had screeched into the
second microphone. She backed away, goosing a thin, effeminate-looking
actor who was about to speak.
'There's a lot of screaming, isn't there.' The colonel wasn't

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 really asking a question.
'And dogs barkinj and off-key organ music and a hell of a lot of groaning
and heavy breathing. "Tyne's" the most popular program we have.'
'I admit I've listened to it. The whole family has; since we've been back.'
'You wouldn't believe it if I told you who writes most of the scripts!
'What do you meanT
'A Pulitzer poet. Under another name, of course!
'That seems strange!
'Not at all. Survival. We pay. Poetry doesn't.'
'Is that why he's onr The colonel gestured with a nod of his head toward
the tall, dark-haired man who had put down the newspaper but still remained
in the comer of the studio, away from the other actors, leaning against the
white corked wall.
'Beats the hell out of me. I mean, I didn't know who he was - that is, I