"Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - Oath of Fealty" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

Vito Hamilton Captain, Todos Santos Security
Vincent Thompson Subway mugger

Prologue:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of e~iI is for good
men to do nothing.
-Edmund Burke







THE INVADERS

Elsewhere in Los Angeles it was late afternoon, but here was only twilight. The three invaders peering out of the orange grove were deep in shadow. The sky blazed behind them and sent chinks of blue-white light through the trees to make the shadows darker.
There was a fresh smell of fertilizers and crushed orange peel carried on the warm Santa Mia wind.
Close ahead the eastern face of Todos Santos was a black wall across the world. Thousands of balconies and windows in neat array showed in this light as no more than a faceless void seen through gray leaves, a sharp-edged black rectangle blotting Out the sky.
The invaders blinked as they searched through uncertain light, and froze at the thunder of wings above. Nobody was about. They had watched the grounds tenders leave. They had seen no guards.
"There." The girl pointed. Her voice was no louder than the leaves' rustle in the wind. "There."
The two boys stared until they made out a square outline, barely visible, at the base of the towering wail. It seemed about man-sized. "The big door," she said. "We're still a good way away. It doesn't look it, but that door is thirty feet high. The little one is to the left of it."
"I can't find it," said one of the boys. He giggled suddenly, and stopped as suddenly. He said, "Nervous? Me?"
The other boy was lean and sketchily bearded, and he carried a black case on a strap. He stared at tiny lights set on its top, then said, "Run for the big door until you see the little one. On the count. Three, two, one, go."
He ran holding the case in front of himself to cushion against shock. The others lagged behind. They were carrying a much larger box between them. The leader was already taking things Out of the case when they came puffing up.
"This lousy light," he panted.
"Bad for the guards, too," said the girl. "It's late afternoon everywhere but here. At night they'd know they couldn't see. They'd be watching harder."
The other boy grinned. "We'll give 'em a hell of a shock." There was a sign on the door. Below a large death's head it said:
IF YOU GO THROUGH THIS DOOR,
YOU WILL BE KILLED.
It was repeated in Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. "Subtle, aren't they?" the girl said. She stiffened as the bearded boy pushed the door open. There was no sudden wail of alarms and they grinned at each other for a moment of triumph.
They dodged through fast. The bearded boy closed the door behind them.

Life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
short.
-Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan








THE WATCHERS

Joe Dunhill polished his badge on his sleeve and plucked imaginary lint from the crisp blue of his uniform. The door was still there, still marked CENTRAL SECURITY: Authorized Personnel Only. He took a deep breath and reached for the small button at one side. Before his finger could touch it, there was a faint buzzing sound and the door opened.
The room inside gleamed with steel and chrome and Formica. A policeman with metal sergeant's chevrons on his collar sat at a desk facing the door. There was nothing on the desk but a small TV screen. "Yeah?"
"Officer Dunhill, reporting for duty."
The older man raised an eyebrow. "Bit early for the evening shift."