"Andre Norton - The X Factor 2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

the figure that entered shimmered. Frost stars glinted from a wide collar,
from a belt of state. Drustans! Diskan flattened himself still closer to the
window frame, felt it bite painfully into his thighs, tried to breathe as
shallowly as possible. Rixa was bad enough, but to confront Drustans, her
brother, would be a double defeat. The Vaan youth moved with all the grace of
his land to the desk-table and hesitated there for an instant. Diskan expected
him at any moment to wheel, face the window, and draw the skulker out of
hiding by the very force of his will. There would be no change in the grave
concern of his expression, of course. He would continue to be correct, always
able to do the proper thing at the proper time and to do it well. A small
smolder of dull anger still glowed in Diskan, perhaps fed by the fact that in
this room he had been able to make a decision, to carry it through without
mishap. To surrender now to Drustans would be a special sourness. But if the
Vaan had come for Diskan, nosed him out in some mannerтАФand Diskan was willing
to concede that these aliens had powers he did not understandтАФthen Drustans
was not making the right moves, for his pause by the table had been only
momentary. He went on now to kneel at the tape rack. Diskan's own hand pressed
against the belt pocket. DidтАФ could Drustans have picked, out of the air, the
theft? Yes, the Vaan's hand was at the slots of the red tapes! But why-how-?
Drustans plucked out one of the disksтАФthe very one Diskan had moved to fill
the empty space. Still on his knees,-the Vaan tapped the disk with a
forefinger and studied it. Then he tucked it into a belt pocket and, as
quickly and silently as he had come, left the room. Diskan drew a deep breath.
So, he had not been after him but had come after the tape. And that could mean
trouble because of the switch in disks. Suppose Renfry had sent his alien
stepson to get the tape for reference. There were at least three men here
tonight who would be interested in information on "red" planetsтАФa Free-Trader
captain, Isin Ginzar; an attache from the Zacathan embassy, Zlismak; and
another retired Scout, Bazilee Alpern. And once the mistake was discovered,
Renfry would come hereтАФwhich meant either Diskan must move at once, tonight,
or he faced just another ignominious failure, with more shame and humiliation.
He could replace the disk in another slot, let them believe a mistake had been
made in filing, which was easy enoughтАФbut he could not make himself cross
those few feet and put back his key, relinquish his plan. He had accomplished
this all himself, thought it out, done it. And he was going to follow
throughтАФhe had to! There was nothing he wanted to take with him from this
house but that which was already in his belt. It was night. Once out of the
garden, he could easily get to the space port. He knew the geography of this
small strip of territory well enough. And, Diskan realized, if he did not
attempt escape now, he never would; he could not nerve himself to another try.
He swung through the window. The garden was a triangle, its narrowest point
extending out from the house, and that point gave access to a side street. He
looked down at himself. There was a smudge across the breast of his tunic. He
was never able to wear clothing for more than a few moments without collecting
stains or tears. Luckily, he was dressed very plainly for a feast day, no
frost-star collar, none of the splendor Drustans and the other Vaans
considered fitting. He might be taken for a port laborer, wandering lost, if
he were sighted. With caution, Diskan worked his way to the spear point of the
triangle. The house was very much alight, but it was close to midnight, and
they would be serving supper in the banquet hall. Rixa must have long since