"Norton, Andre - Time Traders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

Anyway, truce for now."
"Granted!"
The lights of the arena went on and the plains vanished into a dark, tiled floor. "Any time you want
a return engagement it'll be fine with me," said Ashe, getting up.
Jansen grinned. "Put that off for a month or so, Gordon. We push into time tomorrow. Take care of
yourselves, you two. I don't want to have to break in another set of players when I come back."
Ross, finding it difficult to shake off the illusion which had held him entranced, felt a slight touch
on his shoulder and glanced up. Kurt stood behind him, apparently intent upon Jansen and Hodaki as
they argued over some point of the game.
"See you tonight." The boy's lips hardly moved, a trick Ross knew from his own past. Yes, he
would see Kurt tonight, or whenever he could. He was going to learn what it was this odd company
seemed determined to keep as their own private secret.
 3

Ross stood cautiously against the wall of his darkened room, his head turned toward the slightly
open door. A slight shuffling sound had awakened him, and he was now poised like a cat before her
spring. But he did not hurl himself at the figure now easing the door farther open. He waited until the
visitor was approaching the bunk before he slid along the wall, closing the door and putting his
shoulders against it.
"What's the pitch?" Ross demanded in a whisper.
There was a ragged breath, maybe two, then a little laugh out of the dark. "You are ready?" The
visitor's accent left no doubt as to his identity. Kurt was paying him the promised visit.
"Did you think that I wouldn't be?"
"No." The dim figure sat without invitation on the edge of the bunk. "I would not be here
otherwise, Murdock. You are plenty . . . have plenty on the ball. You see, I have heard things about
you. Like me, you were tricked into this game. Tell me, is it not true that you saw Hardy tonight."
"You hear a lot, don't you?" Ross was noncommittal.
"I hear, I see, I learn more than these big mouths, like the major with his do's and don'ts. That I
can tell you! You see Hardy. Do you want to be a Hardy?"
"Is there any danger of that?"
"Danger!" Kurt snorted. "Danger--you have not yet known the meaning of danger, little man. Not
until now. I ask you again, do you want to end like Hardy? They have not yet looped you in with all
their big talk. That is why I came here tonight. If you know what is good for you, Murdock, you will
make a break before they tape you--"
"Tape me?"
Kurt's laugh was full of anger, not amusement. "Oh, yes. They have many tricks here. They are big
brains, eggheads, all of them with their favorite gadgets. They put you through a machine to get you
registered on tape. Then, my boy, you cannot get outside the base without ringing all the alarms!
Neat, eh? So if you want to make a break, you must try it before they tape you."
Ross did not trust Kurt, but he was listening to him attentively. The other's argument sounded
convincing to one whose general ignorance of science led him to believe that all kinds of weird
inventions were entirely possible and probable--usually in some dim future, but perhaps today.
"They must have you taped," Ross pointed out.
 Kurt laughed again, but this time he was amused. "They believe that they have. Only they are not
as smart as they believe, the major and the rest, including Millaird! No, I have a fighting chance to get
out of this place, only I cannot do it alone. That is why I have been waiting for them to bring in a new
guy I could get to before they had him pinned down for good. You are tough, Murdock. I saw your
record, and I'm betting that you did not come here with the intention of staying. So--here is your
chance to go along with one who knows the ropes. You will not have such a good one again."
The longer Kurt talked, the more convincing he was. Ross lost a few of his suspicions. It was true