"Andrew J. Offutt - Spaceways 14 - Assignment Hellhole" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

one she could answer. "Uh. An archeological find from the Empire period, isn't
it. A crystalline cube about thirty sems on a side and weighing-oh, fourteen
kilos. Completely invisible except under certain lighting conditions. They
mounted it in a prass frame with a handle so it wouldn't get lost easily.
Definitely non-Galactic in origin. One theory is that it's a giant memory chip
from a long-lost race's super computer, so they didn't try anything
destructive on it. For about the past century it's been treated more or less
as an expensive curiosity. The last I heard, it was on Ghanj." "You're up to
date, 'Lanni, except for the last. Now it's out on Hellhole, in the Master
House of the Brotherhood of Servants of Tarf al-Barahut." "The cult?" she
asked, prodding a hazy memory. "Firm. They think the Invisible Wisdom holds a
message that will prove they know the One True Way." "Very good. As long as
the Brotherhood stays on Hellhole and I stay on Eagle, I don't care what they
have or don't have." "There you're out of luck," Tilno said, and she
watched 11 him sigh. "Someone on Eagle wants the Invisible Wisdom for his art
collection. Someone who can make the TSA cooperate. Someone who can make both
the Tri-System planets and T-SP finger you for the job, 'Lanni ... the job of
going out to Hellhole and bringing the Invisible Wisdom back here to
Eagle." Alanni managed not to say "Oh shit" and this time she had enough pride
not to gulp her drink. She took a small sip and found that her throat was
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closing against any more. She wasn't sure what her stomach would do,
either. She set the drink down with a clonk of the colored plass. "Fourth
Councillor Nortay." Tilno's eyebrows tipped up at an angle until they formed a
shallow V. She knew what that meant: You're right but I can't admit it. "So. I
guess I'm not all that surprised, but why me? Why not one of the professional
criminals the Council certainly has a line on, or an offplanet
pirate-for-hire? Sounds like just the right kind of job for Shieda, for
instance." The V grew deeper, which meant something really bad coming.
"Alanni," he said formally, "because Nortay doesn't have any kind of hold on
any of them, including fat Shieda, the way he has on you." Alanni couldn't
have lived with a long silence, and so pushed the words any which way. "If I
don't go it's my pension and bonus, maybe everything in my account ..." She
hushed herself, knowing she could stand silence better than seeming
hysterical. Tilno was nodding. "You'd be stripped bare, including the farm.
They might not stop there, either." Prosecution for her "abuse of discretion"
back when she was a T-SP officer? No doubt, but- "They wouldn't need to go
further," she said, terribly quietly. If she lost the farm, what would happen
to Jay and Bouncy? Bouncy was free, but Bouncy was also a Jarp. Jarps weren't
all that popular-except as slaves-because their sexuality and differentness
made too many people feel uncomfortable. Jarps with no money had been known to
be found guilty of 12 something or other that carried a sentence of slavery.
Some had had to sell themselves, to avoid starving. Jaykennador of course was
human. He was also an ex-criminal. That could be as big a weak spot as being a
Jarp, if one had a powerful enemy. If I told Councillor Nortay to go bugger
himself, Jay would have just that: a mighty powerful enemy. Jaykennador Eks of
Outreach hadn't been away from the dubious pleasures of the criminal's life