"Perry, Steve - Matador 02 - Matadora" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

Dirisha looked back at the figure in the gray robe and hood. It he? she? had both hands raised and both index fingers pointed at her. She knew if she were to risk the throw, she wouldn't make it before it fired. She relaxed slightly, allowing her hand to sag a few centimeters. The figure in gray immediately dropped both hands by its sides. It turned its head slightly and focused bright blue eyes on Bork. "First Rule?" it said. Or, rather, he said, for the voice was masculine. And odd-sounding, somehow.

Bork said, "But I was bringing her "

"First Rule."

"'Students must be prepared for attack at any time.'" Bork said. "My fault."

"You thought you were safe because you weren't doing ordinary things, which is why the First Rule was created," the gray man said. "What do you consider a fair subtraction?"

'Ten points, I guess."

"Call it five. I don't want you to think I'm a tyrant."

Bork grinned. "Why, none of us would think that." He turned to look at Dirisha. "This is the guy I was telling you about. Meet Pen, Dirisha."

Bork left them alone in a room which was, Dirisha supposed, an office. Save for a table with a computer terminal and two chairs, the room was bare. There was a window which looked out into a courtyard lined with trees and bushes, but apparently Pen wasn't big on furniture. He sat in one of the chairs and Dirisha took the other.

"How did you know I was coming to Renault?" she asked, once they were alone.

The edges of the blue eyes crinkled and Dirisha knew Pen was smiling. He said, "When you used your credit tab to buy passage to Renault from Tembo, I was... informed."

"That's unlikely. You would have to have agents on fifty-six planets and over eighty wheelworlds to be certain of picking up such a transaction."

"Not really. Think about it for a moment."

Dirisha did so. The answer came suddenly. "You had me watched?"

Pen nodded.

Her first reaction was to jump from the chair, but she contained herself. She tried to sound calm when she spoke. "Why?"

"Emile Khadaji had great hopes for you," Pen said. "He thought you might find your way here one day. If you hadn't decided to come when you did, one of the school's agents would have eventually contacted you and asked you to do so."

"Again, 'Why?'"

"We want you to become a student here. And a teacher. Most of us do both, at this point. Pass on what we know, learn what we don't know."

"You say Emile wanted this?"

"Yes. He thought highly of you, along with some others he met along the way. I have a list of those he wanted us to contact. You were high on it."

"You have a list. Did you know him yourself?"

"I knew him. Long before you met on Greaves, I knew him."

"Well, this is all nice, but I really don't need lessons in how to become a bodyguard."

"No? I take it your protection of Bork in the hall was an example of your skill?"