"Steve Perry - Matador 01 - The Man Who Never Missed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

would see it. Interesting how a man's mind workedтАФ
"Befalhavare Creg's office."
Khadaji turned his attention to the com. "This is Emile Khadaji, owner of
the Jade Flower. I'd like to speak to the Befalhavare."
"Hold, sir, I'll get the SubтАФ"
"Negative, mister. I need the Old Man himself."
"Sir, Befalhavare Creg is in conference at the moment and cannot be
disturbed. If you would like to leave a message, you will be contacted
whenтАФ"
"Listen, mister, I am holding 'Ears Only' material for your C.O. You don't
want to be the one who kept him from hearing it ASAP."
There was a pause. Khadaji could imagine the soldier's thoughts. There
were procedures, standing orders which were supposed to be followed.
Deviation from such could mean his ass; on the other hand, if KhadajiтАФa
man of some local standingтАФwas holding 'Ears Only' material and wasn't
put through, the Old Man might use somebody's balls for marbles. Either
way was a risk. It would depend upon how bright the clerk was.
He was bright. "Hold a moment, sir, I'll put you through."
Khadaji grinned into the comset.
The Old Man was not one to waste words. "What?"
"Befalhavare Creg, Emile Khadaji, I'm the ownerтАФ"
"I know who you are, sir. What is your business rattling my clerk?"
Khadaji smiled again. "I know who the leaders of the Shamba Forces are."
"I'll send a quad for you, stay where you are."
Naturally, Khadaji thought, the call would be traced, but it wasn't going to
be played that way. "I would rather not be a target," Khadaji said. "I'll get to
yqur office on my own. But if word gets out, I'm a dead man. This is between
the two of us, no one else."
"My word," Befal Creg said.
"I am on my way."
Khadaji's grin broadened as he broke the connection. The Old Man would
be scrambling already, getting stress analyzers set up, recorders checked,
drugs and electropophy gear brought to his office. A commander of ten
thousand men would hardly be careless when it involved something this
major. Khadaji expected no less. By the time he left the Jade Flower, probably
a dozen quads would have been corn-dispatched to collect him.
The first quad found him within two minutes. Another joined for backup.
Five men and three women formed a circle around Khadaji and escorted him
to the Befalhavare's office, alert for any attacks by the Shamba Scum. Khadaji
allowed himself a short laugh.
The security at the C.O.'s office was impressive. Fifty troopers, half in class
three armor, and a ground-effect spin-gun guarded the building. The Scum
weren't going to storm this building. Khadaji kept his face impassive as he
was marched into the hard foam structure. Of course, the Scum didn't have
to storm the building....
Khadaji was checked for weapons; he emptied his pocketsтАФhe only had a
pack of flicksticks and some change, which he handed to the Lojt in chargeтАФ
was hand-searched, then walked past a fluroproj to double check that he had
no material secreted in his clothes or body cavities.
"Clean," the tech said, looking at the proj.