"Mike Resnick - Encounters" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

wagon?тАЭ I demanded.
тАЬI thought you were dead,тАЭ said Ivor.
тАЬThe Baron pays you to go around tidying up the cemetery, does he?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬNot exactly,тАЭ said Ivor. тАЬHe sent me here to bring him back a better brain.тАЭ
тАЬHe ain't pleased with the one he's got?тАЭ
Ivor sighed. тАЬIt's all very complicated, Doctor Jones.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, it sounds a mite complicated,тАЭ I allowed. тАЬI mean, a lot of folks wish they were a little
smarter, but this Baron of yours is the first one I ever heard tell of who's actually trying to do
something about it.тАЭ
тАЬYou don't understand, Doctor Jones,тАЭ said Ivor. тАЬHe doesn't want the brain for himself.тАЭ
тАЬHe's stealing it for a friend?тАЭ
Ivor shook his head. тАЬIt's for his work. He has long sought to create a living man. For years he
has labored to reanimate dead tissue, putting together spare body parts in the laboratory he
has built in the basement of his castle.тАЭ
тАЬSeems to me that the standard way of creating new men is cheaper and easier, not to say
more fun,тАЭ I said.
тАЬHe is a brilliant man,тАЭ said Ivor. тАЬA great scientist. He is on the verge of a major
breakthrough.тАЭ
It sounded to me like anyone who wanted to build a man in his basement was more on the
verge of a major breakdown, but I just smiled and nodded sagely.
тАЬAfter more than a decade of trial and error, of experiment after experiment, he had reached
the final stage of his work,тАЭ continued Ivor. тАЬAll he needs now is the proper brain.тАЭ
тАЬAnd he wanted mine?тАЭ I said. тАЬWell, I'm flattered, Brother Ivor, but if it's all the same to you, I
ain't done using it myself yet.тАЭ
тАЬI didn't know you were alive, Doctor Jones,тАЭ said Ivor apologetically. тАЬI heard that a major
bookseller had died yesterday, and I thought: what a wonderful present that would make for
my masterтАФa brain that had spent its entire life immersed in literature. It's his birthday, and
the brain would be such a nice surprise for him.тАЭ
тАЬWell, it seems to me that if you just stick around long enough, Brother Ivor, they'll bring this
here bookman to the cemetery and plant him, and then all you got to do is mark the spot and
dig him up at your leisure.тАЭ
тАЬIt's not that easy,тАЭ he said. тАЬThey have already arrested me twice for grave-robbing. I can
only sneak in here at nights, and by then the day's corpses have already been buried.тАЭ
At which point my Silent Partner, who had returned from sabbatical, smote me right betwixt
the eyes with another of His great big heavenly revelations.
тАЬThat ain't no problem at all, Brother Ivor,тАЭ I said.
тАЬIt isn't?тАЭ he asked.
тАЬFor a small retainer, I'd be happy to hang around here til they brung this guy in, and mark the
spot where they bury him.тАЭ
тАЬOh, the Baron will be so happy!тАЭ said Ivor, clapping his little hands together.
тАЬAnd for a further consideration, I'll give you a hand digging him up and delivering him to your
boss.тАЭ
тАЬYou have no moral compunctions about digging in hallowed ground?тАЭ he asked.
тАЬWho better to dig in it than a man of the cloth?тАЭ I said.
тАЬIt's a deal, Doctor Jones!тАЭ he said excitedly. тАЬI will return every night at midnight until they
have brought him here and buried him.тАЭ
тАЬSounds good to me, Brother Ivor,тАЭ I said as he took his leave of me, and a couple of minutes
later I was sound asleep again.
When I woke up in the morning I took a little stroll around the cemetery and found an apple
orchard at the far end of it, which took care of my meals for the rest of the day. I spent the