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

тАЬIt sounds painful,тАЭ said Ivor with a shudder.
тАЬI don't believe he felt the last twenty or thirty bullets at all,тАЭ I said, buttoning his coat back up.
тАЬWhy would anyone want to kill a bookseller?тАЭ mused Ivor.
тАЬBeats the hell out of me, Brother Ivor,тАЭ I admitted. тАЬI know you Europeans are degenerate
and sadly lacking in Christian virtues, but that seems an awfully stern punishment for
overcharging.тАЭ
Well, he didn't say nothing to that, and we rode in silence for about half an hour, til we left the
city limits and got out into the suburbs, and pretty soon we came to a rocky hill, and there on
top of it was this huge castle.
тАЬThe Baron will be so happy to meet you!тАЭ said Ivor. тАЬI told him how you had agreed to help
us.тАЭ
тАЬI'm always happy to help advance the cause of science,тАЭ I said modestly.
тАЬTonight we will witness the culmination of his life's work,тАЭ continued Ivor. He leaned over and
added confidentially. тАЬHe is delighted that you are a man of the cloth. He wants you to baptize
his creation.тАЭ
тАЬWell, a critter what's made of twenty or thirty other men ain't the easiest thing in the world to
baptize,тАЭ I said. тАЬI figure we'll have to baptize each part separately, at maybe five dollars a
shot, just to be on the safe side. Can't have his left elbow doing evil things when the rest of
him is trying to serve the Lord, if you see what I mean.тАЭ
тАЬMoney is no object to the Baron,тАЭ answered Ivor.
тАЬYou don't say?тАЭ I replied. тАЬI don't suppose he wants his castle blessed too, just to cover all
the bases?тАЭ
тАЬYou'll have to speak to him about it,тАЭ said Ivor, as the horse starting climbing a little path in
the hill. тАЬWe're almost there.тАЭ
We reached a huge wrought-iron gate and Ivor got out and rang a bell, and a moment later
the gate opened inward just long enough to let us through, and then slammed shut behind us.
Ivor guided the horse up to the huge front door, and then we stopped and climbed down off
the wagon, and the door opened, and out stepped this real skinny guy with wide staring eyes.
He was wearing some kind of a laboratory coat, and he was smoking a Turkish cigarette that
was stuck in a long gold holder.
He walked over to the back of the wagon and looked at Gustave.
тАЬExcellent, excellent,тАЭ he murmured. тАЬYou have done well this night, Ivor.тАЭ Then he turned to
me. тАЬYou are Doctor Jones?тАЭ
тАЬThe Right Reverend Doctor Lucifer Jones, at your service,тАЭ I said.
тАЬI am Baron Steinmetz,тАЭ he said. тАЬIvor has told me how you have aided my cause. I wish to
thank you.тАЭ
тАЬWell, I had in mind something just a tad more substantial than a handshake,тАЭ I said.
тАЬI quite understand, and you will not find me ungrateful, Doctor Jones. But first let us bring the
body inside and prepare for the final transformation.тАЭ
The three of us lifted old Gustave out of the wagon and carried him into the castle, which was
huge and cold and kind of damp and made of stone and lit by candles.
тАЬThis way,тАЭ said the Baron, heading off for a staircase that led down to the basement. We
almost lost Gustave a couple of times as the stairs kept curving around corners, but finally we
made it to the next level, and found ourselves in a big laboratory, filled with all kinds of
gizmos that didn't make no sense to me but were humming and glowing to beat the band.
We laid Gustave on a wood table and then the Baron took me by the arm and led me over to
another table, which was covered with a big blanket. He reached down and pulled the blanket
off, revealing a huge body lying there. Parts of it didn't seem to quite fit, and there were
stitches and electrodes everywhere, and the top of its skull was missing.
тАЬWell, Doctor Jones,тАЭ said the Baron. тАЬWhat do you think?тАЭ