"Mike Resnick - Tales Of The Galactic Midway 03 - The Wild Alien Tamer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

animals, are placed on the grave of the deceased, and that the fucking bear is buried three hundred
light-years from here?тАЭ
тАЬ No,тАЭ admitted Mr. Ahasuerus, looking distressed. тАЬ No, he didn't.тАЭ
тАЬ Figures,тАЭ muttered Flint. тАЬ Where is he?тАЭ
тАЬ Waiting for his new animals, I should imagine.тАЭ
тАЬ Well, let's hope this batch is better than the last. By the way, how much did that piece of rock set us
back?тАЭ
тАЬ Three thousand credits,тАЭ replied the blue man.
тАЬ I don't know from credits. How much is that in American money?тАЭ
тАЬ You really should make some effort to learn those conversion tables I made up for you.тАЭ
тАЬ Skip the lecture,тАЭ said Flint. тАЬ How much?тАЭ
тАЬ About twenty-four hundred dollars,тАЭ replied Mr. Ahasuerus. тАЬ Of course, that's 1982 Constant dollars. I have
no idea what inflation may have done toтАФ тАЭ
тАЬ Twenty-four hundred dollars?тАЭ yelled Flint. тАЬ You tell Monk that it's coming out of his pay!тАЭ He snuffed out his
cigarette and lit another one. тАЬ Jesus H. Christ! I spend the better part of two years turning this show into a
paying proposition, and the second I turn my back you start okaying money for tombstones!тАЭ
тАЬ We can afford it,тАЭ said Mr. Ahasuerus calmly.
тАЬ Pull a couple more stunts like this and I'll bet we can even afford a matching one for a bald blue skeleton,тАЭ
said Flint. He paused for a moment and emitted a deep sigh. тАЬ Look, I don't mean to lose my temper with
you. But after two years you ought to know that all carnies are liars.тАЭ
тАЬ Including you?тАЭ asked Mr. Ahasuerus, pulling his lips back from his teeth in his equivalent of a smile.
тАЬ Including me. But I'm selective about it: I just lie to the marks. Monk and the rest, they'll lie to anyone.тАЭ He
looked down at the granite marker again.
тАЬ Oh, well, see if there's anything resembling a graveyard around here and plant it.тАЭ
тАЬ And if not?тАЭ
тАЬ Dump it into Monk's room and lethim worry about it.тАЭ
Flint spent the next half hour supervising the rest of the unloading, discovered that he had been sent a ride
that had been earmarked for the humanoids of Canphor VI and had not received the one he had ordered to
accommodate the elephantine beings of Girodus II, had the crew reload it into the ship, and sent off still
another nasty message to the Corporation. He did receive three tons of sugar, but with his cotton candy
machine out of order he didn't see much use for it, and reloaded it as well.
Finally, sweating profusely and wondering why Mr. Ahasuerus seemed to pick only exceptionally hot worlds
or frigid ones, he clambered down the gangplank, lit another cigarette, took his shirt off, and signed a number
of receipts after having one of the aliens translate them for him.
He was about to go to the carnival ship's galley for a cold beerтАФ which, he knew, would be lukewarm and
taste like weak teaтАФ when a small hunchbacked human approached him.
тАЬ What's wrong now?тАЭ asked Flint.
тАЬ Nothing,тАЭ replied the hunchback, speaking with a severe stammer. тАЬ I just thought I'd see if there was any
mail.тАЭ
тАЬ That's very thoughtful of you, Tojo,тАЭ said Flint dryly. тАЬ You think the United States Post Office might be
making deliveries out here, do you?тАЭ
тАЬ We have thirty-two aliens working for us, Thaddeus,тАЭ said Tojo. тАЬ Most of them come from the Community of
Worlds. I thought they might have some letters from home.тАЭ
тАЬ Yeah? Well, if the mail service out here is anything like the cargo service, the letters are probably
somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy by now. There's probably a real good reason why the Corporation hasn't
gone bankrupt yet, but I sure as hell can't come up with it.тАЭ
тАЬ We didn't get our Ferris wheel,тАЭ said Tojo. It was not a question.
тАЬ Among other things.тАЭ Flint raised his gaze to the heavens, shielding his eyes from the glare of the binary
star. тАЬ I wonder how things are going in Vermont. At least we didn't have to readapt the rides every time we
moved to a new town.тАЭ He took another puff of his cigarette and coughed. тАЬ And a man could get a decent