"Roberts, John Maddox - Cingulum 03 - The Sword, The Jewel and the Mirror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Roberts John Maddox)

One
HAAKON SAT IN HIS CAPTAIN'S CHAIR WITH HIS BOOTED feet propped on the console before him. He liked sitting here, mainly because he liked the feeling of being the ship's commander and the knowledge that he was absolute monarch of the vessel. That did not always apply in other parts of the ship, which tended to be chaotic. Here he could banish all others and rule in lonely splendor. A speaker squawked beside him.
"Hey, Boss. Jem says for you to get down here so we can get this deal settled."
Haakon ran a palm over his bare scalp. Time to quit fantasizing and get back to work. He rose from the chair in a ripple of springy muscles and headed for the companion way. He was big and rough-hewn, and he looked like a convict, which he had been. His face was more battered than some of the rocks he had been forced
1
John Maddox Roberts
to break during his years in the pits. It gave him a certain moral ascendancy in his business dealings.
As his father had once told him: "Hack, if you can't be smart, at least be intimidating."
He had found it to be good advice, which was just as well, because advice was about all he had been able to salvage from his inheritance. His father had been a viscount and so was Haakon, technically. The problem was that the planet where the family estates had been was now in the hands of the Bahadurans, a people notoriously reluctant to give back what they had taken.
That left him with this ship, Eurynome, which was without question a spacer's fantasy of a vessel, and his crewmen, who were somewhat less than ideal from a captain's viewpoint. There was also his business, which today was smuggling. The crew was entertaining a syndicate of local businessmen in Eurynome^ sumptuous main salon while the latest deal was being closed.
As he entered the salon, a small 'bot floated up to him and extended one of the tequila-and-iime concoctions he favored. The frosted glass was cool in his hand as he crossed to where Soong was displaying his Han calligraphy to a pair of merchants who shared his ethnic and cultural origins. On a sheet of off-white paper, he had brushed a complicated character in red ink. The two merchants examined it closely and expressed both admiration and puzzlement.
"I intend to have it registered among the official Han symbols," said the small, neat man, "as soon as we reach a world where there is a guild house of Master Scribes."
2
THE SWORD, THE JEWEL, AND THE MIRROR
"I am at a loss to interpret it," said one of the merchants. "Of course, I recognize the character for 'ship,' but what is this one which is repeated twice?"
"It looks like a combination of the characters for 'human' and 'cat,'" said the other.
"You are most perceptive," Soong assured them. "The character breaks down as 'two Felids in one ship.' Properly, it translates as 'discord.'"
"Ah, I see," said one, looking just as mystified as before. He caught sight of the approaching Haakon. "Come join us, Captain. Mr. Soong has been enthralling us with his mastery of the brush."
"He's a man of many talents," said Haakon with massive understatement. Soong had once been an assassin in the wars between Han and Bahadur. He was making a living as a gambler when he joined Eurynome's crew.
A big, ugly man in flashy clothing walked over to Haakon, a steaming, multilayered drink in one beringed fist. "Fantastic ship you have here, Captain. Does it help you in moving goods that your ship looks like a space-going bordello?" He pushed a hand through his elegant coiffure. Neither clothes nor hairdo softened the toughness of his face. This particular man, Penrose, headed this planet's largest and most prestigious smuggling firm.
"Customs authorities seldom deal thoroughly with a luxury yacht," Haakon acknowledged. "I'm not sure why. There wouldn't be much to find on this trip anyhow." He nodded toward the woman who sat in an alcove near them. Six othersЧthree men, two women, and a hermЧsat across from her, all speaking at once in
3
John Maddox Roberts
a high-speed, incomprehensible babble. It was the secret language of technothieves, by which they transmitted, stored, and delivered data otherwise accessible only to computers.
Haakon's technothief was Mirabelle. She was small, brown-haired and voluptuous, and just now she was taking on their cargo: a list of transfer coordinates for hundreds of deep-space rendezvous to be carried out over the next standard year by vessels of Penrose's firm and their customers. It was a sight he never quite believed, no matter how many times he'd seen it: Mirabelle could feed all this information back to a computer, or to another technothief, any time she was called to. She could also erase it from her memory instantly, which was what made technothieves the best method of smuggling contraband data.
"She has the schedule of contacts, of course," Penrose said. "I am assured that you shall be able to make all of them on time over the next six months standard." He did not inflect it as a question, so Haakon did not answer it as such. "That leaves only the closing, then," Penrose said, holding out an open palm. The two men touched palms and the deal was made. There could, of course, be no official record, but if Haakon reneged on the agreement, he would never get another contract from the sub-Bahadur underworld. Penrose would suffer likewise if payment were not to be forthcoming at the contact points.
Jemal came in, accompanied by a man with long hair that had once been yellow, but was now heavily shot with
4
THE SWORD, THE JEWEL, AND THE MIRROR
gray. "Hack," Jemal said, "meet Hamish Connaught. He's Delian."
"Jem and I are from Delius," Haakon said.
"So he's told me," Connaught said. He was slightly drunk. "Says you were both in the war. Which fleet?"
"S'vth," said Haakon. "Lord Hatch's. You?"
"'Forty-seventh, the Prince's Own. Put up a good fight, didn't we?"
"That we did," Haakon answered.
"Well, maybe we're not through yet," Connaught said, the words coming a little thickly. "We can alwaysЧ"
"It's time we were going," Penrose interrupted- He glanced at a readout floating in front of a wall-screen. "These people have an optimum exit window to catch, and it's coming up within the hour. Captain, it's been a pleasure and I look forward to a mutually profitable association."
Haakon saw the syndicate dignitaries to the airlock and went back into the salon. The 'bots were tidying up as Alexander came in. Alex was a Singeur, with genetic properties of both human and monkey. His feet were like hands and he had a prehensile tail decorated with several jeweled rings. "We heading out, Boss?" From a passing 'bot, he grabbed a stein of beer and sucked up half of it. Alex looked to be about fourteen standard years, but then he had looked that way since joining Eurynome, some years earlier.
"In about"ЧHaakon cocked an eye toward the floating readoutЧ"twenty minutes. What's Her Ladyship up to?"
5
John Maddox Roberts
Alex shrugged, a gesture performed with his entire body. "Ain't seen her in a couple of days. She keeps to her room. She's had the medbot in there a lot, but she won't let it record or transmit no data. Me'n Soong got a bet going about which it's gonna be, but even Mirabelle can't get the word."
"What about Numa?"
"Keeps to himself mostly. Been hiding down by hydroponics lately. Why do you keep him around?"
"Why do I keep you around?" Haakon asked. "Felids. Jesus! I guess I'd better go see her."
"Must be tough being captain," Alex commiserated.
"You don't know the half of it. Go tell Rand we're about to move out. Go find JemЧ"
"I'm right here," said Jemal. He was sitting in one of the little alcoves off the main salon, sipping a drink and staring out the big bubble window. The planet below was spectacular, and the nearby station with its parked ships had a certain elegant beauty. Haakon walked over and sat in one of the plush chairs, which curved itself to fit him and began to hum softly.
"It's a good contract," Haakon said. "Easy, safe, and it pays well. We seem to be working with pretty good people, too."
"Business looks good," Jemal agreed, "but our personnel situation is getting out of hand. The six of us who started this business didn't have any choice. Then Alex showed up. Now we have Numa hanging around for his own Felid reasons. And in a few weeks you know what Rama's going to present us with. Hack, we just can't keep taking theseЧthese" Jemal waved his hands