"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 5 -Appointment at Bloodstar" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

and the two of them began zooming through the uppermost reaches of the atmosphere
toward the Angeles-Diego complex where Duke Hanforth would be staying. The journey
took them all night, but they hardly minded that; they had a lot of news to catch up on,
and a lot of stored-up love to express, now that they were alone. In those spare
moments between kisses, Jules told Vonnie about Yvette's new fiancтАЪ, and Vonnie was
delighted at the news. "Maybe we can have a double wedding ceremony," she
exclaimed.

They arrived in Angeles-Diego just after sunrise the next day. Jules drove to the Luxoria
Hotel, where the duke was supposed to be registered, but he was in for a bit of a
surprise when he inquired at the front desk.

"No, that old windsucker isn't here," the clerk snorted, "and I'm just as glad. He called
our hotel a chrome-plated rubbish heap."

"Why did he do that?" Vonnie asked.

"Because we didn't have any accommodations for him on the ground floor, and he
hates elevator tubes, that's why. Said it was bad enough he had to travel in a metal
boxcar all the way from Melenaria and a flying lawn mower from-the spaceport to here;
he didn't want to have to ride on magic carpets just to get to and from his room." The
clerk sniffed as though his personal honor had been assaulted.

"Do you know where he is staying, then?" Jules asked, becoming a little concerned
about finding the man he was supposed to guard before anything could happen to him.

"Someplace without an elevator tube, obviously. Probably without even running water, if
he has his way. It's crazy old blots like him that make you question the rationale for
hereditary aristocracy." The clerk turned away and refused to say any more to them.

Jules and Vonnie spent the next two and a half hours calling all around Angeles-Diego
trying to locate their wayward duke. Finally Vonnie contacted a rental agent who had
leased the duke a private villa near the ocean at Malibu-a sprawling one-story estate
surrounded by lush gardens, and probably costing five times what the duke would have
spent for the most elegant suite at the Luxoria.

"Well," Jules shrugged, "the Head warned me' our duke was an eccentric sort; I guess
we're finding out just how eccentric he is."



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They drove to the address the rental agent had given them and were challenged at the
gate by the regular SOTS people, who had already managed to find and attach
themselves to the man they were protecting. Jules showed the phony ID cards he'd
been given, establishing himself and Vonnie as Fedor and Karolina Khermikov from the
Star Lane Temporary Employment Agency. Fedor was hired to be the duke's valet while
the old man was visiting Earth; Karolina was to be his personal secretary. Both of them