"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 6 - The Purity plot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

treatment and, despite the guns that were trained on him, he began a brief struggle. His
attempt did not last long, as one of his captors hit him soundly across the face with the
butt of a blaster, but the minor scuffle did give Baron William a chance to break free of
the men who were holding him. Before any of the invaders knew quite what had
happened, the Baron was running down the transit tube into the darkness. A couple of
the men started after him, but they were called back by their leader. Their time was
running out; they dared not waste any by chasing the fleeing man. They still had one
captive after all, and a very important one at that. Headquarters would approve highly of
what they'd done; there was no need to endanger themselves further.

The shuttle with the six surviving invaders and their hostage sped away from the
Imperial Trade Tower at top speed. Baron William arrived back at the scene ten
minutes later, accompanied by a squad of police, but by that time it was too late. Within
another five minutes, the "bulb" of the tower blew apart, scattering shards of glass for
kilometers in all directions.

The Head of the Service of the Empire was greatly disturbed by this latest incident of
anti-imperialist terrorism. His organization was charged with the awesome task of
maintaining the security of an empire that was spread out over more than thirteen
hundred worlds. And that job, never an easy one under the best of circumstances, had
only been getting harder of late.

Maybe I'm starting to feel my age, he thought, but the last two years have really been
downhill.

Not that Zander von Wilmenhorst was that old; at just under fifty he was only now
reaching the absolute prime of his mental capacities. But the responsibility of his
position would age anyone quickly. And the more dedicated he became, the more
seriously he took his duties, which only made him feel older.

He had thought, many months ago, that the breakup of Banion's well-organized plot


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against the Empire would be the peak of his career, that everything following it would be
an anticlimax. To some extent that was true, but it was not the way he had expected.
Little things kept popping up, almost trivial in and of themselves, but they had been
taking unexpectedly large bites of the Service's time and energy. He had fought off the
wolf named Banion-mostly through the talents of his two most capable agents-but now
he found the Empire plagued by mosquitoes. And he could not help but recall that it
was mosquitoes that carried the germs of malaria.

Acts of terrorism were on the increase. The seeds of discontent were sprouting on
planets in every sector of the Empire, with a violence which was unexpectedly strong
considering the mild and peaceful reign of Emperor Stanley Ten. Everywhere, groups of
malcontents were springing up, chanting slogans for the abolition of the Empire and the
destruction of the nobility. For the most part, the groups were led by honest, sincere
people who believed in autonomy for their own planets without regard for the larger