"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 8 - Eclipsing Binaries" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

ponderous gray door. As far as she knew she'd done nothing wrong-but innocence
was
not always an alibi in Lady A's court. The woman who ran this vast, galaxy-
wide
conspiracy had been in a foul mood for the last six months, ever since the
failure of
Operation Annihilate. All plans had been put into abeyance while the
conspiracy was
evaluated from top to bottom and its goals reassessed. Things were now
starting to
move again-but Tanya Boros didn't know what place she would fill in the new
organization, and that bothered her.

Nervously she inserted her comparison disc into the appropriate slot and put
her eyes to
the viewer so the retina scope could check her pattern. Even after all the
previous
precautions, no one was permitted into Lady A's office without undergoing one
final
identity check; Lady A was too thorough for anyone to catch her unawares.

Boros's retinal patterns matched the ones on her identity card, which the door
returned
to her. Then the heavy security portal swung slowly outward and Lady A said,
"Come in,
Tanya. I've been expecting you." Tanya Boros obeyed.

The office was quite dim after the bright lighting of the corridor outside.
Three of the
walls were covered with cream-colored raw silk but were otherwise bare of
adornment.
The fourth wall, opposite the door, was one large triscreen bearing the image
of a
mist-shrouded stream tumbling between ancient eroding mountains.

The floor was hard and black, polished smooth as ice; it was difficult to walk
on it without
making noise, and impossible to move quickly without slipping. Two black
lacquered
chairs-neither very comfortable-and a black lacquered table between them were
the only
concessions to a visitor's comfort.

At the far end of the room near the left-hand corner stood a large, glowing
green egg.
Carved from solid jade, it pulsated slightly from internal illumination. As
the egg pivoted
slowly, Boros could see a computer terminal and keyboard built into the
interior, which
had been hollowed out to form a comfortable seat. The computer terminal, it