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

benefit.

A tiny hint of a smile touched the corners of Lady A's lips. "Well, perhaps
not yet. I was
reserving that for myself. But you will receive a position commensurate with
your
heritage. I have special plans for you, my dear, that you can't even begin to
guess."

"And what does C say to all this?"

The smile broadened on Lady A's face. "To show you how much I trust you, I'll
let you in
on the best-kept secret in the Galaxy: There is no one named C. He is purely a
myth
created to confuse our enemies into thinking the conspiracy is more complex
than it really
is. All orders from C are my orders relayed through a special switchboard to
appear as
though they're coming from elsewhere. No such human being exists. You're now
only the
second person in the universe to know that."

Again Boros felt uneasiness creep over her. Lady A was being far too open, and
that
was suspicious. "Why are you telling me all this?" she asked.

Lady A's mood shifted instantly to anger. "I open my heart to you and receive
distrust."
She stood again, and in three long strides she was before Boros's chair.
Lifting the
younger woman effortlessly by the front of her tunic collar, Lady A held her a
few
centimeters off the ground and said with crystalline enunciation, "You now
have two
choices, my dear. You either pledge me your unswerving, undivided loyalty and
love, or
I'll crush your skull until your brains trickle down your neck. You do not
leave this room
alive until I am assured the information you have is safe. You betrayed your
father with a
few inadvertent words; I'll not have you do the same to me. Do I make myself
clear?"

For a long moment, Tanya Boros was too frightened to say anything. She knew
her life
was dangling by a very slender thread, and the wrong word-or even the right
word with
the wrong inflection-would give that thread a sudden snap. She considered her
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