"E. E. Doc Smith - D'Alembert 10 - Revolt of the Galaxy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

left. Tell me everything, every detail no matter how small. If I'm going to be of any help, I have
to know what I'm facing."
---
After hearing his sister's story and assuring her she'd be safe with Baron Ebert, Pias took Yvonne
with him to police headquarters where the would-be assassins were being held. With the word of the
baron backing them up, they gained quick admittance to the killers.
Even under detrazine, though, it was clear that Beti's attackers could give them little additional
information. They were low - level blasterbats, local criminals hired by an anonymous voice over
the vidiphone - with the visual circuits blanked out - to perform the specific task of killing
Beti Bavol. They were told precisely where she was staying and that they should perform their task
as quickly as possible. They didn't know who had hired them or whether there was any connection
with the planet Newforest.
Disappointed, the two SOTE agents flew back to Felicit├й, discussing the problem along the way.
"From what Beti told me," Pias said, "Tas has revolutionized the planet singlehanded. It was
always a rather backward, easygoing place; now he's brought in computerized equipment, he's spying
on his citizens, he's even building factories. That's much too institutionalized for good old
Newforest. If it were just the factories and the computers, I could excuse it as an attempt to
bring 'progress' to the planet - but the ruthless way he's going about it makes it different
somehow. Something's happening there, something ... well, I hate to say 'evil,' it sounds so
melodramatic, but that's the feeling I get. Something evil has gripped Newforest and won't let go.
What I don't understand is why the local SOTE office hasn't reported anything about this."
"Maybe they have," Vonnie said. "The Empress gives local nobility a great deal of leeway - it's
the only way an empire of this scale can survive. Her father tried to avoid meddling in local
matters as much as possible, and Edna seems to be following that same policy. She and the Head may
be waiting to see just how far this will go before they step in."
"When it goes as far as murder, that's too far."


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"I agree, and something will have to be done. The thing I don't understand is how your brother was
able to track Beti down so quickly. Within hours of her arrival the killers knew exactly where to
find her. That would be understandable on Newforest, where he probably has lots of spies, but on a
distant planet it's much harder to trace someone. He must have some organization behind him."
The implications of her statement remained floating in the air between them, but neither agent
voiced them aloud. Instead they flew the rest of the way back to the d'Alembert estate in brooding
silence.
As soon as they reached Felicit├й, Pias put through a subcom call to the Head's private number on
Earth. Grand Duke Zander von Wilmenhorst, the chief of the Service of the Empire, was unavailable
at the moment, but Pias spoke to his daughter and prime lieutenant, Helena. He asked for a leave
of absence to settle some family matters, and described to her in some detail what he'd learned of
events on Newforest. Helena listened somberly as she considered the situation.
"I don't recall any strongly negative reports, from Newforest," she said when Pias was done, "and
I see virtually all the reports that come in. I see so many reports it makes my eyes ache."
She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. "As far as I can recall, the only thing that's come
in about Newforest was that they were making a big push toward modernization. Nothing wrong with
that, so we haven't paid much attention. If what your sister says is true, someone is lying to us
somewhere down the line - possibly someone in the Service office itself. I don't like that one
bit."