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

entrance. Only uniformed guards and people with special clearances were allowed in and out of the
place. Pias would have to disguise himself as one or the other. After some brief thought, he
decided to impersonate one of the brassies. A uniform, by its very nature, was made to be taken
for granted. One person in uniform looked very much like another and unless his fingerprints or


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retinal pattern were checked, Pias could probably walk through many areas of the building
unchallenged.
He haunted the area near the time of shift change and followed one of the guards who was near his
own size as the man got off work. Pias tracked him patiently until the man passed a deserted
alleyway where the SOTE agent promptly waylaid him. The man was no match for Pias's Service
training, and within minutes Pias found himself in possession of a uniform and a blaster - and a
security badge that cleared him to pass through the gates of the computer complex. By taking this
action he realized he was limiting himself. The guard's absence would be noticed within a day, or
thirty-six hours at most; Pias would have to be well away before then. Still, the chance to look
around inside the complex seemed worth the risk.
He tied up his victim, donned the uniform, and strode purposefully back to the guarded
installation. The guards at the front gate barely gave him a second glance as he casually flashed
his security pass at them. In like manner Pias passed two other checkpoints before entering the
front door of the building itself.
Inside, the structure was even bigger than it looked from the exterior. The planet's heavy gravity
dictated how tall a building could be above ground level, but there was no such limit on how deep
into the earth it could extend. The complex was a tall one for Newforest, rising three stories
above the ground. It sank at least twice that many below ground. The computer facility was a small
city in itself, housing hundreds of workers who tended the machines and analyzed the data pouring
in continuously from all parts of the planet.
Pias could not stand around and gawk, or it would destroy his cover; as a uniformed guard, he was
supposed to be quite familiar with all this. With so many people in constant motion he wasn't
noticed as he walked briskly in a random direction, pretending he knew precisely where he was
going. He kept his eyes open for clues about what was happening where, and no one stopped him or
questioned his presence in this supposedly sacrosanct installation.
At last he saw a sign pointing the way to the administrative section, and decided that was where
he would get some of the information he was seeking. As it was the night shift, most of the
administrative personnel were gone, their offices and desks empty. Pias wandered through the
aisles and past another security checkpoint until he came to the chief administrative officer's
room. The door was locked. Pias could spot no special alarm system; a short beam from his blaster
burned out the mechanism and he entered the room unseen.
The desk top, with a computer scanner built into it, was barren of paper; apparently most of the
work was stored in the computer itself with little need for print out. Still, Pias had never heard
of any operation that didn't use some hard copy, and he began searching the desk drawers.
A slight noise made him stop and reach for the blaster at his hip, but as he looked up, he
realized the gesture was futile. Standing in the doorway to the room was his brother Tas, holding
a blaster already pointed at his chest - and behind Tas was a small army of brassies, all
similarly armed.
"Hello, Pias," Tas said with all the false warmth of a fourth-rate undertaker. "Welcome home."
But it was not his brother's words, nor the blaster, that attracted most of Pias's attention.
Around Tas's neck, almost hidden by his collar, was a thin silver chain from which dangled a