"E. E. Doc Smith - Skylark 1 - Skylark of Space " - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

your last dollar that Seaton showed him plenty of real stuff.' As a look of conviction
appeared upon Brookings' face DuQuesne went on. `Don't you understand? The solution
was government property and he had to do something to make everybody think it was
worthless, so he could get title to it. It was a bold move - it would have been foolhardy in
anyone else. The reason he got away with it is that he's always been an open-faced
talker, always telling everything he knows. He fooled me completely, and I'm not usually
asleep out of bed.!

'What is your idea? Where do we come in?'

`You come in by getting that solution away from Seaton and Crane, and furnishing the
money to develop the stuff and to build, under my direction, such a power plant as the
world never saw before.'
`Why is it necessary to get that particular solution? Why not refine some more platinum
wastes?'

`Not a chance. Chemists have been recovering platinum for a hundred years, and nothing
like that was ever found before. The stuff, whatever it is, must have been present in
some particular lot of platinum. They haven't got all of it there is in the world, of course,
but the chance of finding any without knowing exactly what to look for is extremely slight.
Besides, we must have a monopoly on it - Crane would be satisfied with ten per cent net
profit. No, we've got to get every milliliter of that solution and we've got to kill Seaton - lie
knows too much. I want to take a couple of your goons and attend to it tonight.'
Brookings thought for a minute, his face blandly empty of expression. Then he spoke.

`I'm sorry, doctor, but we can't do it. It's too flagrant, too risky. Besides, we can afford
to buy it from Seaton if, as, and when he proves it is worth anything.'

-19-
`Bah!' DuQuesne snorted. `Who do you think you're kidding? Do you think I told you
enough so that you can sidetrack me out of the deal? Get that idea out of your head -
fast. There are only two men in the world who can handle it - R. B. Seaton and M. C.
DuQuesne. Take your pick. Put anybody else on it -anybody else - and he'll blow himself
and his whole neighborhood out beyond the orbit of Mars.'

Brookings, caught flat-footed and half convinced of the truth of DuQuesne's statements,
still temporized.

`You're very modest, DuQuesne.'

`Modesty gets a man praise, but I prefer cash. However, you ought to know by this time
that what I say is true. And I'm in a hurry. The difficulty of getting hold of that solution is
growing greater every minute and my price is rising every minute.'

`What is your price at the present minute?'

`Ten thousand dollars a month during development, five million cash when the first plant
goes onto the line, and ten per cent of the net - on all plants - thereafter.'

`Oh, come, doctor, let's be sensible. You don't mean that.'