"E. E. Doc Smith - The Galaxy Primes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

Blocked.
Then at the other, slenderer man who was rising to his feet from the pilot's bucket seat. His guard was partially down;
he was telepathing a pleasant if somewhat reserved greeting to both newcomers.
She turned to her companion and spoke aloud. 'So these are the system's best.' The emphasis was somewhere
between condescension and sneer. 'Not much to choose between, I'd say ... 'port me a tenth-piece, Clee? Heads, I take
the tow-head.'
She flipped the coin dexterously. 'Heads it is, Lola, so I get Jim - James James James the Ninth himself. You have
the honor of pairing with Clee - or should I say His Learnedness Right the Honorable Director Doctor Cleander
Simmsworth Garlock, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science, Prime Operator, President and First Fellow of the
Galaxian Society, First Fellow of the Gunther Society, Fellow of the Institute of Paraphysics, of the Institute of
Nuclear Physics, of the College of Mathematics, of the Congress of Psiontists, and of all the other top-bracket brain-
gangs you ever heard of. Also, for your information, his men have given him a couple of informal degrees - P.D.Q.
and S.O.B.'
The big psiontist's expression of saturnine, almost contemptuous amusement had not changed; his voice came flat
and cold. 'The less you say, Doctor Bellamy, the better. Bitchy, swellheaded women give me an acute rectal pain.
Pitching your curves over all the vizzies in space got you aboard, but it won't get you a thing from here on. And for
your information, Doctor Bellamy, one more crack like that and I take you over my knee and blister your backside.'
'Try it, you clumsy ape!' she jeered. 'That I want to see -
any time you want to get both arms broken at the elbows!'
'Now's as good a time as any. I like your spirit, but I can't say a thing for your judgment.' He got up and started
purposefully toward her, but both noncombatants came between.
'Hold it, Clee!' James protested, both hands against the heavier man's chest. 'What the hell kind of show is that to put
on?' And simultaneously:
'Belle! For godsake - picking a fight already, and with nobody knows how many million people looking onl You
know as well as I do that we may have to spend the rest of our lives together, so act like civilized beings - please -
both of you! And don't...'
'Nobody's watching this but us,' Garlock interrupted. 'When pussy there started using her claws I cut the gun.'
'That's what you think,' James said sharply, 'but Fatso and his number one girl friend are coming in on the tight
beam.'
'Oh?' Garlock whirled toward the hitherto dark and silent three-dimensional communications instrument. The face of
a bossy-looking woman was already bright.
'Garlock! How dare you try to cut Chancellor Ferber off?' she demanded. Her voice was deep-pitched, blatant with
authority. 'Here you are, sir.'
The woman's face shifted to one side and a man's appeared - a face to justify in full his nickname.
'"Fatso," eh?' Chancellor Ferber snarled. Pale eyes glared from the fat face. That costs you exactly one thousand
credits, James."
'How much will this cost me, Fatso?' Garlock asked.
'Five thousand - and, since nobody can call me that deliberately, demotion three grades and probation for three years.
Make a note, Miss Foster.'
'Noted sir.'
'Still sure we aren't going anywhere,' Garlock said. What a brain!'
'Sure I'm sure!' Ferber gloated. 'In a couple of hours I'm going to buy your precious starship in as junk. In the
meantime, whether you like it or not, I'm going to watch your expression while you push all those pretty buttons and
nothing happens.'
'The trouble with you, Fatso,' Garlock said dispassionately, as he opened a drawer and took out a pair of cutting
pliers, 'is
that all your strength is in your glands and none in your brain. There are a lot of things - including a lot of tests - you
know nothing about. How much will you see after I've cut one wire?' 'You wouldn't dare!' the fat man shouted. 'I'd
fire you -blacklist you all over the sys тАФ'
Voice and images died away and Garlock turned to the two women in the Main. He began to smile, but his mental