"Smith, E E Doc - d'Alembert 1 - Imperial Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

Smith, EE - d'Alembert 1 - The Imperial Stars
Volume One of The classic Family dТAlembert series
By E.E. СDocТ Smith
With Stephen Goldin
CHAPTER ONE
THREE MEN
By the year 2447, the Empire of Earth would have looked remarkably healthy to an outside observer. In
the almost two centuries since its formation, it had nearly doubled its size in terms of subject planets,
while trade between inhabited worlds was proceeding at a smooth and industrious pace. Hunger and
need had been, if not obliterated, at least confined to small pockets of despair. Yet even the most
vigorous body politic can harbor a cancer that, if not excised quickly, will eat away at the insides and
leave just a useless shell as evidence of its passing. Such a cancer was, in that year, threatening the very
existence of the Empire. (M'benge, The Empire - Yesterday and Today, slot 437.)
The first man was dressed in black from head to toe, the only break in that color scheme being the
goggles over his eyes - and even they were smoky gray. The dark cloth was smooth and pliable; it made
not even the slightest swishing sound as he moved.
The man's belt was divided into a series of compartments, each housing a useful and, in several cases,
lethal tool. Outside, the clothing was completely insulated against electrical shock; inside, between the
black fabric and the man's skin, was another layer of insulation, this designed to keep the man's body
heat in so that he would not register on an infrared detector. Because of this insulation, the interior of the
suit was hellishly hot, but the wearer did not complain. Better to be uncomfortable than dead, was his
belief.
The night around him was cool and dark. The planet Durward had three small moons, but only one - the
smallest - was shining tonight. Its light was scarcely more powerful than a flashlight at a thousand paces -
hardly a threat to give him away.
The house in front of him was another matter. Set out in the open countryside, kilometers away from its
nearest neighbor, it looked to his trained eyes like nothing so much as an enormous booby trap. One
false step, one misguided movement would certainly mean the end of his life ... and possibly worse than
that. The fate of the Empire could be resting on his skill, but the thought didn't make him hesitate. There
were some risks that had to be taken.
There were no guards patrolling the wall that surrounded the house, and that fact worried him more than if
there had been a regiment. No guards meant that the wall itself was hazard enough, and that the people
behind it expected very few survivors to cross to the interior yard.
Reaching into his belt, the man in black took out a sensitive energy detector and gave the wall a quick
scan. He felt no surprise to learn that the barrier was composed of only a thin shell of stone, inside which
was a plethora of electronic equipment. The sensors within the wall could detect heat, electromagnetic
discharge, pressure, or an attempt to alter the circuit functions. The scattered bodies of birds, insects and
small animals at the base of the barrier gave mute testimony to the fate of anything coming in contact with
that wall.
The man had come prepared for this eventuality. Beside him on the ground was a long fiberglass pole.
Picking it up, he backed off some twenty meters from the wall and then ran at it full tilt. Well-trained leg
muscles helped push him upward as he dug the shaft into the ground and polevaulted over the barrier.
Four meters high the wall went, but he cleared it with easily twenty centimeters to spare.
-2-
He hit the ground beyond with his legs coiled under him; he rolled over and used his momentum to propel
him into a running start across the open courtyard between the wall and the house. This was a dangerous
stretch, for there was no cover but the darkness. He crossed the fifty meters of ground silently, then
pulled up panting alongside the building. As far as he knew he was still undetected. He was sweating
profusely inside his insulated clothing, but gave not a thought to his discomfort. There were bigger
matters demanding his attention.