"John E. Stith - All for Naught" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stith John E)

тАЬNaught for HireтАЭ by John E. Stith (including тАЬNaught AgainтАЭ)
Copyright 1990 and 1992. Both works published in ANALOG.

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Naught for Hire by John E. Stith (Copyright 1990)
From ANALOG, July 1990

Prologue
Late at night in a deserted Los Angeles office, a telephone
rang once. The echoes died as a phone answerer sprang obediently
to life.
The recorded voice spoke, baritone and slightly hoarse.
"Nick Naught private investigations. I'm not all here right now,
so please leave a message or a threat."
A soft voice came from the speaker. "Nick, this is Heather.
I'm free next weekend, and I've got a neat new vid on massages.
Call me if you're interested, okay?" A high-pitched click gave
way to dial tone, then silence filled the Spartan office.
In the phone answerer, the message waiting circuit turned
on. Then, softer than the faint air conditioning whine, a small
voice said, "Nahhh."
The message waiting circuit turned off.
An attentive listener, who by this time of night would have
been bored silly, could have heard an ever so faint laugh.

Chapter 1
In a one-bedroom L.A. apartment, faint gray light, nearly
exhausted from having traveled through thick smog, penetrated a
window and illuminated a wall poster showing a South Seas
island. The vivid blue water and the sparkling white beach,
backdropped with an array of greens, would for some people have
been almost enough to displace the sensations of thick air and
gritty streets.
Next to the poster hung a framed quote. Lettered in the
same mock-stitch style as folksy home-sweet-home signs, the words
read, "Nostradufus: I have seen the future and it sucks."
The sound of a distant siren rose and fell like waves
lapping against the shore, and the noise mingled with Nick
Naught's relaxed breathing. A faint smile on his lips said he
was dreaming he was on the island pictured near his bed, probably
lying back in a comfortable beach chair and sifting the sparkling
clean sand through his fingers.
From near Nick's bed came a soft click.
Ending the calm and untroubled atmosphere, the digital alarm