"Theodore Sturgeon - Microcosmic God" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sturgeon Theodore)

Two bull-necked individuals stepped out from their hiding places in the corners of
the room. One idly dangled a revolver by its trigger guard. Kidder looked blankly
from one to the other of them.
тАЬThese gentlemen will follow my orders implicitly, Kid-der. In half an hour a
party will land here-engineers, contractors. They will start surveying the north end
of the island for the construction of the power plant. These boys here feel about
the same way I do as far as you are con-cerned. Do we proceed with your
cooperation or without it? ItтАЩs immaterial to me whether or not you are left alive
to continue your work. My engineers can duplicate your model.тАЭ
Kidder said nothing. He had stopped chewing when he saw the gunmen, and only
now remembered to swallow. He sat crouched over his plate without moving or
speaking.
Conant broke the silence by walking to the door. тАЬRobbins-can you carry that
model there?тАЭ The big man put his gun away, lifted the model gently, and nodded.
тАЬTake it down to the beach and meet the other boat. Tell Mr. Johansen, the
engineer, that this is the model he is to work from.тАЭ Robbins went out. Conant
turned to Kidder.
тАЬThereтАЩs no need for us to anger ourselves,тАЭ he said oilily. тАЬI think you are
stubborn, but I donтАЩt hold it against you. I know how you feel. YouтАЩll be left
alone: you have my promise. But I mean to go ahead on this job, and a small thing
like your life canтАЩt stand in my way.тАЭ
Kidder said, тАЬGet out of here.тАЭ There were two swollen veins throbbing at his

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temples. His voice was low, and it shook.
тАЬVery well. Good day, Mr. Kidder. Oh-by the way-youтАЩre a clever devil.тАЭ No one
had ever referred to the scholastic Mr. Kidder that way before. тАЬI realize the pos-
sibility of your blasting us off the island. I wouldnтАЩt do it if I were you. IтАЩm
willing to give you what you want-privacy. I want the same thing in return. If
anything happens to me while IтАЩm here, the island will be bombed by someone
who is working for me; IтАЩll admit they might fail.
If they do, the United States government will take a hand. You wouldnтАЩt want
that, would you? ThatтАЩs rather a big thing for one man to fight. The same thing
goes if the plant is sabotaged in any way after I go back to the mainland.
You might be killed. You will most certainly be bothered interminably. Thanks
for your . . . er. . . cooperation.тАЭ The banker smirked and walked out, followed by
his taci-turn gorilla.
Kidder sat there for a long time without moving. Then he shook his head, rested it
in his palms. He was badly frightened; not so much because his life was in danger,
but because his privacy and his work-his world-were threat-ened. He was hurt and
bewildered. He wasnтАЩt a business-man. He couldnтАЩt handle men. All his life he
had run away from human beings and what they represented to him. He was like a
frightened child when men closed in on him.
Cooling a little, he wondered vaguely what would hap-pen when the power plant
opened. Certainly, the govern-ment would be interested. Unless-unless by then
Conant was the government. That plant was an unimaginable source of power,
and not only the kind of power that turned wheels. He rose and went back to the