"William Tenn - Lisbon Cubed" - читать интересную книгу автора (William Tenn)

Mr. Kelly zipped the briefcase shut, nodded at everyone, and left.
A few moments later, Mr. Cohen followed him. Then Jones yawned and said, "Well, goodbye, now." He closed the door behind him.
Jane Doe rose, but she didn't go toward the door. She came over to where Alfred Smith was standing with a punched expression in his eyes.
"Well, John?" she said softly.
Alfred Smith couldn't think of anything to say to that, except, "Well, Jane?"
"We're together again. Working on an assignment again, together. Isn't it wonderful?"
He nodded slowly, carefully. "Yes. Wonderful."
"And if we can only close it up this time, finish the whole nasty business once and for all, we'll be going back together"
"And then?"
Her eyes glistened. "You know, darling. A quiet little web somewhere, just for two. You and I alone. And piles and piles of eggs."
Alfred gulped, and, in spite of himself, turned away.
"Oh, I'm sorry, darling," she cried, taking his hand. "I've upset you. I was talking out of uniform. Well then, put it this way: a cottage small by a waterfall. And baby makes three. You and I, down the golden years together. When your hair has turned to silver. There! Is that better?"
"Lots," he managed to get out, staring at her wildly. "Lots better."
She threw her arms around him. He realized he was expected to respond, and squeezed back.
"Oh, I don't care," she whispered into his ear. "I don't care about discipline or anyнthing when I'm close to you. And I'll say it, even if Command Central is listening. Darling, do you know what I'd like right now?"
Alfred sighed. He was more than half afraid of what was coming. "No, what? What would you like right now?"
"I'd like for us to be out of uniform, scuttling about and over each other in some damp, dark place, I'd like to feel your claws upon me, your antennae caressing me, meЧinstead of this clumsy emotionless disguise I'm wearing."
He thought. "ItЧit'll come. Be patient, darling."
She straightened up and became businesslike again. "Yes, and I'd better be going. Here's a list of all our telephone numbers, in case you want to get in touch with any of us. Remember, this operation is to be conducted strictly according to regulations. And that means no phmpffing, no phmpffing at all, except in case of the greatest emergency. For everything else, we use telephones."
"Telephones?" he found himself echoing.
"Yes." She gestured to the black instrument on its stand near the bed. "Those things."
"Oh, those things," he repeated, fighting the impulse to shake his head hard in a brain-clearing gesture. "Yes. Those things. But noЧno, er, what did you say?"
"No phmpffing."
"None at all?" Surely if he continued to ask questions something would become clear. And sane!
Jane Doe looked extremely concerned. "Of course not! This is a maximum operation."
"Yes, that's right," he agreed. "A maximum operation. I'd forgotten that."
"Well, don't," she advised him earnestly. "Don't forget. That way, you'll get into trouble again. One more boner like the one you pulled in Zagreb, darling, and you're through. You'll be kicked out of the Service. And then what do you think will happen to our plans together?"
"We'll be finished, huh?" Alfred studied her. Under all that girl-flesh, he reminded himself, there was a large, black spider working at controls like a mechanic in a power crane.
"Right. I'd never marry outside the Service. We'd be finished. So do take care of yourself, darling, and give it all you've got. Stay on the ball. Fly right. Get with it. Rise and shine. Stick to the straight and narrow. Go in there and pitch. Don't let George do it. Work hard and save your money. Early to bed and early to rise. Don't be half safe."
"I'll do my best," he promised, his voice rattling.
"My little crawler," she whispered intimately and kissed him on the ear.
She closed the door behind her.
Alfred groped his way to the bed. After a while, he noticed that he was uncomfortнable. He was sitting on a valise. Absent-mindedly, he shoved it to the floor.
What had he wandered into? Or, to put it more accurately, what had wandered into him?
Spies. Yes, obviously spies. But such spies...?
Spies from another planet. What were they spying onЧbeauty contests, convenнtions, plumbers' fancy dress balls? What were they looking for? What in the worldЧor rather the universeЧcould they be looking for?
One thing was obvious. They were up to no good. That omnipresent contempt whenever they mentioned Earth or the things of Earth.
An advance wave of invaders? Scouts preparing the way for the main body? They could be that. But why beauty contests, why fancy dress balls?
What was there of value that they could possibly learn from institutions such as these?
You'd expect to find them at nuclear research labs, at rocket proving grounds, skulkнing about the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Alfred decided there was no point in trying to follow their thought processes. They were completely alien creatures: who knew what kind of information they might consider valuable, what might be important to them?
But they were undoubtedly spies sizing up Earth for an invasion to come.
"Filthy little spiders," he growled in a righteous excess of xenophobia.
And one of them was in love with him. One of them intended to marry him. What was it she had saidЧpiles and piles of eggs? A pretty thought! He shuddered from his neck to his knees.
But they believed he was this other Smith, John Smith. Earth still had a chance. Pure luck had given Earth a counterspy. Him.
He felt frightened, but a little proud. A counterspy.
The first thing to do was to check on this John Smith.
Alfred Smith reached for the telephone. "Desk!"
There was precious little information from the clerk to supplement what he had been given before. John Smith had registered here two weeks ago. He had left one afterнnoon and not come back. After the usual interval it was assumed he had skipped, since he owed a few days on the bill at the time. His belongings were in the hotel store room.
"No, sir, I'm sorry, sir, but hotel regulations do not permit us to let you go through his belongings. Unless you wish to claim a relationship."