"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 10 - Jondelle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

Quietly he said, "Estale is a bad world and not one a traveler
should visit. There would be little opportunity for such a man to
work and collect the price of a passage. You agree?"

There were many such, dead-end planets, end-of-the-line
worlds devoid of industry, poverty-stricken cultures in which a
stranded traveler stood no chance of making an escape.
Dumarest had seen too many of them. Bleakly he nodded.

"On Estale you work in the mine or you do not work,"
continued the jeweler. "And, once you sign the contract, escape
is rare. The pay is low, prices high, a worker remains constantly
in debt. Yet a shrewd man could beat the system. A man who
saved every coin, who indulged in no pleasures, and who wasted
no opportunity in order to build his stake. A man who would
bide his time, work out his contract, and leave without
suspicion." He paused and added, softly, "And who would
suspect that a man riding Low would have a fortune hidden
within his person."

And his visitor had ridden Low; the signs were plain. No body
fat, a drawn appearance about the eyes, the hands thinner than
nature intended. The result of riding doped, frozen, and ninety
percent dead in caskets designed for the transportation of
beasts. Risking the fifteen percent death rate for the sake of
cheap travel.

"Will you buy the crystals?"

"I will give you one thousand stergals for them," said Akon
Batik flatly, and translated the sum into more recognizable
terms. "That is the cost of two High passages."

Dumarest frowned. "They are worth more."

"Far more," agreed the jeweler. "But commissions will have to
be paid and you are selling, not buying. My profit will be little
more than what I pay youтАФbut you need have no fears once you
leave my house. A thousand stergals. You agree?"

He smiled as Dumarest nodded, a quirk of the lips, more a
grimace than an expression of amusement. Yet his voice held
satisfaction as he said, "The money will be given to you as you
leave. And now, a glass of wine to seal the bargain. You have no
objection?"

It was tradition, Dumarest guessed, a ritual which politeness
dictated he should share. And, perhaps, things could be learned
over the wine.