"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 12 - Eloise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

admit his aide.

"What is it?"

Cyber Yandron bowed. "Those for processing. Master. They
await your attention in the reception chamber."

"A moment." Nequal continued his examination, then again
touched the control. The projection faded to dissolve in
splintered shards of luminescence; the brilliant glow replaced by
a more subdued illumination, a blue-white actinic light which
gave maximum visibility, rich in ultraviolet for reasons of
hygiene. "I am ready."

Outside the office the passages were a hive of controlled
activity. Cybers, alike in their scarlet robes, moved soundlessly
about their tasks. The air was chill and Nequal almost decided to
raise his cowl. He resisted the temptation. The body was a weak
and irritating thing; to pander to it was foolish for it grew on
what it was fed. And yet the air did strike chill. Perhaps he
should order the diet increased a little. Every machine needed
fuel, and energy lost in combating cold was energy lost to the
efficient working of the brain. He would have the dietitians look
into the matter.

A decision made in the time it had taken to walk three paces,
another made in the time it took to walk seven.

"Action to be taken on report 237582EM," he said to
Yandron. "Have the laboratories concentrate on a cheap and
simple method of manufacturing churgol by synthesis from
easily available products. The resultant information to be
disseminated on the worlds of Sargolle, Semipolis and Sojol."

Churgol was the major export of Churan, a proud and
independent world; the others, the main customers for the
medicinal compound. Once their major source of income had
vanished, the Ghuranese would be less independent and not as
proud. They would be eager to seek helpful advice in order to
restore their fortunes and be willing to pay for the guidance of a
cyber. The thin end of the wedge which would place yet another
world under Cyclan domination.

A decision made, a problem solved!тАФhe wished that all were
as simple.

A small group waited in the reception chamber; the scarlet of
their robes wanning the bleakness, the material rustling a little
as they moved aside to allow the Cyber Prime a clear passage to
where five men rose painfully from a bench.