"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 13 - Eye of the Zodiac" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

"Sure I can. I'm tired, true, but I'll get over it. It just takes
getting used to. Anyway, I need the money."

Wanted, not needed, a difference Dumarest recognized if the
other did not. He made no comment, stepping to where a trough
stood beneath a line of faucets, stripping and standing beneath
one, water laving his head and body as he twisted a control.

Cold water piped from a mountain stream, numbing but
refreshing, causing goose pimples to rise on his skin, the chill
accentuating the pallor of the thin lines of old scars which
marred his torso.

Shivering, his lips blue, Leon hastily rubbed himself down,

"You're tough, Earl," he said enviously. "That water's close to
freezing."

Dumarest reached for his towel. In many ways Leon was a
nuisance, but he could recognize the youngster's need, even be a
little amused by his claim to affinity. He too had traveled, a few
trips to nearby worlds, but it was more than that which had won
his tolerance. The boy was star-crazed, filled with the yearning
for adventure, unable to see dirt and squalor for what it really
was. One day, perhaps, he would learn.
 "EarlтАФ"

"You talk too much."

"How else am I to learn." Leon watched as Dumarest dressed,
wearing pants, sturdy knee-boots, a tunic long in the sleeves and
fitting high around the throat. The gray plastic was scuffed in
several places, the glint of buried mesh showing, metallic
protection against the thrust of a knife, the rip of a claw.
Reflected light from the setting sun winked from the nine-inch
blade which Dumarest carefully wiped before slipping it into his
right boot.

"Earl!"

"What now?"

"When we get the moneyтАФwhen I get itтАФcan I go with you?"

"No."

"Why not? We could travel together. I could help you, maybe,
andтАФwhy not, Earl?"