"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 15 - Spectrum of a Forgotten Sun" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

Yet you escaped injury. How?"

"Luck," said Dumarest. "I heard the soldier and he fired without
taking aim. The type of gun he was using throws up and to the right after
the first shot."

"And so you moved down and to the left?" Lofoten shook his head.
"No, my friend, I think there must be another explanation."

His hands moved on the knife and, without warning, he threw it from
where he sat. An awkward position, but his aim was true and, spinning,
the blade hurtled directly towards Dumarest. Lofoten drew in his breath
as it slammed its point deep into the back of the chair, his eyes judging
distance, the time allowed for intent to be recognised and evasive action
taken. A normal man, anticipating the throw, would have barely been
able to leave the chair. Dumarest stood three feet to one side of it, poised,
watchful.

"Fast!" said Lofoten. "Never have I seen anyone move with such speed.
As I suspected you possess an unusual attribute; the ability to evaluate a
situation and take appropriate action on an instinctive level. And your
reflexes are amazingly fast. No wonder the soldier missed. Well, that is
one mystery solved. Now to another. Why did you join the Corps?"

"I've told you that."

"Yes, you said you were desperate," mused Lofoten. "But you could
have earned money in the ring. Your speed and undoubted skill with a
knife would have provided food and comfort. Not the need for money,
then, but for some other reason. The desire to forget a woman? I doubt
it. The urge to see new worlds? A remote possibility. The need to escape?
Many seek sanctuary in a mercenary band. For a man hunted by
assassins such a move could be wise."

Dumarest turned without comment and jerked the knife from the
chair. For a moment he held it in his hand and then, as Lofoten made no
objection, slipped it into his boot.

"Ragould is a small world with little shipping," said the major
thoughtfully. "Which is why Haiten recruited there. On such worlds
there are always restless young men eager to travel and careless as to the
true cost of their passage. But you are no star-struck fool and must have
known the risk involved. Yet for a man without money and with the
desire to remain unnoticed, the opportunity would hold an attraction. A
chance to disappear. One engagement and then, with pay and perhaps
some loot, to move on to some other world. And, if any were following
you, they would think you had died in the war."

The man was shrewd and had come too close to the truth for comfort
Dumarest was uneasily conscious of the days he had been held, an