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

The Cyclan? But if she knew of their interest in him then why not
mention the name? A guess, he decided. Neither she nor the major was
sure. The display of their seal had been a goad or a calculated stimulus to
gauge his reaction. An old trick of any interrogator. Let slip a hint and
then follow up; probing, using the information the victim lets fall to gain
more. But what was the real connection between them? Why had he been
sent to the woman?

"To help me," she said, when bluntly he asked the question. "And to
help yourself at the same time."

"How?"

She stepped towards him, arms lifting to embrace him, her lips
settling close to his ear. Her voice was low, a bare murmur, impossible to
hear from outside or to be caught by any electronic device.

"To steal, Earl. To snatch the loot of a world."

*****
From high to one side a man yelled. His shout drowned in the rasp
and rumble of falling rubble, the pound of a pneumatic hammer
thudding like a monstrous heart accompanying the snarling whine of a
saw. Noise which filled the air with blurring distortions as dust veiled
sharp detail.

The day had died and night reigned but still work continued under
the glow of floodlights. A uniformed figure snarled a curse, then stiffened
to salute as an officer barked his displeasure.

"Sorry sir, but these civiliansтАФ"

"Are our employers." The officer, young, a neat dressing on his
forehead covering a minor wound, smiled at the woman at Dumarest's
side. "Your forgiveness, my lady, but the man is fatigued. Battle tires a
man and the war was a hard one." His hand rose to touch the dressing.
"Even so he should have remembered his manners."

"You are forgiven, Captain." Her smile was radiant. "Your wound is
not too serious, I hope?"

"I was lucky," he said modestly. "And medical aid was at hand."

"I'm glad of that. Well, goodnight, Captain. Perhaps we shall meet
again. You are on duty here at night? I shall remember it."

"Captain Pring, my lady." His salute was from the parade ground. "If
you need help be free to ask."

"A fool," she said as they moved on. "A typical soldier, Earl. A manikin