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

"But you have fought?"

"When I had to, yes."

Lofoten nodded and leaned back in his chair his eyes studying the
figure before him. Tall, hard, the face edging on bleakness. A man who
had learned early to rely on no one but himself. Stripped of armor and
uniform he wore the clothes he had carried beneath, pants and tunic of
dull, neutral grey, boots which rose to just below the knee. The tunic had
a high collar and long sleeves falling to mid-thigh. One shoulder was
scarred by the impact of a grazing bullet, the glint of protective metal
showing beneath the tear. Only one thing was missing from his usual
attireтАФthe knife which now rested on the desk before the interrogator.

Lofoten picked it up, turning it so as to allow the light to glimmer
along the blade. Nine inches of honed steel, the edge curved, the back
sweeping down to form a needlepoint. The guard was scarred and the
hilt worn. Striking it on the desk he listened to the clear note from the
vibrating metal.

"A good knife," he said casually, "but an unusual weapon for a
mercenary to carry. As unusual as the fact that you wore your own
clothes beneath the armor. Why did you do that?"

"I didn't like what I was given."

"Cheap stuff, thin, tearing at a touch." Lofoten smiled, a brief nicker
of the lips which revealed a flash of white teeth. "And your weapons the
same, yes? How many veterans did your contingent hold? What rations
did you carry? How were your logistics? How well were you officered?"

"Badly," said Dumarest and added, dryly, "as you must know."

"Yes, I know, as you must have realized by now, that Haiten's Corps
was sacrificed. You had no hope of winning and there was no intention
that you should. It was nothing more than a show. Sound and fury and
some limited destruction, enough to awe the civilians and make them
obedient to the new regime."

"A show," said Dumarest bitterly. "But some good men died."

"Of courseтАФbut dead men draw no pay." Lofoten was cynical. "And
who ever claimed that the life of a mercenary was easy? You realize why
I'm telling you this? Your Command has no interest in redeeming you.
Unless you have money to buy your freedom you are ours to dispose of as
we see fit. The penalty the vanquished must pay. Either you work off your
debt by service in the Legion or we sell you as contract labor. You have
money?"

"No."