"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 23 - World of Promise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

The wind had turned fitful, gusting from the town and
blowing over the field, the clustered booths of the fair, catching
the rising columns of colored smoke and stinging his eyes with
drifting acridity.

Blinking, Dumarest took shelter in an open-fronted tent,
buying a mug of spiced tisane, sipping it as he looked over the
area. The crowds had thickened as had the noise, and both
would increase as the night grew older, not easing until the
dawn, not ending until the closing of the fair two days from now.
A misnomerтАФthe fair was only called that because of the
entrepreneurs taking advantage of the occasion; the vendors and
touts, the harlots and gamblers, clowns, tumblers, freaks, the
sellers of dreams and builders of hope, the merchants and
traders and caterers to vice and pleasure who moved from world
to world adding color and gaiety to a host of gatherings, living
like transient parasites on the events of time.

"A word in your ear, sir." The man standing beside Dumarest
looked cautiously from side to side. "But first your promise that
our discourse will remain confidential. I have it?"

Dumarest sipped at his tisane.

"A man of discretion," applauded the stranger. "One who
knows that silence is a message within itself. Now, sir, to be
frank, I find myself in an invidious position. My clientтАФI am an
investigatorтАФhas died. The assignment he gave me was to obtain
for him certain information regarding an examination held
before the granting of a degree of special merit on a world which
need not be named at this time. Passing the examination and
gaining the degree offers great financial and academic
advantages. The cost of obtaining the informationтАФto be frank,
the answers to the questionsтАФwas considerable and, as I
mentioned, my client died before I could be recompensed. You
understand the situation?"

"I think so." Dumarest looked into his mug. "You want to sell
me the answers to the examination questions?"

"You put it bluntly, sir, but you have grasped the point. Such
an intelligence does not shame the robe you wear. Now, as a
student, you will appreciate the opportunity I offer. Copied, the
information will make you financially independent, and a few
sales will recoup the initial outlay."

"I'm not interested."

"You should be." The man had a thin, avian face, the eyes
hooded, the mouth pursed. "Need I remind you that education