"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 28 - Melome" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

"Earl!" Evan Luftman waved from where he stood chewing at
a mouthful of meat. "Enjoying the sights?"

"Just looking around."

"Baatz holds everything a man could need." Luftman wiped
his mouth and looked at the skewer he held. On it fragments of
meat lay beside succulent vegetables, the whole flavored with
spice. "Good food, amiable women, diversions of all kinds. Going
to the circus?"

"Maybe."

"They say it's good. Something special." Luftman licked at his
skewer. "If those girls are anything to go by they weren't lying."

Dumarest made no comment. Luftman had been a fellow
passenger on the journey to Baatz. They'd killed time over the
card table and the man had talked more than he had wanted to
listen. A roving entrepreneur dealing in what came to hand. A
man past middle age with a face creased and blotched by the
passage of time and dissipation. The meeting was one he could
have done without.

"I've finished my business," said Luftman. "A quick profit,
small but a man can't be too greedy. Now I'm looking for a
couple of healers willing to travel to Jardis. They have a lot of eye
trouble in the mines and it costs money to ship in regular
doctors. Working on a profit-sharing basis I figure three months
should make us all a comfortable pile."

"It could."

"It will ifтАФ" Luftman looked at his skewer then threw it aside.
"I could use someone to take care of things, Earl. Muscle in case
it's needed. Those miners can get awkward at times. Refuse to
pay after treatment or gang up and demand a refund. You know
how it can be."

"You can handle it."

"Once, yes, not now. I can't face them down, not like you
could. One-fifth the profit, Earl. Maybe three months work. A
deal?"

"For a fifth?"

"Make it a quarter. An even share, Earl, you, me, the two
healersтАФafter expenses, naturally."