"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 29 - Angado" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

"Did you see the bodies?"

"No. But with Shakira's permission I tested the witnesses with
lie-detectors. All responses were positive. They were not lying."

"But you did not see the bodies."

"They had been disposed of before I arrived. A matter of
necessity, so it was explained. The scent of blood needed to be
eradicated in order to prevent further upset among the beasts.
And the bodies themselves were terribly mangled. But some
things had been saved. Cyber Tron's bracelet and a gun he
carried. I recognized them both."

Proof the cyber had diedтАФbut the others? Avro stared at
distant, wheeling shapes. Valaban, certainly, the man must have
died if Dumarest had escaped but, from the evidence, he had
joined the others in death. A fact Avro found hard to accept; he
did not want to accept. Yet to refute the evidence was to be
illogical.

"How many witnesses did you examine?"
 "Eight. Three actually saw the incident. The others all saw the
bodies and three helped to dispose of them."

"And the owner?"

"He actually saw nothing. Cyber Tron must have contacted
the agent direct."

"But you tested him?"

"I did. With his permission after I pointed out how ill advised
he would be to make an enemy of the Cyclan. The findings
confirmed what he claimed."

Which meant that he had not lied. And yetтАж And yetтАж

"Relate the evidence of those who saw the incident," said
Avro. "Individually and in detail."

He sat immobile as he listened to the acolyte. The raft headed
toward the sun and warm hues painted his face with red and
gold and amber. Colors which accentuated the scarlet of his
robe, reflecting brilliantly from the sigil adorning his breast. The
Seal of the Cyclan, the symbol of his power. Yet despite the
sunlight and the warm tint of his robe a chill rested about him.
An aura emphasized by the skull-like contours of his face. One
thin to the point of emaciation, the scalp shaven, the deep-set