"Jack Vance - Assault on a City" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

to talk of gunk in front of one's lady friend, inasmuch as gunk inevitably
included erotic and hypererotic episodes.
"Somebody will get the Hant distributorship," said Paul, "and I'm
hoping it's me. If so, I'll need help: you and Raulf, maybe a few more if we
have to bust into Julio's territory."
"Hmm," said Bo. "What about the Old Man?"
"I put through an application a week ago. He hasn't bounced it back. I
saw Jantry yesterday and he gave me an up-sign. So it looks good."
"Genine won't fix it with Julio."
"No. We'd have to gut it through by ourselves. It might get warm."
"And wet," said Paul, referring to the bodies sometimes found floating
in the Louthe.
"That flashing probation," spat Bo. "I've got to worry about that. In fact,
look over there! My personal vermin, Clachey and Delmar. Hide that gunk!
They're coming by."
 The two detectives halted beside the table; they looked down with
mercury-colored eyes, back and forth between Bo, Raulf and Paul. "A fine
lot of thugs," said Clachey. "What deviltry are you working up now?"
"We're planning a birthday party for our mothers," said Raulf. "Would
you care to come?"
Delmar scrutinized Bo. "Your probation, as I recall, depends on
avoiding bad company. Yet here you sit with a pair of gunk merchants."
Bo returned a stony gaze. "They've never mentioned such things to me.
In fact we're all planning to enter the Police Academy."
Clachey reached to the seat between Bo and Paul and came up with the
stills. "Now, what have we here? Could it be gunk?"
"It looks like some photographs," said Raulf. "They were on the seat
when we arrived."
"Indeed," said Clachey. "So you think you're going to import Aquitanian
gunk? Do you have any tablets on you?"
"Of course not," said Raulf. "What do you take us for? Criminals?"
"Empty your pockets," said Delmar. "If there's gunk in the group,
somebody's probation is in bad trouble."
Paul, Raulf and Bo wordlessly arranged the contents of their pockets on
the table. One at a time they stood up while Delmar deftly patted them up
and down. "Oh, what's this?" From Paul's waistband he extracted one of
those devices known as stingers, capable of hurling needles of lethal or
anesthetic drugs across a room or a street and into a man's neck. Bo and
Raulf were clean.
"Pay your respects to all," Clachey told Paul. "I believe that this is up
and out, Amhurst."
"It might well be," Paul agreed dolefully.
A drunk lurched away from the bar and careened into the two
detectives. "Can't a man drink in peace without you noses breathing down
his neck?"
A waiter tugged at his arm and muttered a few words.
"So they're after gunkers!" stormed the drunk. "What of that? Up in
Cloudhaven there's fancy gunk-parlors; why don't the noses go raid up
there? It's always the poor scroffs who get the knocks."
The waiter managed to lead him away.