"Jack Vance - Demon Prince 2 - The Killing Machine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

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The Killing Machine
By Jack Vance
Book 2 in the "Demon Prince" Series



From "How the Planets Trade," by Ignace Wodleckt:

Cosmopolis, September, 1509:

In all commercial communities, the prevalence or ab-
sence of counterfeit money, spurious bills of exchange,
forged notes-of-hand, or any of a dozen other artifices to
augment the value of blank paper is a matter of great con-
cern. Across the Oikumene, precise duplication and repro-
ducing machines are readily available; and only meticulous
safeguards preclude the chronic debasement of our cur-
rency. These safeguards are three: first, the single negotia-
ble currency is the Standard Value Unit, or SVU, notes for
which, in various denominations, are issued only by the
Bank of Sol, the Bank of Rigel, and the Bank of Vega. Sec-
ond, each genuine note is characterized by a 'quality of au-
thenticity.' Third, the three banks make widely available the
so-called fake-meter. This is a pocket device that, when a
counterfeit note is passed through a slot, sounds a warning
buzzer. As all small boys know, attempts to disassemble the
fake-meter are futile; as soon as the case is damaged, it
destroys itself.

Regarding the 'quality of authenticity' there is naturally
a good deal of speculation. Apparently in certain key areas,
a particular molecular configuration is introduced, resulting
in a standard reactance of some nature: electrical capacity?
magnetic permeability? photo-absorption or reflectance?
isotopic variation? radioactive doping? a combination of

174 THE DEMON PRINCES

some or all of these qualities? Only a handful of persons
know and they won't tell.

Gersen first encountered Kokor Hekkus at the age of nine.
Crouching behind an old barge, he watched slaughter, pillage, en-
slavement. This was the historic Mount Pleasant Massacre, notable
for the unprecedented cooperation of the five so-called Demon
Princes. Kirth Gersen and his grandfather survived; five names be-
came as familiar to Gersen as his own: Attel Malagate, Vtole Fa-
lushe, Lens Larque, Howard Alan Treesong, Kokor Hekkus. Each