"Jack Vance - The Demon Princes - complete" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

question, jangling upon his own alarms and tensions, startled him.
He paused before replying, gave a mild assent. "As a matter of fact,
I am."

"I expected to see someone else. But no matter. I've decided
that I can't fulfill my obligation. Your Journey is pointless. That's
all." He stood back, teeth showing in a humorless grinтАФobviously
braced against an expected dire reaction.

Gersen smiled politely, shook his head- "You mistake me for
someone else."

The other peered down in disbelief. "But you are here from
Brinktown?"

"What of that?"

The man made a forlorn gesture. "No matter. I expectedтАФbut
no matter." After a moment he said, "I noticed your shipтАФmodel
9B. You're a locater, then."

"Correct."

The man refused to be discouraged by Gersen's terseness.
"You're on your way out? Or in?"

"Out." Then, deciding that it was as well to circumstantiace his
role, he added, "I can't say that I've had luck."

The other man's tension suddenly gave way. His shoulders
sagged. "I own to the same line of business. As to luckтАФ" He
heaved a forlorn sigh, and Gersen smelled Smade's home-distilled
whiskey. "If it's bad, no doubt I have myself to blame."

Gersen's suspicion was not completely lulled. The man's voice
was well-modulated, his accent educatedтАФin itself indicating noth-
ing. He might be precisely as he represented himself: a locater in
some sort of trouble at Brinktown. Or he might be otherwise: a
situation entailing a set of hair-raising corollaries, Gersen would
vastly have preferred the company of his own thoughts, but it was
an act of elementary precaution to look more deeply into the mat-
ter. He drew a deep sigh and, feeling faintly sorry for himself, made
a courteous, if wry, gesture.

THE DEMON PRINCES

"Do you care to join me?"

"Thank you." The man seated himself gratefully, and with a
new air of bravado seemed to dismiss all of his worries and appre-