"Jack vance - Tschai 2 - Servants of the Wankh" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

are already on the passenger list."
"I'm afraid not," said Reith. "We only arrived in Coad this morning."
"But only an hour ago, perhaps less, a pair of Yao came aboard, a cavalier
and a noblewoman. They took accommodation in the name of 'Adam Reith'; the grand
suite in the after-house-that is to say, two staterooms with a private
saloon-and deck passage for three. I requested a deposit; they stated that Adam
Reith would come aboard to pay the passage fee, which is two thousand three
hundred sequins. Are you Adam Reith?"
"I am Adam Reith, but I plan to pay no two thousand three hundred sequins. So
far as I am concerned, cancel the booking."
"What sort of tomfoolery is this?" demanded the supercargo. "I have no
inclination for such frivolity."
"I have even less desire to cross the Draschade Ocean in the rain," said
Reith. "If you want recourse, seek out the Yao."
"A pointless exercise," growled the supercargo. "Well then, so be it. If you
will be happy with something less than luxury, try aboard the Vargaz: the cog
yonder. She's departing in a day or so for Cath, and no doubt can find room for
you."
"Thank you for your help." Reith and his companions walked down the dock to
the Vargaz: a short high-pooped round-hulled ship with a long bowsprit, sharply
aslant. The two masts supported a pair of lateen yards with sails hanging limp
while crewmen sewed on patches of new canvas.



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Reith inspected the cog dubiously, then shrugged and went aboard. In the
shadow of the after-house two men sat at a table littered with papers,
ink-sticks, seals, ribbons and a jug of wine. The most imposing of these was a
burly man, naked from the waist up, save for a heavy growth of coarse black hair
on his chest. His skin was brown, his features small and hard in a round
immobile face. The other man was thin, almost frail, wearing a loose gown of
white and a yellow vest the color of his skin. A long mustache drooped sadly
beside his mouth; he wore a scimitar at his waist. Ostensibly a pair of sinister
ruffians, thought Reith. "Yes, sir, what do you wish?" asked the burly man.
"Transportation to Cath in as much comfort as possible," said Reith.
"Little enough to ask." The man heaved himself to his feet. "I will show you
what is available."
Reith eventually paid a deposit on two small cabins for Anacho and Ylin-Ylan,
a larger stateroom which he would share with Traz. The quarters were neither
airy, spacious nor over-clean, but Reith thought that they might have been
worse.
"When do you sail?" he asked the burly man.
"Tomorrow noon on the flood. By preference, be aboard by midmorning; I run a
punctual ship."
The three returned through the crooked streets of Coad to the hotel. Neither
the Flower nor Dordolio were on the premises. Late in the afternoon they
returned in a palanquin, followed by three porters laden with bundles. Dordolio