"Vernor Vinge - A Deepness in the Sky" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Vernor)

because of the detours and delays, but the losses were to a few of the largest trading Families, and went
unacknowledged. They were rich enough, and this search was important enough, that it scarcely mattered.
For the search had narrowed: The Man was traveling alone, a vague blur of multiple identities, a chain of
one-shot jobs on minor trading vessels, but always moving back and back into this end of Human Space.
The hunt narrowed from a hundred light-years, to fifty, to twentyтАФand a half-dozen star systems.

And finally, the manhunt came down to a single world at the coreward end of Human Space. Now
Sammy could justify a fleet specially for the end of the hunt. The crew and even most of the owners
would not know the missionтАЩs true purpose, but he had a good chance of finally ending the search.



Sammy himself went groundside on Triland. For once, it made sense for a Fleet Captain to do the detail
work: Sammy was the only one in the fleet who had actually met The Man in person. And given the
present popularity of his fleet here, he could cut through whatever bureaucratic nonsense might come up.
Those were good reasons. . .but Sammy would be down here in any case.I have waited so long, and in a
little while weтАЩllhave him.

тАЬWhy should I help you find anyone! IтАЩm not your mother!тАЭ The little man had backed into his inner
office space. Behind him, a door was cracked five centimeters wide. Sammy caught a glimpse of a child
peeking out fearfully at them. The little man shut the door firmly. He glared at the Forestry constables
who had preceded Sammy into the building. тАЬIтАЩll tell you one more time: My place of business is the net.
If you didnтАЩt find what you want there, then itтАЩs not available from me.тАЭ

тАЬ тАЩScuse me.тАЭ Sammy tapped the nearest constable on the shoulder. тАЬ тАЩScuse me.тАЭ He slipped through the
ranks of his protectors.


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 A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY


The proprietor could see that someone tall was coming through. He reached toward his desk.Lordy. If he
trashed the databases he had distributed across the net, theyтАЩd get nothing out of him.

But the fellowтАЩs gesture froze. He stared in shock at SammyтАЩs face. тАЬAdmiral?тАЭ

тАЬUm, тАШFleet Captain,тАЩ if you please.тАЭ

тАЬYes, yes! WeтАЩve been watching you on the news every day now. Please! Sit down. YouтАЩre the source of
the inquiry?тАЭ

The change in manner was like a flower opening to the sunlight. Apparently the Qeng Ho was just as
popular with the city folk as it was with the Forestry Department. In a matter of seconds, the
proprietorтАФthe тАЬprivate investigator,тАЭ as he called himselfтАФhad pulled up records and started search
programs. тАЬ. . .Hmm. You donтАЩt have a name, or a good physical description, just a probable arrival date.
Okay, now Forestry claims your fellow must have become someone named тАШBidwel Ducanh.тАЩ тАЭ His gaze
slid sideways to the silent constables, and he smiled. тАЬTheyтАЩre very good at reaching nonsense
conclusions from insufficient information. In this case . . .тАЭ He did something with his search programs.
тАЬBidwel Ducanh. Yeah, now that I search for it, I remember hearing about that fellow. Sixty or a hundred