"Stanley G. Weinbaum - Smothered Seas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weinbaum Stanley G)

Asia!"
"But I don't seeтАФ"
 "You will. When Stephanie was six-teenтАФthat was three years ago, when I was in HarbinтАФthe
Khan forbade her to appear in public, lest foreign resi-dents learn her features and impair her usefulness
When she rode out-of-doors, no one was permitted within five hundred feet of her, and no one save her
palace intimates really saw her face.
"But"тАФCass grinned aggravatinglyтАФ "I happen to have extraordinary eye-sight, as a copter observer
should, and I used to watch her from the prescribed distance. Once I even turned a pair of night glasses
on her. She was a beauty, all right."
"I begin to suspect, sir," said Lister grimly, "that you're about to say some-thing you're going to be
sorry for."
"Perhaps. Anyway, since the war began, there have been a lot of rumors about a brilliant feminine
Asiatic spyтАФthe Nightshade. It's my opinion that the Nightshade is the Princess Steph-anie, and as for
the rest, I know only thisтАФthat Sally Amber looks like Stephanie!"
"You're utterly insane!" blazed Lis-ter. His voice rose. "It's ridiculous! Sally's no Asiatic. Does she
look like an Oriental? Her skin is as white as marbleтАФwhen she isn't sun-tanned, I mean. Her speech is
thoroughly Ameri-can. Her eyesтАФ"
He stopped; suddenly he had visual-ized Sally Amber's eyesтАФdark, pure, lovely; but, beyond doubt,
with the slightest possible oriental cast.
"Exactly'" declared Cass, in reply to Lister's unspoken thought.
"Lieutenant, how long have you known this girl? Are you sure that her tan is tan, and not her natural
color? And isn't she about the right age? And doesn't she spend a lot of time cultivating the friendship of
peo-ple like you, who possess important mili-tary knowledge? Whether she gets any-thing out of you is a
different story, but you ought to know whether she tries, whether she ever asks leading questions, or
anything like that."
"She doesn't!" snapped Lister, then groaned. He himself had chided the girl more than once on her
curiosity. "Look here, captain," he said, "if Sally is an enemy spyтАФit's inconceivableтАФ but if she is, I say,
it's America first with me, much as I love her. Lay off of her, will you, and let me find out."
"I'm not so hard-boiled and pitiless as you think."
"How do youтАФ"
"How do I know what you think of me? Because it's my business, as an intelligence officer, to know
what peo-ple think. But, as I was saying, I'll trust you. I'll give you your chance. I'm flying tonight on a
certain mission, and shall not return for two days. Un-til then, the case is in your hands. But, if you have
not solved it by then, I shall take it over."

LISTER'S mental turmoil brooked no delay. Despite the fact that, if Sally were dining out, she must
have already left, he rushed across town to her apart-ment. SheтАФor some one, at leastтАФ was home, for
the library lights were glowing. He ignored the slow auto-matic elevator, and dashed up the four flights of
steps to her floor.
He arrived in front of her door breathless and perspiring. There he paused, striving to calm himself.
Suddenly, he was aware of voices be-yond the door. He listened, but it was impossible to distinguish
words. He fancied he heard the tones of a man, but even that was not a certainty.
He rang the bell. There was a sud-den silence in the room beyond; and then, after a considerable
interval, the sound of footsteps. Sally herself opened the door, her face seeming strained and tense. But
she smiled as she recognized Lister.
"Dick!" she exclaimed. "What's the matter? You're breathless!"
He strode past her. The room was empty of occupants, save for Sally and himself. "To whom were
you talking?" he asked grimly.
"I was using the televisiphone. Why?"'
"I thought I heard a man's voice in the room here."