"Robert Weinberg - Logical Magician 01 - A Logical Magician" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weinberg Robert)

had no doubts. Somehow, the force had discovered the magician posed a threat to its
plans and had sent its minions to kidnap the mage and his daughter. Why the gang hadn't
just killed the pair, Jack didn't know. He knew for sure it wasn't out of any feelings of
mercy.
Fortunately, their unseen enemy was not omniscient. It failed to realize that Merlin
had recruited Jack for the struggle. The bikers had treated him as a minor annoyance to
be swatted out of the way, nothing more. Unless, he concluded gloomily, his efforts meant
nothing and were doomed to failure. At present, that seemed extremely likely.
Merlin's rambling discourses left too much unsaid. Jack had no idea how to find,
much less defeat, the evil that threatened the future. A mere graduate student in
mathematics, he still had not a clue as to why the magician felt he was qualified for the job
of saving mankind. Solving equations, not slaying demons, was his specialty. But, he had
to try.
Jack wondered if perhaps that was the reason he had been chosen. All his life, he
had faced every challenge in his path, no matter what the odds. He never shirked his
responsibilities. He attacked his problems with a single-minded determination that ruled
out failure. Defeat was not part of his vocabulary. A relentless streak ran through him,
making him a much more dangerous foe than anyone ever guessed.
Wobbly, he staggered out of the office, carefully closing the door behind him. His
fingerprints were all over the place. That could cause trouble if anyone noticed Mr.
Ambrose and his secretary were missing. Jack suspected supernatural entities left no such
marks.
Waiting for the elevator, he suddenly remembered the Universal Charge Card. He
fumbled through his pockets for a few seconds before finding it. With a sigh of relief, he
slipped the rectangle into his wallet. Perhaps he could use the card to track down the
missing magician. It wasn't much of a plan, but at least it provided a starting point for
further ideas.
Reaching the ground floor, Jack straightened his shirt and dusted off his clothes
before confronting the security guard stationed in the front hallway. He needn't have
bothered. The grizzled police veteran didn't even look up from his newspaper when Jack
coughed.
"Whatcha want?" the officer mumbled.
"You didn't happen to notice a gang of bikers leaving here a short while ago?" Jack
hesitated, realizing how foolish he sounded. "Accompanied by an old man and a young
lady?"
The guard squinted over the paper at Jack. Dark eyes peered around warily. "No
gangs allowed in my building, sonny. That includes bikers. Now go away and quit
bothering me. Can't you see I'm busy?"
A talkative newspaper vendor across the street confirmed the officer's claim. "Ain't
their territory," the old man declared in a high-pitched voice. "They steer clear of the
Loop. Too many cops around for them to try anything."
Jack shook his head in annoyance. The kidnapers had somehow managed to enter
and leave the office building unseen. Merlin claimed the teleportation spell only worked on
small objects, so that was eliminated. Perhaps the gang knew the secret of invisibility.
With magic real, anything was possible. Anything at all. It was not a comforting thought.

4

Despite all that had taken place in the past few hours, a few lingering doubts troubled
Jack. He needed to prove to himself that Merlin had been telling him the truth, the whole