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

5

W ith a curse, Roger Quinn slammed down the telephone. Life was bad enough these
days serving a bloodthirsty demigod without having to deal with incompetent employees.
Sometimes he wondered how the world continued to function as well as it did. He paused
for a second, then decided he had answered his own question.
 For years, he had known that most people were incredibly inept. Now, to his
dismay, he was learning that the denizens of the supernatural plane were no better. If
anything, considering the fact that they were creations of mankind's dreams and desires,
they performed even worse than their makers. Grinding his teeth in annoyance, Roger set
off to find his master, the Crouching One, Lord of the Lions. He shuddered to think of the
demigod's reaction to the news. There would be hell to pay. Literally.
As usual, Roger found the Crouching One in the library, scanning another volume of
the encyclopedia. The ancient god had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and could absorb
information at an incredible rate. In the past month, it had gone through dozens of history
and anthropology texts, and now was working its way through Roger's reference shelf.
Needing neither sleep nor food, the demigod spent all of its time reading or scheming to
take over the world. It did not like being disturbed while involved in either activity.
Dressed conservatively in a dark wool suit, black tie and white shirt, the Lord of
the Lions appeared to be nothing more than a distinguished elderly gentleman. It seemed
remarkably unremarkable, until you saw its eyes. They glowed startling yellow with an
inner fire. On its infrequent trips from the mansion, the demigod wore dark glasses.
"Yes?" it hissed, clearly not pleased by his presence. "What do you want?"
"The call came in from Chicago," said Roger nervously. "They got the girl. And her
father too."
The demigod's eyes blazed a little brighter. It nodded, looking pleased. "Exactly as
I planned. I told you nothing could go wrong. The modern world cannot cope with ancient
sorcery."
The Crouching One waved one hand in dismissal. "Now, go, and leave me alone. I
do not like being disturbed while I am reading."
Licking his lips, Roger cleared his throat. "Uh, I'm afraid that wasn't all the news."
"What do you mean?" No mistaking the creature for human now. Its voice was like
ice. "Tell me."
"When the Border Redcaps broke into Merlin's office, there was another person
there. A human."
"So?" said the Crouching One. "That was nothing surprising. You told me the
magician was a seer. That he was meeting with a client is no concern of ours."
Roger exhaled, his eyes gaze flickering around the room, trying to avoid the yellow
glare of the demigod's eyes. "At the time, the Redcaps thought the same thing. They
knocked the man unconscious and left him there. They had specific orders not to kill
anyone unless absolutely necessary."
Blue flames crackled above the Lord of the Lions's brow. "Enough wasting time.
Get to the point."
"The visitor never reported the attack to the police. Nothing unusual in that. Most
people don't like to get involved if they can avoid it. But, according to our spies, he
questioned both the guard in the lobby and a news vendor outside the building about the
Redcaps." Roger's voice cracked as he reached the point of no return. "And, we've since
learned that he's carrying a talisman of great power."
"A talisman," said the Crouching One, its voice a bare whisper. "The magician gave
him an enchanted token. You are sure of this fact?"