"Survivors Quest (Timothy Zahn)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

Huxley's face didn't even twitch. Clearly, he'd already suspected this
was coming. "Starting when?" he asked.
"Starting now," Mara said. "Thanks for the drink, and I'll be on my way."
"Not so fast," Huxley said, lifting a hand.
Mara froze halfway to her feet. Behind Huxley, blasters had abruptly
appeared in the hands of three of the men who had hitherto been minding their
own business at the bar. Blasters that were, not surprisingly, pointed at her.
"Sit down," he ordered.
Carefully, Mara eased back into her chair. "Was there something else?"
she asked mildly.
Huxley gestured again, more emphatically this time, and the off-key
background music shut off. As did all conversation. "So that's it, is it?"
Huxley demanded quietly. In the sudden silence, even a soft voice seemed to
ring against the battered walls. "Karrde's going to toss us aside, just like
that?"
"I presume you read the news," Mara said, keeping her voice calm. All
around her, she could sense the single-minded animosity of the crowd. Huxley
had apparently stocked the place with his friends and associates. "Karrde's
getting out of the smuggling business. Has been, for the past three years. He
doesn't need your services anymore."
"Yeah, he doesn't need," Huxley said with a sniff. "What about what we
need?"
"I don't know," Mara said. "What do you need?"
"Maybe you don't remember what it's like in the Outer Rim, Jade," Huxley
said, leaning over the table toward her. "But out here, you don't split things
three ways against the ends. You work for one group, period, or you don't work
at all. We burned our skyarches behind us years ago when we started working
for Karrde. If he pulls out, what are we supposed to do?"
"I expect you'll have to make new arrangements," Mara said. "Look, you
had to have known this was coming. Karrde's made no secret of the direction
he's been taking."
"Yeah, right," Huxley said contemptuously. "Like anyone believed he'd
really go straight."
He drew himself up. "So you want to know what we need? Fine. What we need
is something to tide us over until we can get back in the business with
someone else."
So there it was: a simple and straightforward pocket-shake. Nothing
subtle from this bunch. "How much?" she asked.
"Five hundred thousand." His lip twisted slightly. "In cash credits."
Mara kept her face expressionless. She'd come here prepared for something
like this, but that number was way beyond reason. "And where exactly do you
expect me to get this little tide-me-over?" she asked. "I don't carry that
much spending money on me."
"Don't get cute," Huxley growled. "You know as well as I do that Karrde's
got a sector clearinghouse over on Gonmore. They'll have all the credits there
we need."
He dug into a pocket and produced a hold-out blaster. "You're going to
call and tell them to bring it to us," he said, leveling the weapon at her
face across the table. "Half a million. Now."
"Really." Casually, keeping her hands visible, Mara turned her head to