"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The Final Circle of Paradise (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

nodded his head politely. Ilina picked up the bottle without
taking her eyes off him.
"There's still a little left here," she said. "Would you
like a drink, Oscar?"
"No, thank you," he said, coldly.
"To fraternal friendship!" said Ilina. "No? You don't want
to? Too bad!"
She splashed some wine in my glass, poured the rest in
hers, and downed it at once.
"Never in my life would I have thought that Rimeyer could
have friends who refuse a drink. Still, I have seen you
somewhere before."
Oscar shrugged his shoulders.
"I doubt it," he said.
Ilina was visibly becoming enraged.
"Some sort of a fink," she said to me loudly. "Say there,
Oscar, you wouldn't be an Intel?"
"No."
"What do you mean, no?" said Ilina. "You're the one who
had a set-to with that baldy Leiz at the Weasel, broke a
mirror, and had your face slapped by Mody."
The stone visage of Oscar grew a shade pinker.
"I assure you," he said courteously, "I am not an Intel
and have never in my life been in the Weasel."
"Are you saying that I'm a liar?" said Ilina
At this point I took the bottle off the table and put it
under my armchair, just in case.
"I am a visitor," said Oscar. "A tourist."
"When did you arrive?" I said to discharge the tension.
"Very recently," replied Oscar. He continued to gaze at
the wall. Obviously here was a man with iron discipline.
"Oh, oh!" said Ilina suddenly. "Now I remember! I got it
all mixed up."
She burst out laughing, "Of course you're no Intel! You
were at our office the day before last. You're the salesman who
offered our manager some junk like... 'Dugong' or 'Dupont..."
"Devon," I prompted. "There is a repellent called Devon."
Oscar smiled for the first time.
"You are quite right, of course," he said. "But I am not a
salesman. I was only doing a favor for a relative."
"That's different," said Ilina and jumped up. "You should
have said so. Ivan, we all need to drink to a pledge of
friendship. I'll call... no, I'll go get it myself. You two can
have a talk, I'll be right back."
She ran out of the room, banging the door.
"A fun girl," said I.
"Yes, extremely. You live here?"
"No, I'm a traveler, too.... What a strange idea your
relative had!"
"What do you have in mind?"