"Джон Варли. Платежное поручение(engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

desires, at any time during his time of contract to the aforesaid Rethrick
Construction Company --' "
" 'If he so desires, instead of the monetary sum specified, he may
choose instead, according to his own wish, articles or products which, in
his own opinion, are of sufficient value to stand in lieu of the sum --' "
Jennings snatched up the cloth sack, pulling it open. He poured the
contents into his palm. Kelly watched.
"Where's Rethrick?" Jennings stood up. "If he has an idea that this --"
"Rethrick has nothing to do with it. It was your own request. Here,
look at this." Kelly passed him the sheets of paper. "In your own hand. Read
them. It was your idea, not ours. Honest." She smiled up at him. "This
happens every once in a while with people we take on contract. During their
time they decide to take something else instead of money. Why, I don't know.
But they come out with their minds clean, having agreed --"
Jennings scanned the pages. It was his own writing. There was no doubt
of it. His hands shook. "I can't believe it. Even if it is my own writing."
He folded up the paper, his jaw set. "Something was done to me while I was
back there. I never would have agreed to this."
"You must have had a reason. I admit it doesn't make sense. But you
don't know what factors might have persuaded you, before your mind was
cleaned. You aren't the first. There have been several others before you."
Jennings stared down at what he held in his palm. From the cloth sack
he had spilled a little assortment of items. A code key. A ticket stub. A
parcel receipt. A length of fine wire. Haifa poker chip, broken across. A
green strip of cloth. A bus token.
"This, instead of fifty thousand credits," he murmured. "Two years. .
."

He went out of the building, onto the busy afternoon street. He was
still dazed, dazed and confused. Had he been swindled? He felt in his pocket
for the little trinkets, the wire, the ticket stub, all the rest. That, for
two years of work! But he had seen his own handwriting, the statement of
waiver, the request for the substitution. Like Jack and the Beanstalk. Why?
What for? What had made him do it?
He turned, starting down the sidewalk. At the corner he stopped for a
surface cruiser that was turning.
"All right, Jennings. Get in."
His head jerked up. The door of the cruiser was open. A man was
kneeling, pointing a heat-rifle straight at his face. A man in blue-green.
The Security Police.
Jennings got in. The door closed, magnetic locks slipping into place
behind him. Like a vault. The cruiser glided off down the street. Jennings
sank back against the seat. Beside him the SP man lowered his gun. On the
other side a second officer ran his hands expertly over him, searching for
weapons. He brought out Jenning's wallet and the handful of trinkets. The
envelope and contract.
"What does he have?" the driver said.
"Wallet, money. Contract with Rethrick Construction. No weapons." He
gave Jennings back his things.
"What's this all about?" Jennings said.