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The Stars My Destination ( Tiger! Tiger! ) :: Bester Alfred
Страница: 116 из 164From the pocket she took out a sheet of partially burned paper. «I saw this on Sergei Orel's desk when I was trying to put the fire out the fire the Burning Man started . . .»
She handed him the sheet of paper. It was a fragment Of a begging letter.
It read: . . . do anything to get out of these bacteria fields. Why should a man just because he can't jaunte get treated like a dog? Please help me, Serg. Help an old shipmate off a ship we don't mention. You can spare ~r 100. Remember all the favors I done you? Send ~r 200 or even ~r 50. Don't let me down.
Rodg Kempsey
Barrack 3
Bacteria, Inc.
Mare Nubium
Moon
«By God!» Foyle exclaimed. «This is the lead. We can't fail this time. We'll know what to do. He'll spill everything. . . everything.» He grinned at Robin. «We leave for the moon tomorrow night. Book passage. No, there'll be trouble on account of the attack. Buy a ship. They'll be unloading them cheap anyway.»
«We?» Robin said. «You mean you.»
«I mean we,» Foyle answered. «We're going to the moon. Both of us.»
«I'm leaving.»
«You're not leaving. You're staying with me.»
«But you swore you'd…”
«Grow up, girl. I had to swear to anything to get this. I need you more than ever now. Not for 'Vorga.' I'll handle 'Vorga' myself. For something much more important.»
He looked at her incredulous face and smiled ruefully. «It's too bad, girl. If you'd given me this letter two hours ago I'd have kept my word. But it's too late now. I need a Romance Secretary. I'm in love with Olivia Presteign.»
She leaped to her feet in a blaze of fury. «You're in love with her? Olivia Presteign? In love with that white corpse!» The bitter fury of her telesending was a startling revelation to him. «Ah, now you have lost me. Forever. Now I'll destroy you!»
She disappeared.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CAPTAIN PETER Y'ANG-YEOVIL was handling reports at Central Intelligence Hq. in London at the rate of six per minute. Information was phoned in, wired in, cabled in, jaunted in. The bombardment picture unfolded rapidly.
ATTACK SATURATED N amp; S AMERICA FROM 6o° TO 1200
WEST LONGITUDE.. . LABRADOR TO ALASKA IN N. . . RIO
TO ECUADOR IN S … ESTIMATED TEN PER CENT (10%)
MISSILES PENETRATED INTERCEPTION SCREEN … ESTIMATED POPULATION LOSS: TEN TO TWELVE MILLION
«If it wasn't for jaunting,» Y'ang-Yeovil said, «the losses would have been five times that. All the same, it's close to a knockout.
She handed him the sheet of paper. It was a fragment Of a begging letter.
It read: . . . do anything to get out of these bacteria fields. Why should a man just because he can't jaunte get treated like a dog? Please help me, Serg. Help an old shipmate off a ship we don't mention. You can spare ~r 100. Remember all the favors I done you? Send ~r 200 or even ~r 50. Don't let me down.
Rodg Kempsey
Barrack 3
Bacteria, Inc.
Mare Nubium
Moon
«By God!» Foyle exclaimed. «This is the lead. We can't fail this time. We'll know what to do. He'll spill everything. . . everything.» He grinned at Robin. «We leave for the moon tomorrow night. Book passage. No, there'll be trouble on account of the attack. Buy a ship. They'll be unloading them cheap anyway.»
«We?» Robin said. «You mean you.»
«I mean we,» Foyle answered. «We're going to the moon. Both of us.»
«I'm leaving.»
«You're not leaving. You're staying with me.»
«But you swore you'd…”
«Grow up, girl. I had to swear to anything to get this. I need you more than ever now. Not for 'Vorga.' I'll handle 'Vorga' myself. For something much more important.»
He looked at her incredulous face and smiled ruefully. «It's too bad, girl. If you'd given me this letter two hours ago I'd have kept my word. But it's too late now. I need a Romance Secretary. I'm in love with Olivia Presteign.»
She leaped to her feet in a blaze of fury. «You're in love with her? Olivia Presteign? In love with that white corpse!» The bitter fury of her telesending was a startling revelation to him. «Ah, now you have lost me. Forever. Now I'll destroy you!»
She disappeared.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CAPTAIN PETER Y'ANG-YEOVIL was handling reports at Central Intelligence Hq. in London at the rate of six per minute. Information was phoned in, wired in, cabled in, jaunted in. The bombardment picture unfolded rapidly.
ATTACK SATURATED N amp; S AMERICA FROM 6o° TO 1200
WEST LONGITUDE.. . LABRADOR TO ALASKA IN N. . . RIO
TO ECUADOR IN S … ESTIMATED TEN PER CENT (10%)
MISSILES PENETRATED INTERCEPTION SCREEN … ESTIMATED POPULATION LOSS: TEN TO TWELVE MILLION
«If it wasn't for jaunting,» Y'ang-Yeovil said, «the losses would have been five times that. All the same, it's close to a knockout.