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The Doomsday Conspiracy :: Sheldon Sidney
Страница: 40 из 213“You saw the UFO?”
“Ja. I almost brachte aus.”
“Can you describe it?”
Mandel shuddered. “It … it seemed alive.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I mean … there was a kind of light around it. It kept changing colours. It looked blue … then green … I don’t know. It’s hard to describe. And there were these little creatures inside. Not human, but …” He broke off.
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Were they alive?”
“They looked dead to me.” He mopped his brow. “I’m glad you believe me. I tried to tell my friends and they laughed at me. Even my wife thought I had been drinking. But I know what I saw.”
“About the car you towed …” Robert said.
“Ja. The Renault. It had an oil leak, and the bearings burned out. The tow job cost a hundred and twenty-five francs. I charge double on Sundays.”
“Did the driver pay by cheque or credit card?”
“I don’t take cheques and I don’t take no credit cards. He paid in cash.”
“Swiss francs?”
“Pounds.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I remember I had to check the rate of exchange.”
“Mr Mandel, do you happen to have a record of the licence number of the car?”
“Of course,” Mandel said. He glanced down at the card. “It was a rental. Avis. He rented it in Geneva.”
“Would you mind giving me that licence number?”
“Sure, why not?” He wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to Robert. “What is this all about, anyway? The UFO thing?”
“No,” Robert said, in his sincerest voice. He took out his wallet and pulled out an identification card. “I’m with the IAC, the International Auto Club. My company is doing a survey on tow trucks.”
“Oh.”
Robert walked out of the garage, and thought dazedly, It looks like we have a fucking UFO with two dead aliens on our hands. Then why had General Hilliard lied to him when he knew Robert would discover that it was a flying saucer that had crashed?
There could only be one explanation, and Robert felt a sudden, cold chill.
The huge mothership floated noiselessly through dark space, seemingly motionless, travelling at 22,000 miles an hour, in exact synchronization with the orbit of the earth. The six aliens aboard were studying the three-dimensional field-of-view optical screen that covered one wall of the spaceship.
“Ja. I almost brachte aus.”
“Can you describe it?”
Mandel shuddered. “It … it seemed alive.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I mean … there was a kind of light around it. It kept changing colours. It looked blue … then green … I don’t know. It’s hard to describe. And there were these little creatures inside. Not human, but …” He broke off.
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Were they alive?”
“They looked dead to me.” He mopped his brow. “I’m glad you believe me. I tried to tell my friends and they laughed at me. Even my wife thought I had been drinking. But I know what I saw.”
“About the car you towed …” Robert said.
“Ja. The Renault. It had an oil leak, and the bearings burned out. The tow job cost a hundred and twenty-five francs. I charge double on Sundays.”
“Did the driver pay by cheque or credit card?”
“I don’t take cheques and I don’t take no credit cards. He paid in cash.”
“Swiss francs?”
“Pounds.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I remember I had to check the rate of exchange.”
“Mr Mandel, do you happen to have a record of the licence number of the car?”
“Of course,” Mandel said. He glanced down at the card. “It was a rental. Avis. He rented it in Geneva.”
“Would you mind giving me that licence number?”
“Sure, why not?” He wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to Robert. “What is this all about, anyway? The UFO thing?”
“No,” Robert said, in his sincerest voice. He took out his wallet and pulled out an identification card. “I’m with the IAC, the International Auto Club. My company is doing a survey on tow trucks.”
“Oh.”
Robert walked out of the garage, and thought dazedly, It looks like we have a fucking UFO with two dead aliens on our hands. Then why had General Hilliard lied to him when he knew Robert would discover that it was a flying saucer that had crashed?
There could only be one explanation, and Robert felt a sudden, cold chill.
The huge mothership floated noiselessly through dark space, seemingly motionless, travelling at 22,000 miles an hour, in exact synchronization with the orbit of the earth. The six aliens aboard were studying the three-dimensional field-of-view optical screen that covered one wall of the spaceship.