"Joe Haldeman - Buying Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haldeman Joe)

"Thank you."
"I am not being totally unselfish. If it were necessary for your M. Neuville to appear—in the flesh—in
Singapore or Hong Kong this week, would that be possible?"
I thought fast. "What would he have to know?"
"Something about the marketing of steel—"

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 BUYING TIME - Joe Haldeman



"Military?"
"No. General construction … plus the details of your late transaction."
"This Paris-Bonn-Tokyo-Singapore one?" He nodded. "By when?"
He pushed a button on his watch. "The twenty-fourth, Greenwich date. Evening in Singapore."
That was more than two days. "No problem. I may have to go to Paris tomorrow. You're still with
Demarche there?"
"Immortals stay together."
"Yeah, sometimes. She can be trusted?"
"With everything, yes."
I wasn't so sure, but then I didn't have to tell her everything. "One detail. I can't fly for free—"
"Verify," he said, making a tent with his fingers, or a cage. "The transaction should have been completed
by now."
I thumbed my credit card, and it flashed almost a quarter-million Australian dollars. "Okay. I'll get right
on it."
Kamachi bowed and left. There was a phone by the pool, but that might be too distracting. I asked the
bartender, and he directed me to a private phone in a small grotto uphill.
It was a voice-only, sitting on a concrete mushroom, too cute. I decided that in terms of security it was
about as private as shouting from the rooftops, but I could make my secure call later. All I did was
punch the bank and have it transfer most of the money to Switzerland, and then call a travel agent to
unravel a visa for me by tomorrow. France was difficult. I had him book both the 1:00 and 6:00 P.M.
suborbitals from Woomera.
When I set the receiver down, I noticed a slight tremor in the left hand. My heart was beating fast. A
little adrenaline song. It felt good to be back in the saddle. Wheeling, dealing. Have to call Gabrielle
LeCompe and see about hiring an actor. It wasn't quite 9:00 A.M. in France. I could call after the
meeting. An actor who could learn fast and forget faster.
The beer was still cold. Almost a tenth of my fortune nailed down, and the beer was still cold. Start
money rolling, and it picks up money. I probably owed Kamachi about a third of it—he wouldn't be so
crude as to mention that now—but he might forgive it if this "Neuville" ruse made him enough. A good
man to work with. His only principle was honor among thieves.


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 BUYING TIME - Joe Haldeman


I sat in the grotto, finishing the beer, figuring out various angles … How could I use the Singapore
information without jeopardizing Kamachi's margin juggling? Of course if I were a crook, and stupid, I
could undercut Kamachi. Make my million, possibly, and go hide. And be found.
I had no ambition to be sushi.