"Harry Harrison - Rebel in Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

Troy smiled. 'I appreciate the thought, Mr Kelly. I'm a firm believer in field intelligence. I'm not too
worried about the admiral.'

'You shouldn't be. He's a good man. And this is a damned important job.' Kelly picked up the file as he
stood up. 'We'll go see him now.'

The roar of the traffic outside on Massachusetts Avenue was muted to a distant hum in the large
conference room. Heavy curtains covered the windows; floor to ceiling bookshelves lined the walls. The
admiral sat behind the long mahogany table, carefully loading tobacco into an ancient briar pipe. He was
suntanned, and almost completely bald; his blue uniform was smooth and unwrinkled, the rows of ribbons
on it impressive. He waved Troy to a chair opposite, nodded at the file that Kelly placed before him, then
struck a wooden kitchen match and puffed the pipe to life. He did not speak until Kelly had gone out and
closed the door.
'You've been seconded to us by military intelligence because of your specialized knowledge, sergeant. I
want you to tell me about gold.'

'It's a metal, admiral, very heavy, and people set great store by it.'

'That's all?' Admiral Colonne scowled from behind a cloud of blue smoke. 'Are you being facetious,
Harmon?'

'No, sir, I'm telling the truth. Gold is an important industrial metal, but that is not what most people care
about. They buy it and steal it and hide it because other people prize it highly. In the West we treat it as a
commodity—but the rest of the world sees it as a safer investment than banks or bonds. Gold purchased
legally here is worth twice as much after it has been smuggled into another country, say India. That's how
I got involved with it. The US Army has men stationed right around the world. The temptation to turn an
easy buck by selling gold is something a number of grunts just have not been able to resist.'

The admiral nodded. 'All right, that's one aspect of gold. What about the industrial use you mentioned?
Other than jewellery—what is it good for?'

'Electronics. It's malleable, does not rust or tarnish—and is a good conductor. All of the contacts in
computers are plated with it. You'll also find that it is used in windows to cut down on the amount of
sunlight that is allowed to pass through…'

'None of this has any goddamned relevance to the case we have here!' The admiral slammed the file on
the table before him. 'What we are interested in are the reasons why a certain Army colonel is buying a
lot of gold. I know that it is all perfectly legal, but I still want to know why.'

'May I ask what "a lot" is, sir?'

'A little over a hundred thousand dollars' worth, as of yesterday. Do you know what the initals QCIC
stand for?'

Troy accepted the abrupt change of topic without comment. 'No, sir, I don't. Mr Kelly said that you
would explain.'

'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. Do you know what that means?'