"Harry Harrison - SSR 01 - The Stainless Steel Rat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

could hear the guards voices calling back and forth through the smoke. They heard the bent ramp
creak as I lifted it so I threw two gas bombs out to quiet them down.
The smoke was starting to thin as I climbed up to the cab of the tractor and gunned it into
life. A few feet down the alley and I broke through into sunlight. The alley mouth opened out into
a main street a few feet ahead and I saw two police cars tear by. When the truck reached[?] the
street I stopped and took careful note of all witnesses. None of them showed any interest in the
truck or the alley. Apparently all the commotion was still at the other end of the alley. I poured
power into the engine and rolled out into the street, away from the store I had just robbed.
Of course I only went a few blocks in that direction then turned down a side street. At the
next corner I turned again and headed back towards Moraio's, the scene of my recent crime. The
cool air coming in the window soon had me feeling better. I actually whistled a bit as I threaded
the big truck through the service roads.
It would have been fine to go up the highway in front of Moraio's, and see all the excitement, but
that would have been only asking for trouble. Time was still important. I had carefully laid out a
route that avoided all congested traffic and this was what I followed. It was only a matter of
minutes before I was pulling into the loading area in the back of the big store. There was a
certain amount of excitement here but it was lost in the normal bustle of commerce. Here and there
a knot of truck drivers or shipping foremen were exchanging views on the robbery, since robots
don't gossip the normal work was going on. The men were, of course, so excited that no attention
was paid to my truck when I pulled into the parking line next to the other vans. I killed the
engine and settled back with a satisfied sigh.
The first part was complete. The second part of the operation was just as important though. I
dug into my paunch for the kit that I always take on the job - for such an emergency as this.
Normally, I don't believe in stimulants, but I was still groggy from the banging around. Two cc's
of Linoten in my ante cubital[?] cleared that up quickly enough. The spring was back in my step
when I went into the back of the van.
The driver's assistant and the guards were still out and would stay that way for at least ten
hours. I arranged them in a neat row in the front of the truck where they wouldn't be in my way,
and went to work.
The armored car almost filled the body of the trailer as I knew it would; therefore I had
fastened the boxes to the walls. They were fine, strong shipping boxes with Moraio's printed all
over them. It had been a minor theft from their warehouse that should go unnoticed. I pulled the
boxes down and folded them for packing, I was soon sweating and had to take my shirt off as I
packed the money bundles into the boxes.
It took almost two hours to stuff and seal the boxes with tape. Every ten minutes or so I
would check through the peephole in the door; only the normal activities were going on. The police
undoubtedly had the entire town sealed and were tearing it apart building by building looking for
the truck. I was fairly sure that the last place they would think of looking was the rear of the
robbed store.
The warehouse that had provided the boxes had also provided a supply of shipping forms. I
fixed one of these on each box, addressed to different pick-up addresses and marked paid of
course, and was ready to finish the operation.
It was almost dark by this time, however I knew that the shipping department would be busy
most of the night. The engine caught on the first revolution and I pulled out of the parking rank
and backed slowly up to the platform. There was a relatively quiet area where the shipping dock


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