"Simon Hawke - Wizard 1 - The Wizard of 4th Street" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

the podium and gave three sharp raps with his gavel on a small mahogany block.
"May I have your attention, please, ladies and gentlemen? We are about to begin." He waited a moment for silence.
"Thank you. And good morning. I would like to welcome you all to the cooperative auction of the Euphrates artifacts,
conducted by Christie Associates on behalf of the Annendale Corporation and the United Semitic Republics
Department of Antiquities. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that bidding is limited to licensed mages,
sorcerers, and wiz-ards or their bonded representatives only. In order to avoid any embarrassment or inconvenience, I
have been requested to inform you that you will be asked for your credentials when registering your purchase. All
items up for bidding have been certified as prehistoric Mesopotamian antiquities by the Department of Archaeology of
the University of Baghdad. These artifacts have been graded for thaumaturgi-cal potential and certified by the
International Thaumaturgi-cal Commission's investigative committee, chaired by the honorable Sheik Rashid Ilderim
Al'Hassan, Dean Emeritus of the Thaumaturgical College of the University of Cairo. We will begin with lot number
forty-three, a matched pair of
pagan statuettes carved in obsidian, possibly of Babylonian origin and believed to represent prehistorical deities.
Bid-ding will begin at $25,000."
Amazing, thought Wyrdrune. Twenty-five grand for a couple of three-foot figurines carved out of black rock. Of
course, an investigative board of sorcerers had determined that they possessed thaumaturgial potential, which meant
that ancient trace emanations had been detected, suggesting they could be employed in some type of enchantment—if
you could figure out the proper spell. Simple. Just punch up a search program on your corporate computer banks that
would sort through all of the accumulated thaumaturgical data derived from thousands of ancient sourcebooks and
ar-chaeological records and maybe, if there was correlating in-formation in the data banks, you might come up with
something that would at least put you on the right scent. It was wildcatting for enchantments. You pays your money
and you takes your chances. It must be nice to be rich, he thought. Or have a corporate sponsor. He didn't even have
twenty-five dollars to his name, much less twenty-five thou-sand. But then, he wasn't planning on buying anything.
He watched from the far side of the room as the bidding progressed. The auctioneer stood behind an ornately carved
podium on a dais. The items up for bidding were marked by catalog lots and brought up in no particular order that he
could determine. They were exhibited briefly in front of the podium and then brought around behind it, to remain there
in view of the audience until the high bid was reached. It was all done in a very proper, very classy style. Silent
bid-ding, no crass shouting-out of prices. Heads deliberately nodded, fingers discreetly raised to indicate a bid, all
very elegant and tony. All the better, thought Wyrdrune. The di-version would make more of an impact that way. At
least, he fervently hoped so.
And on the opposite side of the room, someone else was hoping exactly the same thing.
A figure in a long, dark robe slowly moved forward, face concealed by a heavy cowl. The figure stopped by the
mar-ble column near the front of the room, opposite the one where Wyrdrune stood. Both arms were folded, hands
tucked into long sleeves. The right hand withdrew slightly from the sleeve, and the hooded face looked down at a
small black canister.
"I have seventy-five thousand, do I hear eighty? Seventy-five once... seventy-five twice... seventy-five three times,
sold to the gentleman in the third row. Thank you very much, sir. May I have the next item up for bidding, please?"
Wyrdrune checked the folded newspaper article he had clipped from The Times last week, the one that had
an-nounced the auction and described several of the items up for bidding. He wondered about the items that the USR
De-partment of Antiquities had decided to keep. Of course, there had been nothing in the papers about those.
Perhaps, in due time, something would leak out as a result of industrial espionage or stock market transactions, but the
most valu-able thaumaturgical properties were always closely guarded secrets, especially in the United Semitic
Republics.
The feature article about the recent discoveries in the Euphrates Valley had also profiled Sheik Al'Hassan, scion of one
of the USR's oldest ruling families and one of the most powerful adepts in the world. Since his country had lost its oil
wealth in the Collapse, it had struggled for years to recover from tumultuous civil wars. Although his nation was still
poor, Sheik Al'Hassan had amassed a considerable personal fortune out of a grim determination to return to the style
of life once known by Arab royal families. The same determination fueled his thirst for the old knowledge of his
Pharaonic ancestors. He used his position on the governing council of the USR and his seat on the board of the ITC to
good advantage.