"Philip E. High - Invader on My Back" - читать интересную книгу автора (High Phillip E)

A Stinker learned survival the hard way; it became his stock-in-trade,
creed, religion and way of life.

An experienced Stinker developed a sixth sense for ambush, could smell
booby traps a mile away and knew more about poison substances than a
research laboratory. Usually he surrounded himself with a large variety of
subtle and ingenious weapons and could draw faster and shoot quicker
than any other living man. Not even a Father-Assassin in one of the cities
would consider one:

"A Stinker, Patron! Are you mad? Look, my good friend, to take a
Stinker I must use sixty men. Of these sixty men I shall, at a conservative
estimate, lose half. If I lose thirty men, I am below survival level, I am
vulnerable, I am gunned down by a bigger guild before I can draw breath.
However, Patron, rather than appear ungenerous, I will compromise. I will
tell you, without charge and in exquisite detail, just what to do with your
five million offer…"

The police, too, stood clear. The Stinkers never did anything indictable
and they killed only in self-defense. Lose a couple of squads picking one
up—for what?

The Stinkers, therefore, if they could keep their sanity, which was a
hard enough job in itself, lived comparatively untroubled lives. That is, if
they could stand being virtual lepers, living like hermits and being actively
and violently hated. Stinkers were not called Stinkers for nothing!

Craig was a Stinker, an experienced Stinker and survival-wise to the
point of near-clairvoyance. He was also a philosophical thinker and highly
intelligent into the bargain.

In his early days he had been almost an infant prodigy and, at fourteen,
had majored in cybernetics. At seventeen he had acquired degrees in six
sciences and his future had seemed assured.

Regrettably, at the age of eighteen, he began to Stink and his associates,
colleagues and odd members of the general public went to considerable
lengths to dispose of him.

Perhaps it was his innate genius which saved him; that, coupled with
his courage and physical strength.

As soon as he began to notice the growing hostility of those around him,
he realized his caste and took precautionary measures. These
measures—he had a high degree of technical ability—he improved upon
with the passing of time. In truth, they were now the true companions of
his isolation, but in those early days they had saved his life many times
over.