"James P. Hogan - Giants 3 - Giant's Star" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

"A more companionable hour, wouldn't you agree," Sverenssen murmured pointedly.
It was getting to her again. His words implied that the honor would be his, but his manner
left no doubt that she should consider it hers. "I thought you said that you needed to talk before
the agenda gets typed," she said.
"We could clear that matter up in an hour as you suggest. That would make dinner a far
more relaxing and enjoyable occasion
later."
Heller had to swallow hard to maintain her composure. He was propositioning her. Such
things happened and that was life, but the way this was happening wasn't real. "I think you must
have misjudged something," she told him curtly. "If you have business to discuss, I'll talk to you
in an hour. Now would you excuse me please?" If he left it at that, it would all soon be
forgotten.
He didn't. Instead he moved a pace closer, causing her to back away a step instinctively.
"You are an extremely intelligent and ambitious, as well as an attractive, woman, Karen," he said
quietly, dropping his former pose. "The world has so many opportunities to offer these days-
especially to those who succeed in making friends among its more influential circles. I could do a
lot for you that you would find extremely helpful, you know."
His presumption was too much. "You're making a mistake," Heller breathed harshly, striving
to keep her voice at a level that would not attract attention. "Please don't compound it any
further."
Sverenssen was unperturbed, as if the routine were familiar and mildly boring. "Think it
over," he urged, and with that turned casually and rejoined the group he had left. He'd paid his
dollar and bought a ticket. It was no more than that. The fury that Heller had been suppressing
boiled up inside as she walked out of the room, managing with some effort to keep her pace normal.
Norman Pacey was waiting for her when she reached the U.S. delegate's offices a few
minutes later. He seemed to be having trouble in containing his excitement over something. "News!"
he exclaimed without preamble as she entered. Then his expression changed abruptly. "Hey, you're
looking pretty mad about something. Anything up?"
"It's nothing. What's happened?"
"Malliusk was here a little while ago." Gregor Malliusk was the Russian Director of
Astronomy at Bruno and one of the privileged few among the regular staff there who knew about the
dialogue with Gistar. "A signal came in about an hour ago that isn't intended for us. It's in some
kind of binary numeric code. He can't make anything out of it."
Heller looked at him numbly. It could only mean that somebody else, either somewhere on
Earth or in its vicinity, had begun
transmitting to Gistar and wanted the reply kept private. "The Soviets?" she asked
hoarsely.
Pacey shrugged. "Who knows? Sverenssen will probably call a special session, and Sobroskin
will deny it, but I'd stake a month's pay."
His voice didn't carry the defeat that it should have, and what he had said didn't account
for the jubilant look that Heller had caught on his face as she entered. "Anything else?" she
asked, praying inwardly that the reason was what she thought it might be.
Pacey's face split into a wide grin that he could contain no longer. He scooped up some
papers from a wad lying in front of the opened courier's bag on a table beside him and waved them
triumphantly in the air. "Hunt got through!" he exclaimed. "They've done it via Jupiter! The
landing is already fixed for a week from now, and the Thuriens have confirmed it. It's all
arranged for a disused airbase in Alaska. It's all fixed up!"
Heller took the papers from him and smiled with relief and elation as she scanned rapidly
down the first sheet. "We'll do it, Norman," she whispered. "We'll beat those bastards yet!"
"You've got a recall to Earth from the Department so you can be there as planned. You'll