"Zach Hughes - Mother Lode" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hughes Zach)

"My dad sunk everything he had into this mother of a ship. I had
visions of coming home, caring for him in his declining years, living in
genteel poverty on the old home place. I came home to find him dead and
the house and lands mortgaged up to the hilt. I think I owe it to his
memory not to throw away the opportunity he wanted for himself."

"With what you have already, you could buy a place like the Kenner
house."

"Yes, I could."
 "But you want more?"

"Don't you?"

There was a long silence. "Yes, I do." He turned off the holo, brought up
the lights. His eyes squinted. "What would X&A do if they found out
you've delayed reporting an important find?"

"The laws are very strict. Ten to fifteen years in a penal colony."

"What if you—we—simply do away with it? The skull."

"No. I couldn't do that."

"No, I guess not." He sighed. "Well, then."

"We go to the belt. We work our asses off. We haul at least three, maybe
four loads of the finest ore we can dig to Haven. We keep our eyes open for
more fossilized bones. And then we call in X&A and show them where we
found the objects—on our last trip to the belt. "

Denton winked, picked up the dog, who grunted and threw himself onto
his back in the crook of Denton's arm, indicating that he wanted his belly
rubbed. "What about this hairy little scoundrel? Can we trust him to keep
his mouth shut?"

"Uhhhhh," Mop groaned in pleasure.

Erin found herself smiling. Dent was so good with the dog. Any man
who liked dogs couldn't be all bad.

She shook her head. "Nothing personal, Dent, but I want to
reemphasize that this is strictly a working arrangement."

"I get the message. One question. Do we hot bed it, since the other
cabin has been converted to mining control?"

She smiled coldly, led him by the arm to the door of the mining cabin,
pointed to the folded bunk bed on the bulkhead. He shrugged. "That