"C M Kornbluth - The Adventurer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

His eyes wandered to the sixty-incher, where he saw the interceptor squadron climbing nicely toward
the particle-which, he noticed, had become three particles. A low crooning distracted him. Was one of
the tecks singing at work? It couldn't be!

It wasn't. An unsteady shape wandered up in the darkness, murmuring a song and exhaling alcohol. He
recognized the Chief Archivist, Glen.

"This is Service country, mister," he told Glen.

"Hullo, Arris," the round little civilian said, peering at him. "I come down here regularly-regularly against
regulations-to wear off my regular irregularities with the wine bottle. That's all right, isn't it?"

He was drunk and argumentative. Arris felt hemmed in. Glen couldn't be talked into leaving without loss
of dignity to the wing commander, and he couldn't be chucked out because he was writing a biography of
the chamberlain and could, for the time being, have any head in the palace for the asking. Arris sat down
unhappily, and Glen plumped down beside him.

The little man asked him.

"Is that a fleet from the Frontier League?" He pointed to the big screen. Arris didn't look at his face, but
felt that Glen was grinning maliciously.

"I know of no organization called the Frontier League," Arris said. "If you are referring to the brigands
who have recently been operating in Galactic East, you could at least call them by their proper names."
Really, he thought-civilians!

"So sorry. But the brigands should have the Regulus Cluster by now, shouldn't they?" he asked,
insinuatingly.
This was serious-a grave breach of security. Arris turned to the little man.

"Mister, I have no authority to command you," he said mea-suredly. "Furthermore, I understand you are
enjoying a temporary eminence in the non-Service world which would make it very difficult for me
to-ah-tangle with you. I shall therefore refer only to your altruism. How did you find out about the
Regulus Cluster?"

"Eloquent!" murmured the little man, smiling happily. "I got it from Rome."

Arris searched his memory. "You mean Squadron Commander Romo broke security? I can't believe it!"
-

"No, commander. I mean Rome-a place-a time-a civilization. I got it also from Babylon, Assyria, the
Mogul Raj-every one of them. You don't understand me, of course."

"I understand that you're trifling with Service security and that you're a fat little, malevolent, worthless
drone and scribbler!"



"Oh, commander!" protested the archivist. "I'm not so little!" He wandered away, chuckling.