"Mack Reynolds - Ability Quotient" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Mack)

When the would-be gunman reached his avenue of escape he said,
trying to keep his voice firm, "I warn you. For your own good, tell me what
it was that Katz wanted with you."

"Go on, get out of here," Bert said in disgust. "Or maybe I'll change my
mind and take that peashooter away from you and stick it where it won't
do you much good at all."

The other was upset, but he had already lost the game and obviously
knew it. He wasn't ready to shoot, and a gun is valueless in controversy if
you aren't willing to use it.

He grabbed the door open, fled through it, banged it behind him.

Bert Alshuler continued to sit there in disgust. "Now what the hell was
that all about?" he snarled.

On second reflection, now, he decided that he should have taken on the
twitch, got in contact with Katz and delved into the thing. Kay, great. But
suppose the other had had luck and managed to drill him between the
eyes. That's all he needed. Two more holes in the head, one neatly centered
between the eyes, the other taking out the back of the skull.

Well, he'd mention it to Katz the next time he came in contact with the
professor. He began to come to his feet to get about unpacking. The
identity screen on the door pinged, and he looked at it.
 A stranger's face was there, but was staring as though down the
corridor, rather than looking directly ahead, so that Bert could see who it
was.

Bert Alshuler grunted and went over and opened up. The other was still
looking down the hall and frowning unhappily.

"Confound it, who was that?" he said, his voice highly testy. He was a
somewhat pompous looking type, in his mid-fifties perhaps, about five
and a half feet tall and too plump for his height. He had a very good tailor,
a very good barber, and the briefcase he carried must have set him back a
small fortune.

"Who was who?" Bert said.

"That man I just passed in the corridor."

"How would I know?" Bert said reasonably. "And just who are you?"

"You're Alshuler, aren't you?"

"That's right, but that doesn't answer my question."

"I'm a colleague of Professor Katz. You can call me Doctor Smith."