"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 4 - Getaway world" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

But the job they were engaged in this night had nothing to do with trivial entertainment.
Their real employment was as the top secret agents in the Service of the Empire. They
and their entire circus family were among the ablest and most loyal servants the Crown
could wish for; they had proven their worth repeatedly, and asked for little more than the
honor of serving again in the future.

As Yvette dangled alongside the window they had chosen, she examined it carefully. It
was locked by a simple turnbolt from the inside, and there were no alarms on it that her
sophisticated pocket sensors could detect. Pulling herself tightly against the wall, she
managed to slide the bolt and pry the window open. From that point, it was a simple
matter to grab onto the sill and pull herself into the room. The inside of this chamber was
dark and still. It appeared to be a guest bedroom, but was not in use at the moment. As
soon as her preliminary check indicated that it was safe, she gave a single sharp tug on
the rope to let her brother know it was all right to follow.

Up on the roof, Jules secured the rope by the simple expedient of breaking another small
vial of instaweld at the spot where the line dangled over the eaves. As soon as he
ascertained that the material had done its job, he scrambled down the rope and, within a
minute, was standing beside his sister. Both agents had their stunguns out and ready for
action.

Moving with superlative stealth, they padded over to the doorway, opened it a crack and


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gazed out into the hallway beyond. The hall was unfortunately well lit, but at least was
deserted. At the far end of the corridor they could see the staircase that they would have
to use to go downstairs where their quarries awaited. Between their present location and
the stairs were three closed and two open doors.

The first two rooms they came to were empty. In the third, they encountered a couple of
servants engaged in amorous pursuits; Yvette felt like a terrible spoilsport as she gave
them number four stuns that would knock them out for two solid hours, but she knew her
action was necessary. They could not afford to leave anyone behind them to sound the
alarm; they could fight more effectively on only one front. Whispering an apology that the
unconscious couple would never hear, she closed the door on them once more to restore
their privacy.

In the fourth room a man sat at a desk with his back to the door, engaged in writing. The
two shadows crossing the doorway startled him and he turned quickly to see who his
visitors were-but that was the last action he took for several hours. Jules's lightning
reflexes stunned the man down where he was sitting without allowing him the chance to
cry out in alarm.

The fifth room was again empty, and they came at last to the stairway. The two
d'Alemberts exchanged brief, encouraging glances. So far, all had gone smoothly; but
from this point onward, they could expect trouble at any second. As nearly as they could
figure it, there were at least two dozen people still occupying the lower floors of the