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

CHAPTER 3
The Missing Girl Friday

Their fatigue was pushed to the backs of their minds; the Head's wishes came before
their own personal needs. The two agents began the elaborate process of placing an
interstellar scramble call back to the Head on Earth, a full hundred and ten parsecs
away.



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The subether drive, invented by Oliver Fenton Arnold in 2011, had opened the way for
the great human exodus from Earth that occurred in the twenty-first century. In the fifty
years following Arnold's invention, it was estimated that more than a billion people left
Man's home planet for more than five hundred different worlds where they would be free
to pursue their individual destinies and philosophies.

But if Arnold's brilliant device had earned him the title "concierge to the Galaxy," it was
Anna Sieppi's invention of the subetheric communicator, or subcom, in 2027 that truly
made her the "voice of Empire." It was a simple fact that no political grouping spread
over most of the Galaxy could hold together without instantaneous communication. The
subcom provided that. Though even now, more than four hundred years after its
invention, no way had been discovered to bring the process cheaply to the common
public, it was nevertheless a godsend to government, industry and the news services.
Subetheric communication welded the human occupied Galaxy into one cohesive unit.

The d'Alemberts' ship, though small, nevertheless had its own complete subcom unit. In
addition, a small device built into the set would allow messages to be scrambled and
deciphered according to the Service's secret codes----which were changed on an
average of every two months. The scrambler insured the maximum amount of secrecy
possible during communication between the agents in the field and their home base.

After ten minutes of intricate dialing, the triscreen brightened and a three dimensional
image of their boss's head and shoulders appeared inside the tiny box. Zander von
Wilmenhorst was almost totally bald, and his face was lined with creases that made him
look older than his forty-eight years. But the look in his eyes made any viewer instantly
aware that this was a man of keen intelligence and insight. As Head of the Service of the
Empire, he was the prime security advisor to the Emperor and the master tactician who
kept peace among the stars.

He smiled as the images of Jules and Yvette appeared on his own screen. The
expression was a warm one, but weary. "Thank you for answering my message so
promptly," he said.

"A Class Five priority calls for promptness," Jules replied.

"Yes, but I expected you'd be so busy with your own case that it might take time for you
to get around to answering."