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

"The second alternative is very attractive. There's no way anyone can lie under nitrobarb;
she would tell us everything we needed to know about how she discovered us, how she
managed to get here, what her plans are and how SOTE plans to deal with us. Even if
she died under questioning, we would still benefit."

"Yet I seem to detect a note of hesitation in your voice," Lady A observed. "If giving her
nitrobarb has all those advantages, why not do it and get it over with?"

"Several reasons. Suppose she's here to contact someone else, someone whom she
doesn't know, but who will get in touch with her using a code phrase of some sort. It
wouldn't do us any good to pick her up in that case, since it would only scare off her
contact. By letting her play on our leash, we may make a bigger haul of infiltrators. Then
too, by keeping her alive, we may be able to use her as a bargaining point later, should
any trouble arise. The longer we're able to string her out, the more we may learn."

"This method is the least secure of your three alternatives," Lady A pointed out.

"Yes, but potentially the most rewarding. And the threat she poses is still minimal.
There's no way she can broadcast a message off this planet using our equipment without


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our knowledge, and I'll have her belongings screened thoroughly-and discreetly-to make
sure she has no transmitters on her. The only way to get off planet is aboard our ships,
and I'll quadruple the guard on the spaceport to make sure she doesn't sneak by us that
way."

"What's to stop any of her offworld friends from landing one of their own ships secretly
and meeting her?"

Garst smiled. "This planet is well off the main trade lanes, and as you know is listed in
the Empire's files as having been explored and passed over for settlement. The only
ships that should be coming anywhere near here are our own, and we know the
schedule. Anything else that comes within the boundaries of this solar system is blasted
instantly out of the skies. We control all access in and out--of that much, I'm sure."

Lady A was silent for a moment. Garst scanned her impassive face, trying to read
approval or disapproval in her eyes. Had he passed the test and retained her confidence,
or had he made some error in logic that would brand him as incompetent?

At last the woman spoke. "Very well, Garst, I agree with your reasoning. Putting Helena
von Wilmenhorst under nitrobarb would gain us very little, in the long run. We already
have our own access to most of the information she could tell us about SOTE's
operations in general; and in regard to the specific mission she's on now, you can do just
as well by keeping her under tight surveillance. But you'd better make sure that surveil-

lance is tight-no holes, no leaks, no way for her to escape." The or else implied in her
tone of voice was entirely too obvious.