"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 7 - Planet of treachery" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

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PLANET OF TREACHERY

Volume seven of The classic Family d'Alembert series

By E.E. 'Doc' Smith
With Stephen Goldin


Chapter 1
Encounters on a Pirate World

As the man left the camouflaged doorway of the elevator tube from the pirate base and
headed out into the jungle, he got the distinct impression he was being watched. The
prickling of the small hairs on the back of his neck, the suspicious absence of movement,
the too-quiet stillness all around him-all these were danger signals to his wary mind. He'd
gone through too many perilous situations before, had put his life on the line too many
times, to ignore his instinctive feeling that something was not quite as it should be.

He stood stock still for a moment in a seemingly casual pose-but his hand was no more
than a few centimeters from the hilt of the stun-gun tucked into his belt. Turning his head
slowly he surveyed the landscape before him, alert for a myriad of possible dangers.

The pirate base was organized along very utilitarian lines. All the important
areas-headquarters and strategy, supply depots, communications, living quarters for the
chief pirate officials-were buried below more than a hundred meters of solid rock, secure
from all but the heaviest weapons the Empire could throw at them. Closer to the surface
were the barracks for the "enlisted men," the pirate hordes, representing nearly a
thousand worlds. At this base alone there were more than twenty-two thousand people,
men and women-alumni from the toughest planetary and Imperial prisons, graduates all
from the school of survival-at-any-cost. Ringing the base in a series of underground silos
were the ships the pirates used for their expeditions-more than five hundred of various
sizes, ranging from small, swift scouts to large cruisers brimming over with destructive
capacity.

No expense had been spared to set up the base-and this was only one of several that
this particular pirate knew about. He also knew that the business of looting spaceships
was nowhere near lucrative enough to support an operation of this scope and magnitude.
This all had to be a part of something bigger and more diabolical-but despite his best
efforts he'd been unable so far to pierce that mystery.

As he stood now on the surface and looked around, there was little indication of human
activity on this planet. The elevator tube from which he'd emerged was disguised to look
like a wide tree set at the edge of a clearing. Around it were many other real trees-tall,
with dark brown trunks and broad, serrated leaves of a strange color closer to blue than
green. Strung through the tops of the trees were the red slither vines that all the pirates
learned to avoid within a short while of coming to this world; the vines exuded a strong
serum that could even soak through clothing, and left a person's skin red and burning for
a week or better. Local bird life was abundant, flying between the trees in their brilliant