"Smith, Wilbur - Wild Justice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Wilbur)

Of the four hundred and one passengers in the final Departure Lounge
that Monday evening three hundred and sixty were surgeons, or their
wives. The surgeons, including some of the most eminent in the world
of medicine, had come from Europe and England and the United States,
from Japan and South America and Asia, for the convention that had
ended twenty-four hours previously on the island of Mauritius, five
hundred miles to the south of Malic island. This was one of the first
flights out since then and it had been fully booked ever since the
convention had been convoked.

"British Airways announces the departure of Flight BA 070 for Nairobi
and London; will transit passengers please board now through the main
gate. "The announcement was in the soft singsong of the Creole accent,
and there was a massed movement towards the exit.

"Victtoria Control this is Speedbird Zero Seven Zero request push back
and start clearance."

"Zero Seven Zero you are cleared to start and taxi to holding point for
runway Zero One."

"Please copy amendment to our flight plan for Nairobi.

Number of Pax aboard should be 401. We have a full house."

"Roger, Speedbird, your flight plan is amended." The gigantic aircraft
was still in its nose-high climb configuration and the seat belt and
no-smoking lights burned brightly down the length of the firstclass
cabin. The blonde girl and her companion sat side by side in the roomy
seats and directly behind the forward bulkhead that partitioned off the
command area and the first-class galley. The seats that the young
couple occupied had been reserved many months previously.

The blonde nodded to her companion and he leaned forward to screen her
from the passengers across the aisle while she slipped one of the
coco-de-mer from its net bag and held it in her lap.

Through its natural division the nut had been carefully sawn into two
sections to allow removal of the milk and the white flesh, then the two
sections had been glued together again just as neatly. The joint was
only apparent after close inspection.

The girl inserted a small metal instrument into the joint and twisted
it sharply, and with a soft click the two sections fell apart like an
Easter egg.

In the nests formed by the double husk of the shells, padded with
strips of plastic foam, were two smooth, grey, egg-like objects each
the size of a baseball.