"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 20 - Web of Sand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

"I had enough for passage to Fendris. There I could have
found employment but the chance is lost now."

"And?"

Santis said, bleakly, "I lack the cost of a high passage."

"I am better than you," said Kemmer. "Not much but enough
for me to insist I buy the next round. Even so unless a vessel
comes soon I shall be in dire trouble. The fee to gain entry—" He
drew out his cheeks. "Earl?"

"We're all in the same situation. Marta?"

"Has money but I don't know how much. But it will do us no
good. She will neither lend nor give and, frankly, I don't blame
her." Kemmer shook his head. "Life, at times, can be hard."

And on Harge more than hard. Dumarest leaned back, his
shoulders hard against the wall, an instinctive position which
gave maximum protection. A caution which was now too late.
His questions had gained more than he'd divulged. The
passengers on earlier ships had not been dumped—Frome had
been the first captain to have done so. Which meant he must
have had a special reason and Dumarest was certain now what it
was.

The Cyclan, plotting, predicting where and when he would be,
calculating his movements on the basis of assembled data,
extrapolating the most logical sequence of events. The Rift had
originally spelled safety but the very plethora of worlds, short
journeys and plentiful small ships had finally told against him.
Now, it seemed, his luck had run out. Harge was a prison. One
bounded by wind and dust, lacerating storms and economic
factors no less cruel.

The entry fee had been high and gave nothing but the right to
shelter. Each sip of water and scrap of food would have to be
paid for. Each moment of rest. Even his present comfort was
limited by the amount of drinks purchased and already a woman
was approaching to take their order or demand they leave. There
were no heavy industries, no open fields, no chance of finding
work and building a stake. Soon, like Santis, he would be without
the cost of a passage. Every traveler's nightmare—to be stranded
on a world from which he couldn't escape. To die there—but
Dumarest had no fear of that. The Cyclan would come to claim
him first.