"Lawrence Watt - Evans - One of the Boys" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

“I just got here,” he said.

“Later, then?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied. “I should go say hello to the mayor.” He gestured vaguely across the room.

She pouted, but let him go.

He made his way through the crowd, making polite noises to various strangers as he went. A murmur
drew his attention back toward the door for a moment; he turned to see the Night Man entering, his
disreputable hat jammed down even further than usual.

The woman in the red dress was still watching the Captain. She smiled and made a little wave at him. He
waved back, unwillingly.

“Who’s that in the hat?” someone asked.

“ ‘It’s dusk,” “ someone else quoted from the newspaper write-up; the Captain frowned. ” ’He’s
punched in, and he’s looking for someone to punch out.“ ”

“Oh, it’s the Night Man,” the first person exclaimed in recognition.

The Captain was annoyed. That bit was practically the Night Man’s slogan now. The darn newspapers
had never come up with anything that memorable about him, even though everyone knew he was twice
the hero the Night Man was.

True, the Night Man probably had more citizen’s arrests to his credit, but they were all small fry. He
hadn’t captured any monsters. He hadn’t fought anything like the Church of Doom, or the cave-dwelling
mutants with their brain-deadening rays. He didn’t have any of the Captain’s superhuman talents and
abilities. The Captain snorted; he’d like to have seen that punk in the hat even bring in someone like the
Electrothief! He couldn’t punch through a concrete wall!

Then he caught himself. Professional jealousy was unbecoming in a crimefighter; after all, they were all on
the same side.

Someone laughed, loudly and brightly; he turned to see Deborah Hatch near the podium, a drink in her
hand, talking to Mr. Swift. Her cameraman was nearby, watching disinterestedly. Red Rover and the
Amazon were talking over by a pillar.

The Captain supposed that Red and the Amazon were exchanging ideas on crimefighting, and Swift and
Ms. Hatch were probably talking about how the media could help in the war against crime. That was all
fine.

But what was he supposed to do? He started to turn around, looking for someone to talk to, when a man
in a black suit strode out to the podium and tapped on the microphone.

The Captain listened intently as the man introduced the mayor, and then as the mayor made a little speech
thanking the costumed crimefighters for their efforts.

“We don’t know who you are,” His Honor said, “but we’re glad you’re here.”