"Robert Weinberg - Logical Magician 02 - A Calculated Magician" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weinberg Robert)

his talent pay, in a manner never considered by earlier sorcerers.
An unexpected talent for deception made Roger extremely rich. Quitting his job, he set himself up
as a business consultant, specializing in correcting problems no one else could solve. Using black magic,
he summoned a host of minor fiends and sent them out on missions of industrial espionage. Invisible to all
but their master, the devils proved extremely capable agents of destruction. And they cleverly disguised
their efforts so they appeared to be the result of accidents or employee blunders.
Needless to say, Roger’s corporation displayed an uncanny ability to spot and eliminate such
troubles. Within a short time, his firm had earned the reputation as the company that solved problems no
one else could handle. Within months, Quinn Enterprises had risen to national prominence in the
consulting field, After a year, there were company offices in major cities throughout the United States.
And there was talk of expanding overseas.
Much of the work handled by the firm was routine and required no supernatural intervention at
all. His competent and capable staff handled those matters. Roger reserved his demonic allies for special
efforts.
The invisible creatures made wonderful spies. They eavesdropped on confidential conversations
and copied confidential documents with ease. Knowledge was power and Roger knew the secrets of
most of the major corporations in the country. From such information came even greater wealth. But too
much was never enough, and Roger wanted still more. It was a path that led to disaster.
Seeking more powerful allies, one night Roger attempted to raise one of the demon princes of
hell from the Bible. Unfortunately, he forgot that the names of most of the major devils from the New
Testament were based on the titles of ancient pagan gods. Instead of raising a demon, Roger summoned
the Crouching One, Lord of the Lions, a long-forgotten Babylonian deity.
Not subject to any of the usual binding spells, the demigod frightened Roger. When it was
accidentally freed from the magic circle holding it prisoner by an unexpected earth tremor, the being
proved to be more trouble than he could handle. Roger reluctantly found himself serving the Crouching
One in the demigod’s quest to rule the world.
At the door to the travel agency, Roger once again muttered a silent prayer to whatever powers
existed that kept the Lord of the Lions confused about the power of direct dialing. The ancient god still
did not understand the modern world. Otherwise, it might realize that making reservations to Las Vegas
didn’t require Roger taking an afternoon trip downtown to a travel agency.
At times, these brief moments of freedom tempted him with the thought of escape. A quick drive
to the airport and he could be in another country in a few hours. Roger strongly doubted that the Lord of
the Lions would be able to locate him once he was a thousand miles away. He had plenty of money in
bank accounts easily accessible throughout the world. His nemesis was woefully ignorant about branch
banking. Still, two factors prevented Roger from acting.
The first, and most important, were the marks on his elbow. The five spots were the fingerprints
of the demigod, placed there when he first summoned the creature to the material plane. Roger
remembered watching objects wither and age, then turn to dust, after being touched by the Crouching
One. His was a grip that killed.
At present, the Lord of the Lions needed him, and thus the spell of dissolution was held in check.
Roger suspected any attempt to escape would result in the magic taking effect. He had no desire to be
reduced to a pile of ashes.
 Secondly, the Lord of the Lions planned to rule the world. He was a ruthless, ambitious god.
Forgotten and unworshiped for thousands of years, the demonic being possessed little of its original
powers. Still, it schemed and plotted a return to greatness.
Recognizing its limitations dealing with the modern world, the Lord of the Lions had promised
Roger tremendous rewards for his help. Assuming that the promises of a part-God, part-demon could be
trusted. Roger doubted the Ancient One’s word---but the thought of being absolute ruler of the United
States tempted him more than he liked to admit. For there was the real possibility that the Lord of the
Lions might prevail.