"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The Final Circle of Paradise (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

their necks, so we quit that game."
"It's a very unpleasant sight, a corpse under water -
especially if there is a current," said I.
Ahmad chuckled "I've seen worse. I had occasion to work
with the police."
"This was after the fracas?"
"Much later. When the anti-gangster laws were passed."
'They were called gangsters here too?"
"What else would you call them? Not brigands, certainly.
'A group of brigands, armed with flame throwers and gas bombs,
have laid siege to the municipal buildings,' " he pronounced
expressively. "It doesn't sound right, you can feel that. A
brigand is an ax, a bludgeon, a mustache up to the ears, a
cleaver -"
"A lead pipe," I offered.
Ahmad gurgled.
"What are you doing tonight?" he asked.
"Going for a walk."
"You have friends here?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well... then it's different."
"How come?"
"Well, I was going to suggest something to you, but since
you have friends..."
"By the way, " I said, "who is your mayor?"
"Mayor? The devil knows, I don't remember. Somebody was
elected."
"Not Peck Xenai, by any chance?"
"I don't know." He sounded regretful. "I wouldn't want to
mislead you."
"Would you know the man anyway?"
"Xenai... Peck Xenai... No, I don't knew him; haven't
heard of him. What is he to you - a friend?"
"Yes, an old friend. I have some others here, but they are
all visitors."
"Well," said Ahmad, "if you should get bored and all kinds
of thoughts begin to enter your head, come on over for a visit.
Every single day from seven o'clock on I am at the Chez
Gourmet. Do you like good eating?"
"Quite," said I.
"Stomach in good shape?"
"Like an ostrich's."
"Well, then, why don't you come by? We'll have a fine
time, and it won't be necessary to think about a thing."
Ahmad braked and turned cautiously into a driveway with an
iron gate, which silently swung open before us. The car rolled
into the yard.
"We have arrived," announced Ahmad. "Here is your home."
The house was two-storied, white with blue trim. The
windows were draped on the inside. A clean, deserted patio with