The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK®. Randall Garrett

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СКАЧАТЬ traveling parsecs to see.”

      Dobigel leaned across the table. “Belgezad is a Noble of the Realm,” he said slowly. “He’ll be at the Coronation. You know he’s going to wear the Necklace of Algol as well as anyone, and you—”

      Suddenly, he leaned forward a little farther, his right hand stabbing out toward Drake’s leg beneath the table.

      But Anson Drake was ready for him. Dobigel’s hand was a full three inches from Drake’s thigh when a set of fingers grasped his wrist in a viselike hold. Steely fingers bit in, pressing nerves against bone. With a gasp, Dobigel opened his hand. A small, metallic cylinder dropped out.

      Drake caught it with his free hand and smiled. “That’s impolite, Dobbie. It isn’t proper to try to give your host an injection when he doesn’t want it.”

      Casually, he put the cylinder against the arm which he still held and squeezed the little metal tube. There was a faint pop! Drake released the arm and handed back the cylinder. Dobigel’s face was white.

      “I imagine that was twelve-hour poison,” Drake said kindly. “If you hurry, old Belgezad will give you the antidote. It will be painful, but—” He shrugged.

      “And by the way, Brother Dobigel,” he continued, “let me give you some advice. The next time you try to get near a victim with one of those things, don’t do it by talking to him about things he already knows. It doesn’t distract him enough.”

      Dobigel stood up, his fists clenched. “I’ll get you for this, Drake.” Then he turned and stalked off through the crowd.

      * * * *

      No one had noticed the little by-play. Drake smiled seraphically and finished his drink. Dobigel was going to be uncomfortable for a while. Twelve-hour poison was a complex protein substance that could be varied in several thousand different ways, and only an antidote made from the right variation would work for each poison. If the antidote wasn’t given, the victim died within twelve hours. And even if the antidote was given, getting over poison wasn’t any fun at all.

      Reflecting happily on the plight of Jomis Dobigel, Anson Drake paid his bill, tipped the waiter liberally, and strolled out of the Flamebird Room and into the lobby of the Royal Gandyll Hotel. The Coronation would begin early tomorrow, and he didn’t want to miss the beginning of it. The Shan’s Coronation was the affair of Thizar.

      * * * *

      He went over to the robot newsvender and dropped a coin in the slot. The reproducer hummed, and a freshly-printed newsfax dropped out.

      He headed for the lift tube, which whisked him up to his room on the eighty-first floor. He inserted his key in the lock and pressed the button on the tip. The electronic lock opened, and the door slid into the wall. Before entering, Drake took a look at the detector on his wrist. There was no sign of anything having entered the room since he had left it. Only then did he go inside.

      With one of the most powerful financiers on Thizar out after his blood, there was no way of knowing what might happen, and therefore no reason to take chances.

      There were some worlds where Anson Drake would no more have stayed in a public hotel than he would have jumped into an atomic furnace, especially if his enemy was a man as influential as Belgezad. But Thizar was a civilized and reasonably well policed planet; the police were honest and the courts were just. Even Belgezad couldn’t do anything openly.

      Drake locked his door, sang to himself in a pleasant baritone while he bathed, put on his pajamas, and lay down on his bed to read the paper.

      * * * *

      It was mostly full of Coronation news. Noble So-and-So would wear such-and-such, the Archbishop would do thus-and-so. There was another item about Belgezad; his daughter was ill and would be unable to attend. Bloody shame, thought Drake. Too bad Belgezad isn’t sick—or dying.

      There was further mention of the Necklace of Algol; it was second only to the Crown Jewels of the Shan himself. The precautions being taken were fantastic; at a quick guess, about half the crowd would be policemen.

      The door announcer chimed. Drake sat up and punched the door TV. The screen showed the face of a girl standing at his door. Drake smiled in appreciation. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a smooth, tanned complexion. It was a beautiful face, and it showed promise of having a body to match.

      “Who, may I ask, is calling on a gentleman at this ungodly hour, and thus compromising her reputation and fair name?”

      The girl smiled, showing even, white teeth, and her eyes sparkled, showing flickers of little golden flames against the brown. “I see I’ve found the right room,” she said. “That voice couldn’t belong to anyone but Anson Drake.” Then she lowered her voice and said softly: “Let me in. I’m Norma Knight.”

      Drake felt a tingle of psychic electricity flow over his skin; there was a promise of danger and excitement in the air. Norma Knight was known throughout this whole sector of the Galaxy as the cleverest jewel thief the human race had ever spawned. Drake had never met her, but he had definitely heard of her.

      He touched the admission stud, and the door slid silently aside. There was no doubt about it; her body did match her face.

      * * * *

      “Do come in, Norma,” he said.

      She stepped inside, and Drake touched the closing button. The door slid shut behind her.

      She stood there for a moment, looking at him, and Drake took the opportunity to study the girl more closely. At last, she said: “So you’re Anson Drake. You’re even better looking than I’d heard you were. Congratulations.”

      “I have a good press agent,” Drake said modestly. “What’s on your mind?” He waved his hand at a nearby chair.

      “The same thing that’s on yours, I suspect,” she said. “Do you have a drink to spare?”

      Drake unlimbered himself from the bed, selected a bottle from the menu and dialed. The robot bellhop whirred, a chute opened in the wall, and a bottle slid out. Drake poured, handed the tumbler to the girl, and said: “This is your party; what do you have in mind?”

      The girl took a sip of her drink before she answered. Then she looked up at Drake with her deep brown eyes. “Two things. One: I have no intention or desire to compete with Anson Drake for the Necklace of Algol. Both of us might end up in jail with nothing for our pains.

      “Two: I have a foolproof method for getting the necklace, but none for getting it off the planet. I think you probably have a way.”

      Drake nodded. “I dare say I could swing it. How does it happen that you don’t have an avenue of disposal planned?”

      She looked bleak for a moment. “The man who was to help me decided to back out at the last minute. He didn’t know what the job was, and I wouldn’t tell him because I didn’t trust him.”

      “And you trust me?”

      Her eyes were very trustful. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Drake, and I happen to know you never doublecross anyone unless they doublecross you first.”

      “Trade about is fair play, to quote an ancient maxim,” Drake СКАЧАТЬ