The Pirates of Zan читать онлайн

f line, and it’s pfft!”“Don’t talk, Bron!” said Derec in panic. “Just keep quiet! It’s bad enough! Don’t make it worse.”A cop handed Hoddan a garment. He put it on. He became aware that the cop was scared. So was Derec. Everybody in the room was scared except himself. Hoddan found himself incredulous. People didn’t act this way on super-civilized, highest-peak-of-culture Walden.“Who’d I kill?” he demanded. “And why?”“You wouldn’t know him, Bron,” said Derec mournfully. “You didn’t mean to do murder. But it’s only luck that you killed only him instead of everybody.”“Everybody!” Hoddan stared.“No more talk!” snapped the nearest cop. His teeth were chattering. “Keep quiet or else!”Hoddan shut up. His clothing was inspected and then handed to him. He dressed while the cops completed the examination of his room. They were insanely thorough, though Hoddan hadn’t the least idea what they might be looking for. When they began to rip up the floor and pull down the walls, the other cops led him outside.There was a fleet of police trucks in the shaded street They piled him in one, and four cops climbed after him, keeping stun-pistols trained on him during the maneuver. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Derec climbing into another truck. The entire fleet sped away. The whole affair had been taken with enormous seriousness by the police. Traffic was detoured from their route. When they swung up on an elevated expressway, there was no other vehicle in sight. They raced on downtown.They rolled off the expressway, then down a cleared avenue. Hoddan recognized the Detention Building. Its gate swung wide. The truck he rode in went inside. The gate closed. The other trucks went away, rapidly. Hoddan alighted and saw that the grim, gray w