Читать книгу Fly Hunter: The Story of an Inquisitor онлайн

…Now Aman-Jalil didn't scream, calmly picked up the apple, and took such a big bite that chewing became uncomfortable.

– It scares me, the old donkey, – he thought bitterly, – but you won't get the documents anyway.

– Do you like it?

– It's a tasty apple, boss.

– I meant something else.

– The real one?

– What did you think? I have one craftsman, a real Indian from the Maya tribe; he can't read knots, true, but he knows how to dry heads in hot sand… I think I'll leave the collection to the anthropology museum in my will.

– Is there a museum that collects skulls?

– You're dense, uneducated. I wouldn't trust you with any other position, but you'll handle the inquisition.

– I'll do my best, boss, just don't deny me in council.

– I won't deny you, not at all.

– The council is all-powerful… Can I go now, boss?

– Go… Wait! – Ahmed stopped Aman-Jalil at the door. – Why did you remove my pilot? I understand getting rid of those two crooks, but why the pilot? He's loyal to me; I don't understand.

– Nadir will dig the ground, and the pilot will be next. He won't cover for me: they flew there together, he'll say, and only one came back… I could see the question in his eyes. The pilot will say, Nadir will understand whose man I am, and that's your end…

– You cut off all the links, you're the only one left?

– If there's nothing else to do, I should be cut off too…

Ahmed suddenly calmed down.

– You understand, then?

– Even a blind man can see…

– Go, get to work!

Aman-Jalil left the office. Ahmed was left alone. Here it is, the new generation… Who can I work with? He doesn't chatter, he acts quickly. But for him, a person isn't a person, anything but a living person with their own troubles, desires, thoughts. And this one will only know the desires of the bosses and his own desires. Uncertain days are coming. There are few of his own people; I have to take such people. It's dangerous to work with them. Like a circus trainer: the tigers seem tame, but how many trainers have been torn apart as soon as they sense weakness… Oh, damn, I forgot!