The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World by Harry Harrison - Stainless Steel Rat 03

Author:Harry Harrison - Stainless Steel Rat 03 [03, Harry Harrison - Stainless Steel Rat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: new
Published: 2011-01-15T04:01:02.515000+00:00

"Me too," said the other. "Let's take the gold."

"I'll take the gold if there's any to be taken," Brewster said, lowering the knife but still uncertain. "It could all be a lie."

"It could be," I said quickly, before he started punching holes in my flimsy story. "But it isn't--nor does it matter. You'll see that I'm well away tonight, and we will never meet again."

"The gold," my guard said.

"Let's see it," Brewster said reluctantly. I had bluffed it through. After this he couldn't go back.

I opened the chest with utmost care while a gun was kept pressed to my kidney. I had the gold; that was the only part of my story that was true. It was divided into a number of small leather bags and intended to finance this operation. That is just what it was doing now. I took one out and solemnly handed it over to Brewster.

He shook some of the glittering granules into his hand, and they all stared at it. I pushed.

"How do I get to London?" I asked. "By river?"

"Sentries on every lock of the Thames," Brewster said, still looking at the golden gravel upon his palm.

"You wouldn't get as far as Abingdon. Horse, the only way. Back roads."

"I don't know the back roads. I'll need two horses and someone to guide me. I can pay, as you know."

"Luke here will take you," he said, finally looking up. "Used to be a drayman. But only to the walls; you'll have to get by the Frenchies yourself."

"That will be fine." SoLondon was occupied. And what about the rest ofEngland ?

Brewster went out to take care of the horses, and Guy produced some coarse bread and cheese, as well as some ale, which was more welcome. We talked, or rather they talked and I listened, occasionally putting in a word but afraid of asking any questions that might prove my almost total ignorance. But a picture finally developed.England was completely occupied and pacified, had been for some years; the exact number was not made clear, although fighting was still going on inScotland . There were dark memories of the invasion, great cannon that did terrible damage, the Channel fleet destroyed in a single battle. I could detect the cloven hoof of He behind a lot of it. History had been rewritten.

Yet this particular past was not the past of the future I had just come from. My head started to ache just thinking about it. Did this world exist in a loop of time, separate from the mainstream of history? Or was it an alternate world? Professor Coypu would know, but I did not think he would enjoy being plucked out of his memory tape again just to answer my questions. I would have to work it out without him. Think, Jim, put the old brainbox into gear. You take pride in what you call your intelligence, so apply it to something besides crockery for a change. There must be some form of logic here. Statement A, in the future this past did not exist.

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