标题: 《The stainless steel rat joins the circus 》作者：- Harry Harrison【EPUB】 [打印本页] 作者: zaq 时间: 2014-9-9 14:51 标题: 《The stainless steel rat joins the circus 》作者：- Harry Harrison【EPUB】 Harry Harrison -10 -The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus v1.0 28 February 2001 ?? 'Set a thief to catch a thief' goes the old saying. And when you are the richest man in the Universe and someone is systematically robbing your various banks blind you'd better set the best thief ever to catch your thief. After all, even at four million credits a day plus expenses, you can afford him. Enter Slippery Jim DiGriz. And that's how it all began for Slippery Jim and his wife, the ever deadly Angelina; persuaded from a life of stockmarket dabbling and picnicking by the hover tanks, hard cash and outright flattery of undoubtedly the richest and probably the oldest man alive; Imperetrix Von KaserCzarski. It would have seemed rude to not take the job and after barely four weeks (at four million a day) of watching the latest in computers (courtesy of son James) sift through the available evidence Jim has his first lead Each time one of Kaiser Czarski's banks is robbed there is a circus in town. And as Jim knows full well, you don't find out about a circus by going to it. You join it. . . Harry Harrison has entertained, amused and captivated the readers of science fiction for more than a quarter of a century with the adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat. And now the universe's most loveable master thief and con artist is about to find out that life is a three ring circus. ?? ?? The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus ?? ?? CHAPTER 1 ?? ?????????????????? "I'm exhausted,' Angelina said. "All this hammering away on a hot computer keyboard." ?????????????????? "Productive hammering, my love," I said, pushing away my own keyboard, yawning and stretching until my joints cracked. "In a little under two hours we have made more than two hundred thousand credits through insider dealing in the stock exchange. Some might believe it illegal-but very profitable. I prefer to see it as a public service. To keep the money circulating, to lower the level of unemployment. . ." ?????????????????? "Not now, Jim. I am too tired to listen." ?????????????????? "But not too tired to listen to this. Right now we need a complete change. What do you say to a picnic in a leafy dell in Sharwood Forest? With champagne." ?????????????????? "A lovely idea, but the shopping. . ." ?????????????????? "Has been already done. I have a complete picnic, basket and all, in the stasis freezer. Everything from caviar to Roc's eggs. We have but to