Читать книгу The Vivero Letter - Desmond Bagley, Desmond Bagley - Страница 18

I put the transcription of the Vivero letter back into the file and sat for a moment thinking of that long-dead man who had lived out his life in captivity. What had happened to him? Had he been sacrificed when the king died? Or had he managed to whip up a little more ingenuity and double-talk the Mayas into letting him live?

What a mixed-up man he was – according to our modern way of thinking. He regarded the Mayas as the man regarded the lion: ‘This animal is dangerous; it defends itself when attacked.’ That smacked of hypocrisy but de Vivero was educated in a different tradition; there was no dichotomy involved in converting the heathen and looting them of their gold simultaneously – to him it was as natural as breathing.

He was undoubtedly a brave and steadfast man and I hoped he had gone to his death unperturbed by the mental agonies of purgatory and hell.

There was an air of tension in the living-room and it was evident that the birdies in their little nest had not been agreeing. I tossed down the file, and said, ‘All right; I’ve read it.’

Fallon said, ‘What did you think of it?’

‘He was a good man.’

‘Is that all?’

‘You know damn well that isn’t all,’ I said without heat. ‘I see the point very well. Would I be correct if I said that this city of … Uax … Uaxua …’ I stumbled.

‘Wash-wan-ok,’ said Fallon unexpectedly. ‘That’s how it’s pronounced.’

‘… Anyway, that this city hasn’t been uncovered by you people?’

‘Score one for you,’ said Fallon. He tapped the file and said with intensity, ‘On Vivero’s evidence Uaxuanoc was bigger than Chichen Itza, bigger than Uxmal – and those places are pretty big. It was the central city of the Mayan civilization and the man who finds it will make a hell of a name for himself; he’s going to be able to answer a lot of questions that are now unanswerable.’

I turned to Halstead. ‘Do you agree?’

He looked at me with smouldering eyes. ‘Don’t ask damnfool questions. Of course I agree; it’s about the only thing Fallon and I agree about.’

I sat down. ‘And you’re racing each other – splitting your guts to get there first. My God, what a commentary on science!’

‘Wait a minute,’ said Fallon sharply. ‘That’s not entirely true. All right; I agree that I’m trying to get in ahead of Halstead, but that’s only because I don’t trust him on something as important as this. He’s too impatient, too thrusting for an important dig. He’ll want to make a quick reputation – I know him of old – and that’s the way evidence gets destroyed.’

Halstead didn’t rise to the argument as I expected. Instead, he looked at me sardonically. ‘There you have a fine example of professional ethics,’ he said mockingly. ‘Fallon is ready to run anyone’s reputation into the ground if he can get what he wants.’ He leaned forward and addressed Fallon directly. ‘I don’t suppose you want to add to your own reputation by the discovery of Uaxuanoc?’

‘My reputation is already made,’ said Fallon softly. ‘I’m at the top already.’

‘And you don’t want anybody passing you,’ said Halstead cuttingly.

I’d just about had enough of this bickering and was about to say so when Katherine Halstead interjected, ‘And Professor Fallon has peculiar means of making sure he isn’t passed.’

I raised my eyebrows and said, ‘Could you explain that?’

She smiled. ‘Well, he did steal the original of the Vivero letter.’