"Baldwin, Bill - The Helmsman 01 - The Helmsman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Baldwin Bill)

!!!!Brim pushed the latch plate. Inside, with her back to the door, Lieutenant Commander R.G.
Collingswood stared intently at a display. Soft chords of stately, unfamiliar music beguiled
Brim's ears from the background. "Come in," she urged without turning around. "I shall be
finished momentarily."
!!!!!!!!Brim led the way, then stood uncomfortably in the soft, haunting music until she cleared
the display and swiveled her chair, looking first at one and then the other. She had a long,
patrician nose, hazel eyes, and soft chestnut curls. Graceful fingers interlaced on her lap.
!!!!"Well?" she asked.
!!!!"Sublieutenant Wilf Ansor Brim reporting for duty aboard I.F.S. Truculent, ma'am," Brim
said with as steady a voice as he could muster. In the following silence, he realized he was very
nearly terrified. He also noticed he was not the only one-his overweight counterpart hadn't even
opened his mouth. Still in silence, he offered his orders card, carefully turning it for insertion in
a reader.
!!!!Collingswood read the printed name, then-accepting the other's without a glance-placed both
behind her on the desk. She frowned. "So you're Brim?" she asked finally in a quiet mezzo.
!!!!"Yes, ma'am."
!!!!"That makes you Theada," she said to the other.
!!!!"J-Jubal Windroff Theada the Third," he said, "from AvaIon."
!!!!"Yes," Collingswood said with a frown. "At one time, I knew your father." Silent for a
moment, she smiled distantly, then went on. "I suppose both of you are fresh from Helmsman's
training," she said.
!!!!Brim nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said again. The other continued his silence.
!!!!A tiny smile escaped Collingswood's thin mouth. "Ready take old Truculent into space from
the command seat, then?" she joked.
!!!!"I'd gladly settle for any seat up there, ma'am," Brim said with a grin. For the first time, it
occurred to him the woman was dressed in a threadbare sweater and short skirt that revealed
slim legs and soft, well-worn boots. Somehow, even at her - leisure, she looked every inch a
captain.
!!!!"You are the one who piloted those horrible ore carriers, aren't you?" she asked.
!!!!"Yes, ma'am," Brim answered, again braced for the inevitable insult.
!!!!"Hmm," she mused, "I understand they require some rather extraordinary flying."
!!!!Brim felt his face flush and kept an embarrassed silence.
!!!!Collingswood smiled again. "You'll show us your talent soon enough, Lieutenant." she said.
"And you, Lieutenant Theada. Shall I put you in the command seat straight off?"
!!!!"W-Well, Captain," Theada stammered, "I only h-have about three hundred metacycles at the
controls-and some simulator time. I don't know if I'm actually ready f-for the left seat right
away...."
!!!!"You'll build your metacycles quickly in Truculent," CoIIingswood interrupted with just the
shadow of a frown. Then her neutral smile returned. "Lieutenant Amherst will expect you to
check in with him-he's our number one. And of course you must see Lieutenant Gallsworthy
when he returns to the ship. He's chief Helmsman-you report to him." Abruptly, she smiled,
then swiveled back to the display. 'Welcome aboard, both of you," she said in dismissal.
!!!!Brim led the way out the door. Just as he stepped over the sill, Collingswood turned his way
again. "By the by, Lieutenant Brim," she said, looking past Theada. 'When you address me, it's
'Captain,' not 'ma'am."' She smiled with a warmth Brim could actually feel. "Nothing to worry
about," she added. "I thought you'd want to know."
!!!!When Theada disappeared along the companionway without uttering another word, Brim
decided his next move should to report to Truculent's first lieutenant. He tracked the down in
the chart house portion of the bridge at work before a small disorderly table that projected one
of the ship's ubiquitous display globes. "Lieutenant Amherst?" Brim inquired politely, eyeing a