"Baldwin, Bill - The Helmsman 02 - Galactic Convoy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Baldwin Bill)

here yah go...hope someone can use these
[Posted with Osiris]
Chapter 1
ELEANDOR-BESTIENNE
Wilf Brim pointed into the shimmering globular display and glared across the
drafting console, angry now in spite of himself. "If Nik Ursis says a waveguide
installed like that could short the Vertical Generators," he insisted to a
determinedly unpliant Senior Engineer, "then a xaxtdamned waveguide installed
like that could short the Vertical Generators. Nobody understands antigravity
like Sodeskayan Rears, and you bloody well know it!"
"Bears or no Bears, I was not placed in my position of trust and authority
to question Admiralty plans, Lieutenant," the engineer sniffed haughtily. He was
a tall, aristocratic man whose expression was the perfect physical manifestation
of bureaucratic arrogance, though his features themselves were indifferent to
the point of banality. "I build starships strictly to specification," he said,
"and I greatly resent the interruption of my busy day with complaints from
flight crews. You may be certain your superiors will hear of this
insubordination. Imagine, summoning a senior engineer-with wild tales of design
flaws. Certainly you do not believe we meet production quotas by challenging
Admiralty design teams, do you?"
"Voot's beard!" Brim exclaimed. "This has nothing to do with a challenge."
He pointed to a drafting console. "Look for yourself-your design diagrams are
just plain wrong! A hit anywhere near the KA'PPA tower could cripple both
Vertical Gravity Generators-trip 'em out completely. And Verticals are the only
things I know about that keep starships from falling outof the sky, at least
when they're anywhere near something that's got gravity-like for instance the
planet we're standing on.
Beside him, Ursis, a Great Sodeskayan Bear, frowned, shifted his peaked
officer's cap between furry russet ears, and thrummed six tapered fingers on the
console-clearly struggling with his own temper. Presently, he smiled, diamond
fang stones gleaming in the bright lights of the quiet drafting room. "I thank
you for your support, friend Wilf," he said in deep, carefully measured words,
"but we have reasoned fruitlessly for more than twenty cycles, and I for one
possess sufficient of this nonsense." With that, he gripped the massive drafting
console and ripped it from its mountings in a cloud of sparks and acrid smoke.
"Perhaps now, my good man," he said, turning to the startled engineer, "you will
have an easier time shifting your mind from symbolic diagrams to reality, eh? In
spite of what you might think, starships have no lifting devices such as wings,
or the like-only Vertical Gravity Generators keep them up. They are of critical
importance, yet these could be disabled by as little as a chance lightning
strike on the KA'PPA tower." Before the civilian could recover, Ursis lifted him
by his ornately embroidered lapels to a position no more than a milli-iral from
his huge, wet nose. "When I replace you on your feet, Mr. Senior Engineer," he
growled ominously, "you will locate a workable drafting display and carefully
study what Lieutenant Brim and I have attempted to explain this afternoon. Do
you understand?"
The man's face drained of color. "B-but the p-plans s-show..." he
stammered, pointing to the darkened drafting console as if it were still a
functioning instrument. All the bluster had suddenly gone from his voice.
"Defiant is the first warship of her class," Uruis stated firmly. "The