"Gordon R. Dickson - Dragon Knight 01 - The Dragon and the George" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

Chapter 1
At 10:30 a.m., sharp, James Eckert pulled up in front of Stoddard Hall on the
Riveroak College campus, where Grottwold Weinar Hansen had his lab. Angie
Farrell was not, however, ready and waiting at the curb. Of course.
It was a warm, bright September morning.
Jim sat in the car and tried to keep his temper un- der control. It would not
be Angie's fault. That idiot of a Grottwold undoubtedly had dreamed up some-
thing to keep her working overtime in spite of-or perhaps because of-the fact
he knew she and Jim were supposed to go home-hunting this morning. It was hard
not to lose his temper with someone like Grottwold, who was not only one of
the world's non- prizes but who had been very patently trying to take Angie
away from Jim and get her for himself.
One of the two big doors on the front of the Stoddard Hall opened and a figure
came out. But it was not Angie. It was a stocky young man with bushy reddish
hair and mustache, carrying an overstaffed briefcase. Seeing Jim in the car,
he came down the steps over to the car and leaned on the edge of the opened
win- dow on the curb side of the front seat.
"Waiting for Angie?" he asked.
"That's right, Danny," said Jim. "She was supposed to be out here to meet me,
but evidently Grottwold's still hanging on to her."
"That's his style." Danny Cerdak was a teaching assistant in the Physics
Department. He was the only other Class AA volleyball player on campus.
"You're going out to see Cheryl's trailer?"
"If Angie ever gets loose in time," said Jim. "Oh, she'll probably be along
any second now. Say, do the two of you want to drop over to my place after we
play tomorrow night? Nothing special, just pizza and beer and a few other
people from the team with their wives and so forth."
"Sounds fine," said Jim, glumly, "if I'm not stuck with some extra work for
Shorles. Thanks, in any case, though; and we'll certainly be there if we can
make it."
"Right." Danny straightened up. "See you tomor- row for the game, then."
He went off. Jim returned to his own thoughts. At the same time, he told
himself, maturity dictated that he should not lose his emotional control over
something like this-even though they only had two hours to get to the trailer
court and return and have lunch before getting Angie back to her part-time job
as Grottwold's lab assistant. He must remember that frustration was a part of
life. He had to learn to live with the whole business of selfish department
heads, inadequate salaries and an economy that was pinching Riveroak College
here, like all other educational institutions, to the point where it seemed
that about all you could do with a doctorate in medieval history was use the
diploma to shine your shoes, before going to apply for a job as a grain
shoveler-
Jim hauled himself up in his thoughts at this point, having noticed that, far
from calming him down, this rehearsing of things to be endured had his fists
white- knuckled and beginning to bend the ancient steering wheel of the Gorp.
Nothing about the Gorp was strong enough to ignore that kind of treatment. For
a ten- year-old Fiat, it was still a faithful little car, but no honest person
could call it in good shape. On the other hand, Jim himself-like many Class AA
volleyball players-was in shape with a vengeance. He stood a shade under six
feet, but even professional weight- guessers usually underestimated by twenty