"Alan Dean Foster - Icerigger 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

prevent snow blindness," he added unnecessarily.

"Thought of everything, didn't they?" Ethan grunted. He shivered again. "Any idea what the
temperature is?"

"I'd guess about twenty below zero, centigrade," Williams replied, as though it were the most
natural thing in the world. "And I believe it's dropping a bit. But you can tell for yourself.
There's a thermometer built into your left cuff." He grinned slightly.



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Sure enough, a tiny circular thermometer was sewn into the fabric, just behind the end of the
glove. At first he thought the teacher must be mistaken. The red line seemed almost all the way
around the dial. Then he noticed that the highest reading on the meter was the freezing point of
water. From there it went down, not up. This was impressive for what it implied, not what it read.

Something very funny occurred to him. He laughed. In fact, he roared. It did not seem amusing, nor
particularly natural, to the others. They watched him a mite apprehen-sively, especially du Kane.
Colette looked as though she'd been expecting something of the sort all along. He forced himself
to stop when he found that the tears were freezing on his cheeks.

Then he noticed the way everyone was looking at him.

"No, I haven't gone crazy. It just struck me that among my trade goods on board the Antares I have
an even four dozen Asandus portable deluxe model catalytic heaters. For trading to the poor
backward natives, you know. I'd trade my grand-mother for one of 'em right now."'

"If wishes were fishes we'd never want for food," said Williams philosophically. "Russell ...
twentieth-century Eng-lish philosopher."

Ethan nodded, drew a snow spiral on the floor with one finger ... real leather in those gloves, he
noticed. A thought occurred to him as he surveyed the little group. Hi s mind was running a few
paces behind his eyes, still.

"Speaking of the Antares, there was something very wrong with it when we blasted free. Yes, a
hole, back of the passen-ger blister! I saw it as we tumbled."

┬░"Very wrong and much too blasted," echoed a nervous, vaguely familiar voice from a dark back
corner. A small, morose figure edged out into the dim light. Its right arm was crooked up in a
makeshift sling and there was an ugly scar healing slowly on one cheek.

" You sure got a way with words, chum," it finished.

"Hey, I remember you, all right," said Ethan with certainty. "Your name is ... let's see ... the
other guy called you 'Walther.' The big guy." He tried to see behind the other into the furthest
recesses of the compartments "peaking of the big guy ..."