"James E. Gunn - Breaking Point" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gunn James E)

"I know what you mean," said Hoskins. "I saw it myself, but I don't believe it." He pushed the button
again.

"I believe it," said Paresi.

Ives went to his desk, clicked the transmitter and receiver switches on and off, moved a rheostat or two.
He reached up to a wall toggle, turned a small air-circulating fan on and off. "Everything else seems to
work," he said absently.

"This is ridiculous!" exploded the Captain. "It's like having your keys home, or arriving at the theater
without your tickets. It isn't dangerousтАФit's just stupid!"

"It's dangerous," said Paresi.

"Dangerous how?" Ives demanded.

"For one thingтАФ" Paresi nodded toward Johnny, who lay tensely, his face hidden. "For another, the
simple calculation that if nothing inside this ship made that control fail, something outside this ship did it.
And that I don't like."

"That couldn't happen," said the Captain reasonably.

Paresi snorted impatiently. "Which of two mutually exclusive facts are you going to reason from? That the
ship can't fail? Then this failure isn't a failure; it's an external control. Or are you going to reason that the
ship can fail? Then you don't have to worry about an external forceтАФbut you can't trust anything about
the ship. Do the trick that makes you happy. But do only one. You can't have both."
Johnny began to laugh.

Ives went to him. "Hey, boyтАФ"

Johnny rolled over, swung his feet down, and sat up, brushing the fat man aside. "What you guys need,"
Johnny chuckled, "is a nice kind policeman to feed you candy and take you home. You're real lost."

Ives said, "Johnny, take it easy and be quiet, huh? We'll figure a way out of this."

"I already have, scrawny," said Johnny offensively. He got up, strode to the port. "What a bunch of
deadheads," he growled. He went two steps past the port and grasped the control-wheel which was
mounted on the other side of the port from the button.

"Oh my God," breathed Anderson delightedly, "the manual! Anybody else want to be Captain?"

"Factor of safety," said Hoskins, smiting himself on the brow. "There's a manual control for everything on
this scow that there can be. And we stand here staring at itтАФ"

"If we don't win the furlined teacup...." Ives laughed.

Johnny hauled on the wheel.[Pg 18]

It wouldn't budge.