"Heinlein, Robert A - Waldo (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

'It's just the shape of my face,' his assistant apologized.
'Try laughing at this one: there's been another crash.'
'Oh, cripes! Don't tell me, let me guess. Passenger or freight?'
'A Climax duo-freighter on the Chicago-Salt Lake shuttle,
just west of North Platte. And, chief-'
'Yes?'
'The Big Boy wants to see you.'
'That's interesting. That's very, very interesting. Mac-'
'Yeah, chief.'
'How would you like to be Chief Traffic Engineer of North
American Power-Air? I hear there's going to be a vacancy.'
Mac scratched his nose. 'Funny that you should mention
that, chief. I was just going to ask you what kind of a
recommendation you could give me in case I went back into
civil engineering. Ought to be worth something to you to
get rid of me.'
'I'll get rid of you - right now. You bust out to Nebraska,
find that heap before the souvenir hunters tear it apart,
and bring back its deKalbs and its control board.'
'Trouble with cops, maybe?'
'You figure it out. Just be sure you come back.'
"With my slipstick, or on it."
Stevens's office was located immediately adjacent
to the zone power plant; the business offices of
North American were located in a hill, a good three
quarters of a mile away. There was the usual inter-
connecting tunnel; Stevens entered it and
deliberately chose the low-speed slide in order to
have more time to think before facing the boss.
By the time he arrived he had made up his mind,
but he did not like the answer.
The Big Boy, Stanley F. Gleason, Chairman of the Board
greeted him quietly. 'Come in, Jim. Sit down. Have a cigar.'
Stevens slid into a chair, declined the cigar and pulled out
a cigarette, which he lit while looking around. Besides the
chief and himself, there were present Harkness, head of the
legal staff, Dr Rambeau, Stevens's opposite number for
research, and Striebel, the chief engineer for city power.
Us five and no more, he thought grimly- All the heavy-
weights and none of the middleweights. Heads will roll!-
Starting with mine.
'Well,' he said, almost belligerently, 'we're all here. Who's
got the cards? Do we cut for deal?'
Harkness looked faintly distressed by the impropriety;
Rambeau seemed too sunk in some personal gloom to pay
any attention to wisecracks in bad taste. Gleason ignored it.
'We've been trying to figure a way out of our troubles,
James.
I left word for you on the chance that you might not have left.'
'I stopped by simply to see if I had any personal mail,'