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

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,'
Stevens said bitterly. `Otherwise I'd be on the beach at Miami,
turning sunshine into vitamin D.'
`I know,' said Gleason, `and I'm sorry. You deserve that
vacation, Jimmie. But the situation has gotten worse instead
of better. Any ideas?'
`What does Dr Rambeau say?'
Rambeau looked up momentarily. `The deKalb receptors can't fail,'
he stated.
`But they do.
'`They can't. You've operated them improperly.' He sunk back
into his personal prison.
Stevens turned back to Gleason and spread his hands. `So far
as I know, Dr Rambeau is right, but if the fault lies in the
engineering department, I haven't been able to locate it.
You can have my resignation.'
`I don't want your resignation,' Gleason said gently. `What I
want is results. We have a responsibility to the public.'
`And to the stockholders,' Harkness put in.
`That will take care of itself if we solve the other,' Gleason
observed. `How about it, Jimmie? Any suggestions?'
Stevens bit his lip. `Just one,' he announced, `and one I don't
like to make. Then I look for a job peddling magazine
sub-scriptions.'
`So? Well, what is it?'
`We've got to consult Waldo.'
Rambeau suddenly snapped out of his apathy. `What! That
charlatan? This is a matter of science.'
Harkness said, `Really, Dr Stevens-'
Gleason held up a hand. `Dr Stevens's suggestion is logicaL
But I'm afraid it's a little late, Jimmie. I talked with him last week.'
Harkness looked surprised; Stevens looked annoyed as well.
`Without letting me know?'
`Sorry, Jimmie. I was just feeling him out. But it's no good.
His terms, to us, amount to confiscation.'
`Still sore over the Hathaway patents?'
`Still nursing his grudge.'