"John G. Hemry - Lady Be Good" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hemry John G)

unusual route, but I knew from experience that Wayfare System Control would be too busy to worry
about what one little freighter was up to.

And I was right. "Lady Be Good, authorization granted to clear Wayfare." I punched in the jump
commands, secure in the knowledge nobody was paying attention to Lady.

Nearby, Spacer Siri shivered. I dug a packet out of one of my pockets and tossed it to her. "These'll
help." She caught the packet automatically and stared at it. "Somebody I knew beat star dust. They said
that stuff helped a lot."

Siri nodded, tearing open the packet with trembling hands. I went back to studying my control panel.
Somewhere aft, one of the engines groaned into momentary instability that made my stomach flutter. A
moment later, Chief Engineer Vox called the bridge. "Bad."

"Can you hold it together?"

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"Depends."

"Give me as much warning as you can."

"Just did."
 ****
Carnavon was small and dim. For a star, that is. No other ship beacons flared on our scans. Quiet and
isolated, just the place for a small ship looking to avoid awkward questions.

To get the right arrival angle on Fagin we'd have to fall through the Carnavon system and climb out the
other side, a time-consuming pain in the neck under any circumstances.

"Hey, Kilcannon."

"What, Dingo?"

"On the bridge, sweetheart."

I made my way up there, wondering what Dingo could have to talk about that needed me on the bridge
in person. Most of the possibilities weren't very good. But Dingo didn't seem worried as he pointed at the
scan. "What d'ya think that is, Kilcannon?"

I peered at it, checked readings, then thought about it. "What do you think it is?"

"I asked first." Dingo smiled with derision. "Don't know, d'ya? How long ya been a sailor, Kilcannon?"

"Long enough." I frowned at the scan. "It looks like a dead ship."

"Not bad! It's a ship, alright." Dingo's smile vanished. "She ain't dead. Not yet." He tapped a blunt nail on
some of the readouts. "It's real faint, but there's still a heat source active in there, and leaking