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

atmosphere."

"Saints. Are you saying there's someone still alive on that thing?"

"Could be."

A wreck would've been interesting as a possible source of parts, though probably not interesting enough
to warrant a diversion from our course. Wrecks tended to be stripped before we ever saw them. But if
some of the crew had holed up in the interior ... "There's no distress beacon."

"Nah. Which tells you and me how that wreck got in trouble, right?" I immediately checked scan again,
but Dingo was already grinning at me. "I checked. As good as I could with this tub's instruments. There
ain't no other ships burning engines in this system right now. Either the pirates or privateers are sitting
quiet in ambush, or they've left."

I scowled at the display. "Getting to that wreck will take us way off our track."

"Yeah."

"If somebody was waiting to ambush any rescuers, they'd have left the distress beacon working to lure
people in, wouldn't they?"

"Yeah."

"But anybody still onboard it is most likely already dead."

"Yeah."

"But if anyone finds out we disregarded a ship in distress they'll take the Lady and our licenses."
"Yeah. But if any survivors die they won't be telling on us, will they?"

"Damn you, Dingo. Get us over to that thing." I turned away. "I'll brief the Captain."

"Yeah. You do that."
****
It was a big one. Once Lady got close enough we could read the registry. Canopus Rising, one of the
Vestral Company's ships. But she wasn't bright and pretty anymore. Somebody had kicked Canopus
Rising in the butt and kept kicking.

"Engines slagged," Chief Engineer Vox grunted, pointing to the image. Somebody had hit that part of the
Canopus with heavy artillery while the engines were running, adding the suddenly unleashed power of the
ship's own engines to the destruction the weapon wrought.

I exhaled as a slim hope vanished. "What're the chances any parts in those engineering areas are
salvageable?"

"Zilch."

I brought us as close as I could. We were still picking up faint leakage of heat and gases, so whatever
survival space the crew must have rigged up still existed. Whether there was anyone left alive in it was