"Gregory Kern - Cap Kennedy 01 - Galaxy of the Lost" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kern Gregory)

"From the first he tried to irritate me. I allowed him to think he had
succeeded and did my best to annoy him in turn. His actions could have
been designed to turn me from the project or then, again, to needle me
into accepting the assignment. But why act other than normal at all? He
had merely to deliver a message. There was no need for a conflict of wills."
He paused, thinking, then said, "It would appear that the ships in greatest
danger are those passing the points at which the others apparently
vanished. The obvious thing, then, is to be in a ship passing close to that
area."

Saratov rumbled, "Now wait a minute, Cap. If you're intending to do
what I suspect, then you must be crazy. What can you accomplish in a
ship which vanishes?"

Kennedy smiled. "Possibly two things. IT! know what happened and I
could learn where the ships were taken."

"And if they weren't taken anywhere? If they just went up in a cloud of
radioactive dust?" The giant shook his head. "No. There has to be some
other way. What you suggest is a short way to commit suicide."

Luden said, tersely, "I must advise against it, Cap. As Saratov points
out, the danger is high, and while I admit it would be desirable to have an
investigator on the spot, as it were, that investigator can do no good if he
is destroyed."

"You have a better plan?"

"To send a ship close to the proximity of the disappearances. To watch,
to record, to take careful observations."

"The scientific method," agreed Kennedy. "But slow, and we can't afford
to waste time. As yet this thing has been kept secret, but if a few more
ships vanish, then who can tell what will happen? And another thing." He
pointed at the light display on the wall. "Those points at which the ships
vanished are only apparently close because of the scale you are using. In
fact, how far apart are they? A quarter light-year?"

"Point-two-three, to be exact."

"Close enough and too far apart no matter how you look at it. Just
where will you station your vessel? Or will you follow every ship heading
into that region?"
 Luden shook his head. "That is impossible, Cap. We can't do that."

"No, but you can follow one. Right?" Kennedy glanced from one to the
other, seeing the dawning light of comprehension. "You've got it. I'll take
passage on the next vessel to head toward the suspect area. The rest of you
will follow aboard the Mordain. If anything happens, you'll be there to see