"Geoffrey A. Landis - Elemental (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Landis Geoffrey A)

Ramsey looked down at his stack of notes, licked his lips nervously, looked at
his watch, and then knocked at the door. Without waiting for a response, he
walked confidently in. Doctor Williamson looked up from her desk computer.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Washington. Right on time. I'll be with you in a moment." She
turned back to her qwerty.
Ramsey walked over to one of the plush lounge chairs and sat down. He looked
at the expensive glass sculpture on the table next to him, then let his eyes
wander over to watch her work. What a woman, he thought. She had light brown
hair, almost a shade of blonde, cut fashionably short. Today she wore a light
green sweater with a gold and green silk scarf wrapped casually around her
neck. Dressed in impeccable taste, as always, he thought. I bet she never
falls down in the snow on her way in. She flicked the Save switch on the
computer and turned to him.
"That outfit looks very good on you, Dr. Williamson." Ramsey remarked
casually.
"Thank you. Mr. Washington," she replied curtly. "Now let's get to work, shall
we? I presume you've finished the data analysis on your recent run, right?"
"Well, not exactly," Ramsey said. "I've been having a slight problem with the
data in the third and fourth quadrants. Nothing important, I'm lure."
"Let's have a look at it." Doctor Williamson reached out a hand. Ramsey
quickly dug out his microdisc and gave
it to her. She popped it into the receptacle on her computer and studied the
screen for a moment.
"I see," she said. "What do you think this signifies?"
"I'm not really sure," Ramsey replied. "Maybe some localized anomaly in the
Earth's field'?"
"Yes, I suppose that's a possibility. Rather unlikely that no one previously
ever mentioned it, though, don't you think? After all, people have mapped the
magnetic field for several centuries now."
"Maybe it wasn't there before?"
"Now, that seems rather far-fetched, doesn't it? Just where do you suppose
such a change would come from'? It looks to me much more like the
characteristic signature of a magnetometer that has not been properly
degaussed before the measurement."
"I calibrated and degaussed the equipment every two hours," Ramsey said.
"Well, Mr. Washington, it certainly looks here as if you missed one, doesn't
it? Don't be too glum about it-if we didn't make mistakes, we wouldn't learn
anything, now would we? It's the kind of simple mistake everybody makes when
just starting out in experimental work. You'll learn to be more careful.
"In the meantime, though, it looks like you'll have to re-do the measurement
from about here . . . "she touched the screen, " . . . on. The rest of the
measurements, excepting of course that part, are simply marvelous. Fine work."
Ramsey smiled ruefully at the compliment. "Thank you."
"I expect that you'll be able to have the whole thing done right by the time
I get back from Rome.'' She walked over to her desk and touched the keypad
beside her chair. A calendar appeared on the screen. Looking at it, she said,
"I'll expect to see you at 9 A.M. on the sixteenth, a week from Monday. We'll
have another little chat then."
She tapped the appointment time onto the computer and it appeared dutifully on
the calendar.