"Donald Malcolm - The Unknown Shore" - читать интересную книгу автора (Malcom Donald)

ship lurched again slightly and the lights dimmed and stayed that way.

Durbin, the generator engineer, said, "We could go anytime, without a
prayer, Commandant." His voice was surprisingly steady.
 "I know. Let's just hope it doesn't happen. If it does, we won't know
anything about it."

The four men reached the refrigeration dials and a quick glance told
Rangone that the needles had gone farther into the red since he had last
seen them only minutes before.

Hertz, the tank man, said, "There's still time."

"Good. We'll leave you then," said Brandt and he and Durbin hurried on
towards the great generators near the stern of the ship.

Hertz opened a hatch and the two men entered. Number four was at
floor level, and they reached it quickly. It was the worst of the three
damaged slots. The engineer released an inspection plate and uncovered a
handle marked in red. He pushed it over to the right.

"Follow me and do the same with number seven. Push it hard to the
right. I'll attend to eleven."

Hertz and Rangone climbed the metal ladder and ran along the
catwalk.

"The handle brings in the alternate cooling system," Hertz called,
rushing to the next ladder as Rangone stopped at number seven.

The engineer's feet clanged loudly above his head. He opened the plate
and thrust the handle hard to the right. He waited for Hertz to reappear.
The lights were still on emergency, but at least the ship had not lurched
again. Hertz came back down the ladder, and as the two men emerged
from the hatch, they met Brandt and Durbin coming from the stern.

"How is it, Commandant?" Rangone asked, half-fearing to hear the
answer.

"Not nearly as bad as we had expected."

Durbin said, "The ship was hit by an Enemy missile, but the O-space
field negated most of the impact. I've rectified as much of the damage in
the generators as I can at the moment. We won't go unexpectedly into
O-space. We can't."
 The lights came back on full. "No more trouble with the lights, either.
When we get back to base, the generators can be repaired."

Rangone looked up sharply to find Brandt staring hard at him, so he
said nothing.