"Bad Asteroid Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martinez Steve)

УNo. I see what you mean.Ф
УYou know why else I want you on this case? Because youТre better than he is.Ф
УDonТt be so sure. He wasnТt always a protocol officer, you know. He used toЧФ
УAcademic stuff. YouТre the one with practical experience. DonТt be so humble and innocent you canТt grab the opportunity IТm giving you. If you come up with something good, you might be able to write your own ticket. I want you to get the credit. This is your puppy. DonТt let any ganglyoid try to take it away from you. Look at me. You know IТm straight with my crew. You make up your own mind if IТm a good judge of who can do what. Just donТt sell yourself short, okay? You can do this!Ф
She winced slightly, as if heТd just tousled her hair, and shrugged him off, but after he was gone and the door was closed, she couldnТt help thinking that maybe he saw something in her she didnТt see in herself. After all, he did have a way of being painfully honest in his dealings with the crew. It would mean so much to him if she could pull this off !
Not only that, but if he was so afraid of Rakshasa, maybe there was something to it. She knew she could be naяve at times. On the other hand, just because the captain was sincere didnТt mean he had it right. Did he really think she was better at robotics than Rakshasa?
It took a while for such thoughts to simmer down. Now that the crew was gone, she opened her door to ward off claustrophobia, and settled down to work.
In the course of picking up lost threads, she came across the Willie 1-9 query once again, and remembered that something had puzzled her about it. Odd that such a unit would have generated such a high rescue priority. She began to dig. The last download of its memory wasnТt the only one. There had been others, all garbled. And the rescue attempts went way back.
She began to get excited. Willie 1-9 had been stuck for nearly a year! His memory, if she could reconstruct it, might contain something that pre-dated the blackout period.
She fixed herself a sandwich and a cup of coffee and settled down to work. At last she had something that she could sink her teeth into. After two hours, and still not sure if she was on to something, an ungainly shadow fell across the doorway. The change didnТt register in her mind directly, but when the delicately gathered butterflies of her thoughts suddenly blew away, she turned and saw Dr. Rakshasa standing there, looking a bit worried.
Despite his extra pair of arms, it was sometimes his face that caught her off guard. He wasnТt disfigured, but his expressions seemed exaggerated sometimes, like a mask. She supposed it was because his head, like his long, withered limbs, seemed out of proportion to his almost child-sized body. It was hard to tell his age. There was no gray in his hair, cut short, almost like fur, but he was old enough to have crinkles around his eyes and weary lines around his mouth.
At the sight of her, he reflexively stuffed his arms into some of the many pockets of his jumpsuit and said, УExcuse me. I hope I didnТt startle you.Ф
УWhat are you doing here?Ф she demanded, trying to sound indignant, then remembered that she was the one who wasnТt supposed to be here.
УJust out for a walk, trying to think a few things through, when I heard a noise. I thought you had gone with the others.Ф
УNo, I got out of it. Too much work to do.Ф
УAnd itТs the wrong kind of work, donТt you agree? This project has been your dream, but now instead of moving on to the next phase, youТre stuck with digging out of the wreckage. Looks as if you may have signed up on the wrong ship this time.Ф
УLooks that way.Ф
УThereТs something IТve been meaning to tell you, but I donТt quite know how, and I was wishing I could just get you alone for a moment, and then, all of a sudden, here you are. Are you sure youТre not a figment of my imagination?Ф
УWhat did you want to talk to me about?Ф
УItТs not even that I want to talk to you. I feel I must, yet I wish I could spare you the burden.Ф The worried look came over his face again, and he still made no move to enter or leave.
УItТs no burden. Come in, sit down.Ф She tossed the spacesuit behind the couch. УWould you like something to drink? Coffee? Juice? Tea?Ф
УTea, please.Ф
He sat somewhat stiffly at the edge of the couch, two hands resting on his knees, the other two holding the cup she handed to him. Trina turned her chair around and sat across from him.
УItТs hard to say this,Ф he began, Уwithout sounding like the pompous ganglyoid the talk shows so often make us out to be. We canТt help it, you know. ItТs hard not to be affected psychologically when you grow up with an extra set of arms. IТm sure you understand, hmm?Ф
УI donТt know about that. I mean, I can imagine having four arms, and how very handy that must be, but I donТt think I can imagine being used to it.Ф
УYes, youТd almost have to be a child again, out of the womb just long enough to take for granted a certain form and attitude. Well, try to imagine a young gangly in a classroom full of other gangly children. We are told every day that we are fully human, and yet when we study human history, I think we sometimes have a special difficulty identifying with it.Ф
He sipped his cup of tea through its built-in straw, then continued. УWe donТt exactly thrive in EarthТs gravity. So all we know of Earth is from a great height, and when you are young and your experience of life is benign, itТs hard not to wonder whether, born into the ancient circumstances, we would commit the same horrors. Have our minds really crossed a threshold, or do we delude ourselves to think so? And without knowing for sure, we may sometimes assume an attitude that blinds our coworkers to any redeeming qualities we might have.Ф
УSnooty.Ф
УEven worse. I think our captain, for example, finds me threatening to an extent that interferes with his good judgment. I get the feeling he isnТt telling me the real reason he doesnТt want us to investigate this mystery together.Ф
As he started to explain the advantages of working together, Trina glanced back at her screens and realized they were covered with data on the Willie 1-9 anomalies. And now Rakshasa was looking at them, too! She shut them down and whirled angrily to face him.
УWait just a damn minute! You didnТt come here looking for me. You came here to snoop through my data and see what IТve found out! You had every reason to believe IТd be out there with the others!Ф
Rakshasa drew back from her outburst. His exaggerated features became a mask of surprise. УYes, thatТs what I was led to believe, isnТt it? Yet here you are. It puts me in an awkward position when someone in authority, like the captain, leads me to believe something and yet somehow, something in his manner raises a doubt in my mind. And then I have to wonder, am I being paranoid?Ф He paused.
УBesides, I really did hope I might discuss a certain matter with you, but perhaps I am doing more harm than good.Ф He put his tea down and stood to go.
УOh, Raki.Ф
УI donТt hold it against you, really. IТm sure it wasnТt your idea.Ф
УYou guys are making me crazy. I wish the two of you would get together and have it out and just leave me out of it. I came here to do a job, and thatТs all I want to do. You make everybody crazy, you know that? ItТs like a pressure cooker in here. IТve never seen a crew so crazy devious in all my life, and itТs got something to do with you being here. EverybodyТs got more going on in their minds than theyТre telling me, and they all want me on their side, but I donТt want to be on anybodyТs side. I just want to be left alone for a while and get some work done.Ф She shook her head in frustration.
УGod, look at the time. TheyТll be back pretty soon and IТve got nothing to show for it. I was just getting started, and itТs over. Larry will be wanting attention, Kira will want to confide in me, and the captain will want to see my progress, and I canТt stand working with somebody looking over my shoulder, especially somebody who wants results and all IТve got is a hunch. I just wish I could have one good day all to myself.Ф She sighed.
УAnd yes, youТre damn right it wasnТt my idea!Ф
Rakshasa looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then began to fumble through his pockets. УPerhaps I can at least grant you that one modest wish.Ф Trina couldnТt help becoming fascinated by the multiple sleight-of-hand show he put on as he fished out the flotsam of his pockets and passed it around from hand to hand, all kinds of little things disappearing and reappearing unexpectedly. When she realized what he was doing, she looked at his face and saw him watching her. It was a trick he pulled sometimes when he noticed her becoming hypnotized by his arms, just something he did to make her smile, though now it just made her wistful.
He found what he was looking for, a small datapad that he held in his lower arms, punching in some code, while he stuck the fingers of his upper hands into his ears. Trina thought he was clowning again, till she was jolted by the shriek of an alarm. The noise was everywhere, in her room, in the corridor, ringing hollow through the entire ship. Then silence, and a synthetic voice, unnaturally calm, said, УWarning, a magnitude seven solar flare event is now in progress. All personnel report to hardened shelters immediately.Ф
The message repeated between bouts of wailing. Before Trina could say anything, Rakshasa motioned her to be quiet and spoke excitedly into his pad. УCaptain, weТve got a flare alert! Captain, come in, do you read me? Hello? Mayday! Mayday!Ф
Then the captainТs voice, preoccupied, УJust a sec.Ф
УCaptain, get all your people back here immediately. You need to get to the shelters.Ф
УKeep your pants on, spider-man. This cave is a class one shelter. HereТs what weТre going to doЧokay, listen up, everybody. We may as well ride it out right here and get some work done, better than sitting on our butts in that tin can. Okay, check supplies.Ф
The captain began conferring and assigning duties, then came back to Rakshasa, УOh, by the way, Trina hasnТt caught up with us yet. Make sure she gets to the shelter, will you?Ф
УAye, captain,Ф said Rakshasa, and signed off, looking very pleased with himself as he shut off the alarm.
TrinaТs heart was still pounding. УYou just set off a false alarm?Ф
УOf course. That ought to get you at least a day of freedom.Ф
УItТs a little hard on the others, donТt you think? I donТt know if they can even pressurize that cave in a day. Jesus, when I said I wanted a little private time ... maybe youТd better call it off.Ф
УIf they get in trouble, weТll bring them in. I am authorized to conduct unscheduled drills, you know.Ф