"Judith Merril - Stormy Weather" - читать интересную книгу автора (Merril Judith)

 Cathy recognized the personal pattern of the girl on the other end now: a kid named Luellen, just a
few months out of school. No wonder she was nervous; this would seem like a Big Thing to her.
"Nobody told me," Luellen explained. "I guess I should have figured it outтАФ"
"Forget it!" Cathy sent back briskly.
"Okay. We won't call again then unless it's urgent."
"Good. Anything goes wrong, I can still signal."
"Right. Signing out. . ." But before the contact was broken, another, more familiar, pattern cut in. ". . .
Hey, CathтАФyou okay?" That was Bea Landau; she and Cathy had been in training together, and there
was no excuse for anyone who'd spent four years behind a desk at Control Center kibitzing a message at
a time like this.
"Sure I'm okay. Why?" This time Cathy didn't bother to conceal her annoyance.
"I dunno. Got some funny stuff around the edges thereтАФI'm supervising the new girls today, and I
was listening in on youтАФListen, Cath, if anything's wrong, this is the time toтАФ"
"Nothing's wrong. I just don't feel sociable. Get out, will you? I already said my oxy's low."
"Okay. But listen, Cath, if you want a hand, yell out."
"Sure. G'bye now."

DELIBERATELY, Cathy cut out of contact and went back to work. But as the data piled up, she
began to realize more fully that Control had some reason to be worried. This cloud wasn't just the usual
nuisance that might clutter up the spaceways and perhaps make a mess of repair bills for somebody's
Mars-ship. A whole lot of money, and probably plenty of Service brass would be sitting around holding
its breath right now, she thought with a certain relish.
Not that the job was actually a tough one. The cloud was coming in from outside and on top. Made it
a simple matter to hitтАФthe bomb would set practically smack in front of the middle of it.
Not a tough job, but a crucial one. Just what the doctor ordered, she thought grimly, for a girl who
wanted to forget her own troubles.
It was almost too simple, though. Fifteen minutes more or less had all the figuring finished, and
everything checked and rechecked. Nothing else to do about it now till the cloud came into range, and by
the tape it would be close to five hours yet before any action began.
Meanwhile, the space around her was clear and quiet. She opened the viewport again, and settled
back into the foam-padded spot on the floor, consciously seeking a renewal of the pleasant apathy that
had come last time, after she adjusted the plastic to let the sun come in.
But the mood was hard to find again. Part of her mind was busily retabulating the calcker's figures,
and reevaluating the total problem, making certain of what needed to be done. For the rest, she was
aware of an increasing sense of dullness and irritability as the good adrenal feeling of the first emergency
wore off.
Well, dull is what I got to be right now, she told herself. Adrenalin equals oxygen, and don't forget it.
She forced herself to relax, muscle by muscle, until she was little more than a collapsed heap on the floor:
two great eyes drinking in the drama being staged outside her window; two ears alert for the first
summons from the complex personality of the machine around her.
For more than an hour, she stayed that way; then the chime pinged again for the routine 1600-hour
check. Cathy performed her chores mechanically, paying close attention only to what part of the data
related to the cloud.
It was still holding shape and direction. Something better than three hours yet to wait before it was
time for action.
She sat down again and remembered she had promised herself to call Mike again after this checkup.
But that was before the Alert. She couldn't do it now. Certainly not after snapping at Luellen just for
keeping a contact open.
No, she wasn't even going to think about him any more; not till this business was done with,
anyhow. Too easy to drift from memory and wistfulness into wanting to call; and such a swift slip from