"John Morressy - Rimrunners Home" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morressy John)

Dalton was silent for a time, then she said, "The Solomons and Paladins are
unmanned. Do you have as much confidence in the unmanned satellites as you do in
the Rimrunners?"

"Why not? They're simpler. Less to go wrong. And they're closer in, and moving
slower, so they can be monitored from Earth."

"What if you had a malfunction and couldn't repair it?"

"Depends on the malfunction. If it was in the instruments, no problem. The
Solomons would pick up anything that got past a rimrunner. They'd have less time
and less data to work with, though. The odds in favor of the asteroid would
improve."

"And if the Solomons failed, too?"

"The Paladins automatically destroy anything that reaches lunar orbit without
clearance." Vanderhorst gave a little humorless laugh. "Tough if it happened to
be a friendly alien."

"What if all three systems failed?"

Vanderhorst shrugged. "You could pray. That's what they did in the old days,
isn't it?"

"Do you believe in prayer?"

"Under those conditions, I'd pray whether I believed in it or not."

"Suppose there was another kind of malfunction, something in the ship itself?"

"Then I'd be the farthest traveler in the history of the human race."

Dalton nodded. "And what if Rimrunner Vanderhorst malfunctioned?"

"What are you reaching for, Senator?"

"Just suppose a rimrunner was awakened for an emergency and broke under the
stress. What damage could he do? Could he reroute his ship, or relay false
data?"

"Rimrunners don't break."

"Equipment does. Backup systems fail. So do people, more often than we like to
admit. What's the worst possible damage a rimrunner could do? I want to know. I
have to make decisions and recommendations, and I need data, not blind faith."
When Vanderhorst did not reply, she went on, "Did you know that during your last
circuit, two downside rimrunners committed crimes of violence and one tried to
kill herself? The public hears these things and fears you."