"Larry Niven - Crashlander (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

"Mmm ... Ander, look at it this way. A university team sets out to investigate a cold neutron
star. They make a mistake, probably without informing General Products, but they're using a GP
hull. The ship comes back with the pilots dead in vividly gory fashion. General Products works out


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how it happened, but they'd rather not be seen as making excuses. Why not let someone of the same
species solve the problem and then talk for them?"

"They seem to have had a good deal of faith in you."

I laughed as if I hadn't a care in the world. "Oh, Ander. I wonder how many times they tried
it."

He thought it over. "No. They showed Sigmund your contract. They would have had to do that
several times."

"Yeah."

"Beowulf, Sigmund would not have participated while they killed one pilot after another."

I said, "Mad Bomber Sigmund? Ander, I never had any intention of stealing that ship." I saw his
look, but I went on. "Now, that could imply that Sigmund is a bad judge of character. Or it could
mean that he braced ... oh, a dozen pilots, each in turn. The odds of one of us stealing a ship
get pretty good. Remember, if each of us does our job, the hull comes back at the end of the
orbit. Those things cost."

Ander's jaw set. He said, "No."

All right, no. I'd try again later. Beowulf Shaeffer is a misunderstood innocent. Sigmund
Ausfaller isn't quite trustworthy. Change the subject -- "Or do you mean they trusted me to write
my own script? I tried that, Ander."

"You really needed help. 'First neutron star ever discovered,'" he quoted.

First old, cold neutron star. Good thing he'd spotted that embarrassment. I said, "You couldn't
dive that close to a pulsar. Even a GP hull couldn't bash through the accretion disk. I've gotten
better at explaining things, Ander."

I was scampering about inside my head, seeking any hole that might offer an escape.

Monitoring a citizen can be easy, or cheap, or foolproof; take your choice. Ausfaller was
backing Ander with UN money. The United Nations didn't have authority outside Sol system, but
Ander could be using ARM funds or equipment.

But he'd seen me on the balcony for the very first time. He'd sprinted up the slidestairs to
intercept me without pausing a moment to call for backup. I'd stake our freedom on that -- their
freedom. The UN had no claim on me, but they might well extradite Carlos, or Sharrol, or the