"Norton, Andre - Redline the stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

portfolio. He looked sharply at her. "A Medic?"
Rael nodded. "Aye. Fully accredited."
Her fingers reached for the disk and closed over it. "I'm
aware that you don't need an Assistant Medic aboard. No
ship of the Queen's class does, or believes she does, unless
the incumbent plans to retire in the near future and wants
to train in his replacement. I'm working my way as a jack-
of-all-trades."

"The So/ar Queen is fully staffed," Jellico interjected.
"I'm not about to let go any of my permanent crew."

"Hardly," she agreed, "but tell me the department that
can't use a bit of help now and then--Mr. Van Rycke's
when cargo's being laded or shifted, the Engineering sec-
tion during preventive maintenance, even the Steward and
Medic once in a while depending on the press of their
particular duties. About the only place I won't volunteer to

22 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

serve is on the bridge. I'm as good as the next and probably
better than most at basic astrogation, but that one is defi-
nitely best left to the experts."

The smile she turned on them was winning. Rael was
sure of getting the passage, but she was out for more than
that. "I want to be part of the So7ar Queen," she told them
frankly, "if only for one voyage."

"Why?" Miceal asked bluntly. "She won't match a Co-
fort ship, especially not the Roving Star, for comfort, and
you can put credits down that we won't be calling at the
Federation's most fashionable spaceports."

The woman sighed. "You talk about our holdings as if
we were a miniature Company. I assure you that is very
much not the case. We have a few frills, aye, but we're Free
Traders like the rest of our kind. We don't live soft.

"My interest in your Queen stems from two sources.
First, your former Cargo-apprentice, Mara Ingrain, is the


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best Cargo-Master we've ever had. She obviously had su-
perb training, and, happy as she is on the Star, she speaks
with nothing but pride and affection of her time as part of