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

where Johan Stotz commanded and lived with his staff.

The public cabins in which the hands and any passen-
gers gathered during off-duty time were located below that.
Here was the mess and galley, Frank Mura's chief domain,
plus the small crew's cabin with its media readers and
other equipment designed to help dispel the boredom of
interstellar travel.

Farther down, close to the holds that, with the fuel coils
and drive tubes, comprised the greatest part of the Solar
Queen's interior, were the Cargo-Master's and Thorson's




38 Andre Norton & P.M. Griffin

own cabins plus those of Frank Mura and Doctor Tau and
the two minute chambers kept for passengers, one of which
would be assigned to Cofort for the duration of her service
aboard the Queen. The final cabin there was, of course, the
combination sanunit/fresher that was a mandatory part of
every deck containing permanent sleeping quarters.

The newcomer briefly surveyed the cabin to which her
guide showed her, then dropped her pack on the foot of the
bunk. The room was small even by spacer standards since
it had never been intended to serve anyone as a permanent
home, but it was adequate. The bunk at least was full size,
and there were sufficient lockers for both clothing and
bulkier belongings. A large metal panel could be unfas-
tened and swung down and outward from the wall to
provide a desk or workspace with the bunk taking the place
of a chair. The lighting, she saw, was well placed and more
than bright enough for reading or close work.

She did not linger to unpack but quickly went outside
again to follow Thorson down to the final deck that they
would be visiting. There would be no time to see much


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more, and she doubted that she would be invited to exam-
ine the holds for a while, although they were unsealed,
empty for the most part save for a small store of trade
goods. A Free Trader was usually cautious about whom he
let into that treasury of his business, the storehouse of the