"Andrew J. Offutt - Spaceways 02 - Corundums Woman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

not board, for you can prevent that. We will break off-and fire. We will not
destroy you. We will cripple you. You will not rush on toward Murph's moon
with your load of fine mining equipment and the secret small cargo you also
carry. You will wallow, wounded and stripped. You may be discovered and you
may not. You may survive and you may not. You may reach Murph and you may not.
You may all go mad." 12 All this from Firedancer in a quiet, cultured,
eerily polite voice. "Open your airlock," that voice went on, "to let us
board, and you live-along with your ship." Pause, while the merchantship's
crewmembers looked at each other and at their captain. Their view-screen
remained blank. There was only the voice. "If you now expect me to restate
what I have said, forget it. It is said. Over to you. Reply." The merchant
captain stared at the viewscreen before him as though it were not blank. He
was sweating. His jaw worked and his lips moved. At last words emerged. "This
is-this is piracy!" Winged with indignation, his voice rose high. A trace of
amusement rode the calm, quiet voice. "Of course it is." "We-we will not allow
this!" "You have been advised of your choices. You know there are no
others." "We will not-" "Stand by!" At that third voice the merchant captain
jerked his head up in anger. The voice was that of his own Ship's Mate! "We
are conferring," the Mate said, and his hand moved past his
captain. "Understood," the quiet calm voice said, politely. The captain was
still sweating. His round, jowly face had gone darker at his Mate's temerity
than at the pirate's. "You-confer! Confer my ass! I am captain of Suyari! I
will not yield on my knees to that pirate scum-or to you, Prith! Now get out
of this cabin, sir-you are relieved." "What's this about a 'small secret
cargo'?" Those words came in a fourth voice, and the captain of merchanter
Suyari half-turned to stare, rearing up out of his con-chair. 13 "Nothing! The
words of a hopeful pirate. What are you doing away from your post?" Mate and
third man looked at each other. The newcomer stayed where he was. The captain
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fumed. Sweat ran down out of his grease-shiny hair, black as space. He flipped
aside toggles and belt to rise. Once it had seemed certain that the
interceptor was a shark, he had strapped on a sidearm. Now he started to draw
the slim tube. The Mate produced his stopper first. "Sir, I relieve you on the
grounds of irrational behavior." The snout of the microwave tube was lined up
on his captain's chest. "Stoppers," the Galactics called their
pistols. "Because we aren't anxious to die or be set adrift," the other
crewmember said. The captain continued pulling out his stopper. "You flaining
bast-" His Mate squeezed the grip of his own tube and the captain broke off,
frozen hi every muscle-stopped. The Mate dropped his weapon into the big worn
con-chair and was just able to catch the captain as he began falling. "Do you
concur, Engineer?" "I concur, Myrzha Prithvi. I'll be fried and flained if I
want to die or be set adrift out here by no pirate, with no way to get
somewheres else. To hell with the cargo. To hell with the captain. Tell the
sharks to come onboard." The unconscious captain was loosely seated in the
Mate's chair, and Prithvi was kind enough to strap him there. His stopper had
been set on Two, which was called Freeze and which was paralysis by direct
attack on the nervous system. The One setting would have set the captain to