"Jerry Pournelle - Extreme Prejudice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pournelle Jerry)

a little area around it. A grid appeared, a 3-D chessboard, with part of the grid below the top of the
mountain, and the rest above that going on to the surface. тАЬDansworth Station,тАЭ Kingsley said. тАЬOur city
in the sea.тАЭ
тАЬImpressiveтАЭ I meant it тАЬWhatтАЩs the grid?тАЭ
тАЬCorridors, mostly. Concrete cylinders strung together. Labs, quarters, processing тАЭplants.тАЬ
The place was big, and they had color codes on the different structures in the map. It would take a
long time to learn everything, but I wouldnтАЩt have to. WeтАЩd found the traitor after five years, and I
wouldnтАЩt be here long at all. It seemed, a pity, because Dansworth was a very interesting place. I
wondered what it would be .like to live here.
тАЬNow for your guide,тАЭ Dr. Peterson said. тАЬI understand you asked for Hank Shields. Any reason
why?тАЭ
I shrugged. тАЬA couple of sailors in San Diego told the editor he was a good man who knew a lot
about Dansworth. Anybody else would do, if itтАЩs inconvenient.тАЭ
тАЬNo, nothing like that,тАЭ Peterson said. тАЬJust that Hank doesnтАЩt want any publicity. Something about
his wife. HeтАЩll be glad to show you around if you wonтАЩt put him in the story.тАЭ
тАЬSuits me.тАЭ I needed to think тАЬ that one over, and cursed the damn fools whoтАЩd asked for Shields in
the first place. I like to plan my own operations, and I donтАЩt need help from the goddamn deskmen. IтАЩll
take their orders, but I donтАЩt need them trying to run my life. тАЭWhen do I meet him?тАЬ
Hank Shields was about five-eleven, a good three inches shorter than me, but he weighed nearly as
much, one hundred and ninety pounds. He matched the description perfectly: blond, blue eyes, thick
matted beard like most people have at Dansworth. Except for the beard he hadnтАЩt made any attempt to
change his face. The pictures at Langley might have been taken last week, once the artists had airbrushed
the beard.
He looked me over carefully, then we shook hands and stood there sizing each other up. I looked to
see anything in his eyesтАФrecognition of my face, or my name, but if heтАЩd ever heard of me he was pretty
good at hiding it. That didnтАЩt mean anything, of course. So was I. He had a powerful grip, as good as
mine, and that figured too. HeтАЩd had my job once. Finally we let go and Peterson waved us out of the
admiralтАЩs office.
тАЬWhat would you like to see first?тАЭ Shields asked.
I shrugged. тАЬBetter let you decide, Mr. Shields.тАЭ
тАЬHank,тАЭ he said automatically. тАЬFine. IтАЩm Gideon. Where we going? I canтАЩt wait to get outside.тАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩll spend today on the inside tour and go out tomorrow. OK?тАЭ
тАЬSure.тАЭ As we talked he was leading me through a maze of corridors. There were watertight doors at
intervals, some open, some closed, and weтАЩld have to stop and open them, step through and seal up
behind. The corridors were about ten feet high rounded on top, and rough inside. He pointed out various
laboratories as we passed.
тАЬHow long does it take to learn your way around here?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬYears. And they keep adding to it. Well, they used to keep adding to it,тАЭ he caught himself.
тАЬBudgetтАЩs been rotten the last couple of years.тАЭ
He had a hearty voice, and was eager to explain things to me. Hank Shields would be an easy man to
like. I decided he didnтАЩt know anything about me or why I was here, and I could relax.

We reached an elevator shaft and went down. тАЬIтАЩm taking you to the number-one power plant,тАЭ
Hank said. тАЬItтАЩs the only one at sea-level pressure. The rest are just like it, only theyтАЩre pressurized to
ambient. Saves construction costs.тАЭ
We went through another water-tight door and out onto a catwalk. There were turbines below, big
Westinghouse jobs, and it was noisy as hell, but otherwise it didnтАЩt look a lot different from the generator
house at a dam. I said so.
He motioned me back into the elevator shaft and closed the door so it was quiet. тАЬIt isnтАЩt any
different, really,тАЭ he told me. тАЬSurface water, twenty-five degrees Centigrade. -Seventy-seven if you like