"Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rand Ayn)

"You donтАЩt know about railroads, lady," said a passenger.
"ThereтАЩs not a signal system or a dispatcher in the country thatтАЩs worth a
damn."
She did not turn or notice him, but spoke to the engineer.
"If you know that the signal is broken, what do you intend to do?"
He did not like her tone of authority, and he could not understand why she
assumed it so naturally. She looked like a young girl; only her mouth and
eyes showed that she was a woman in her thirties. The dark gray eyes were
direct and disturbing, as if they cut through things, throwing the
inconsequential out of the way. The face seemed faintly familiar to him, but
he could not recall where he had seen it.
"Lady, I donтАЩt intend to stick my neck out," he said.
"He means," said the fireman, "that our jobтАЩs to wait for orders."
"Your job is to run this train."
"Not against a red light. If the light says stop, we stop."
"A red light means danger, lady," said the passenger.
"WeтАЩre not taking any chances," said the engineer. "WhoeverтАЩs responsible for
it, heтАЩll switch the blame to us if we move. So weтАЩre not moving till
somebody tells us to."
"And if nobody does?"
"Somebody will turn up sooner or later."
"How long do you propose to wait?"
The engineer shrugged. "Who is John Galt?"
"He means," said the fireman, "donтАЩt ask questions nobody can answer."
She looked at the red light and at the rail that went off into the black,
untouched distance.
She said, "Proceed with caution to the next signal. If itтАЩs in order, proceed
to the main track. Then stop at the first open office."
Ryn Rand - ATLAS SHRUGGED
CHAPTER ITHE THEME 13
"Yeah? Who says so?"
"I do."
"Who are you?"
It was only the briefest pause, a moment of astonishment at a question she
had not expected, but the engineer looked more closely at her face, and in
time with her answer he gasped, "Good God!"
She answered, not offensively, merely like a person who does not hear the
question often: "Dagny Taggart."
"Well, IтАЩll be" said the fireman, and then they all remained silent. She
went on, in the same tone of unstressed authority. "Proceed to the main track
and hold the train for me at the first open office."
"Yes, Miss Taggart."
"YouтАЩll have to make up time. YouтАЩve got the rest of the night to do it. Get
the Comet in on schedule."
"Yes, Miss Taggart."
She was turning to go, when the engineer asked, "If thereтАЩs any trouble, are
you taking the responsibility for it, Miss Taggart?"
"I am."
The conductor followed her as she walked back to her car. He was saying,
bewildered, "But . . . just a seat in a day coach, Miss Taggart? But how