"Robert Reed - Five Thrillers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

But they weren't the final word. After a moment's reflection, she said, тАЬGod. The thing is, you're
beautiful."

Joe smiled and said, тАЬThank you."

Then with a natural smoothness, he added, тАЬAnd you are an exceptionally lovely woman."

She laughed, loudly and with a trace of despair, as if aware that she would never again hear such kind
words from a young man.

Joe leaned forward and, wearing the perfect smileтАФa strong winning grinтАФhe told the psychiatrist, тАЬI am
a very good person."

"No,тАЭ she said. тАЬNo, Joe, you are not."

Then she sat back in her chair, and with a finger twirling her mousy-brown hair, she confessed, тАЬBut dear
God, my boy, I really would just love to have you for dinner."

That was five months ago, and now Joe was on board a ship that had been devastated by a mindless
piece of iron.

As soon as the engineer left for the bridge, Joe kicked away from the battered escape pod. Both robots
quietly reminded him of their orders. Dereliction of duty would leave a black mark on the mission report.
But their assignment had no purpose except to keep them busy and Joe distracted. And since arguing
with machines served no role, he said nothing, focusing on the only rational course available to him.

The com-line to the bridge was locked, but that was a puzzle easily solved. For the next few minutes, Joe
concentrated on a very miserable conversation between the ship's top officers. The best launch window
was only a little more than three hours from now. The surviving pod had finite fuel and oxygen. Kilograms
and the time demanded by any return voyage were the main problems. Thirty precious seconds were
wasted when the captain announced that she would remain behind, forcing the engineer to point out that
she was a small person, which meant they would need to find another thirty kilos of mass, at the very
least.

Of course both officers could play the hero role, sacrificing themselves to save their crew. But neither
mentioned what was painfully obvious. Instead, what mattered was the naming and discarding of a string
of increasingly unworkable fixes.

Their conversation stopped when Joe drifted into the bridge.

"I've got two options for you,тАЭ he announced. тАЬAnd when it comes down to it, you'll take my second
solution."

The captain glanced at her engineer, as if to ask, тАЬShould we listen to this kid?"

In despair, the engineer said, тАЬTell us, Joe. Quick."

"The fairest answer? We chop off everybody's arms and legs.тАЭ He smiled and dipped his head as he
spoke, pretending to be squeamish. тАЬWe'll use the big field laser, since that should cauterize the wounds.
Then our robots dope everybody up and shove us onboard the pod. With the robots remaining behind,