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

Joe didn't respond.

"No,тАЭ the captain told him.

"No?тАЭ asked Joe. тАЬ'NoтАЩ to what?"

Neither would confess what they were imagining.

Then Joe put on a horrified expression. тАЬOh, God,тАЭ he said. тАЬDo you really believe I would consider that
?"
The engineer defended himself with soft mutters.

Joe's horror dissolved into a piercing stare.

"There are codes to this sort of thing,тАЭ the captain reminded everybody, including herself. тАЬCommit
violence against a fellow crewmember, I don't care who it is ... and you won't come home with us, Mr.
Carroway. Is that clear enough for you to understand?"

Joe let her fume. Then with a sly smile, he said, тАЬI'm sorry. I thought we wanted the best way to save as
many lives as possible."

Again, the officers glanced at each other.

The young man laughed in a charming but very chilly fashionтАФa moment that always made empathic
souls uneasy. тАЬLet's return to my first plan,тАЭ he said. тАЬOrder everybody into the machine shop, and we'll
start carving off body parts."

The captain said, тАЬNo,тАЭ and then looked for a good reason.

The engineer just shrugged, laughing nervously.

"We don't know if that would work,тАЭ the captain decided. тАЬPeople could be killed by the trauma."

"And what if we had to fly the pod manually?тАЭ the engineer asked. тАЬWithout hands, we're just cargo."

An awful option had been excluded, and they could relax slightly.

"Okay,тАЭ said Joe. тАЬThis is what I'm going to do: I'll go talk to Barnes. Give me a few minutes. And if I
don't get what we want, then I will stay behind."

"You?тАЭ the captain said hopefully.

Joe offered a firm, trustworthy, тАЬSure."

But when he tallied up everyone's mass, the engineer found trouble. тАЬEven with Barnes gone, we're still
five kilos past our limit. And I'd like to give us a bigger margin of error, if I can."

"So,тАЭ said Joe. тАЬThe rest of us give blood."

The captain stared at this odd young man, studying that dense blond hair and those bright hazel eyes.