"Carey Rockwell - Tom Corbett Space Cadet 06 - Treachery in Outer Space" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rockwell Carey)

CHAPTER 2

"Gentlemen, please!"
Commander Walters, the commandant of Space Academy, stood behind his desk and
slammed his fist down sharply on its plastic top. "I must insist that you control your tempers
and refrain from these repeated outbursts," he growled.
The angry voices that had filled the room began to subside, but Walters did not continue
his address. He stood, arms folded across his chest, glaring at the assembled group of men
until, one by one, they stopped talking and shifted nervously in their chairs. When the room
was finally still, the commander glanced significantly at Captain Steve Strong, standing at
the side of the desk, smiled grimly, and then resumed in a calm, conversational tone of
voice.
"I am quite aware that we have departed from standard operational procedure in this
case," he said slowly. "Heretofore, the Solar Guard has always granted interplanetary
shipping contracts to private companies on the basis of sealed bids, the most reasonable
bid winning the job. However, for the job of hauling Titan crystal to Earth, we have found that
method unsatisfactory. Therefore, we have devised this new plan to select the right
company. And let me repeat"-Walters leaned forward over his desk and spoke in a firm,
decisive voice-"this decision was reached in a special executive session of the Council of
the Solar Alliance last night."
A short, wiry man suddenly rose from his chair in the front row, his face clearly showing
his displeasure. "All right, get on with it, Walters!" he snapped, deliberately omitting the
courtesy of addressing the commander by his title. "Don't waste our time with that 'official'
hogwash. It might work on your cadets and your tin soldiers, but not on us!"
There was a murmur of agreement from the assembled group of men. Present were
some of the wealthiest and most powerful shipping magnates in the entire Solar
Alliance-men who controlled vast fleets of commercial spaceships and whose actions and
decisions carried a great deal of weight. Each hoped to win the Solar Guard contract to
transport Titan crystal from the mines on the tiny satellite back to Earth. Combining steellike
strength and durability with its great natural beauty, the crystal was replacing metal in all
construction work and the demand was enormous. The shipping company that got the job
would have a guaranteed income for years to come, and each of the men present was
fighting with every weapon at his command to win the contract.
Heartened by the reaction of the men around him, the speaker pressed his advantage.
"We've all hauled cargo for the Solar Guard before, and the sealed-bid system was perfectly
satisfactory then!" he shouted. "Why isn't it satisfactory now? What's all this nonsense about
a space race?"
Again, the murmur filled the room and the men glared accusingly at Walters. But the
commander refused to knuckle down to any show of arrogance. He fixed a cold, stony eye
on the short man. "Mr. Brett," he snapped in a biting voice, "you have been invited to this
meeting as a guest, not by any right you think you have as the owner of a shipping company.
A guest, I said, and I ask that you conduct yourself with that social obligation in mind!"
Before Brett could reply, Walters turned away from him and addressed the others
calmly. "Despite Mr. Brett's outburst, his question is a good one. And the answer is quite
simple. The bids submitted by your companies were not satisfactory in this case because
we believe that they were made in bad faith!"
For once, there was silence in the room as the men stared at Walters in shocked
disbelief. "There are fourteen shipping companies represented in this room, some of them
the most respected in the Solar Alliance," he continued, his voice edged with knifelike