"Eric Frank Russel - Next of Kin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russell Eric Frank)

"Who are you?"



"Scout-Officer John Leeming, sir."



"Oh, yes." Markham maintained the stare then suddenly barked, "Button your fly."



Leeming jerked and showed embarrassment. "I can't, sir. It has defective zipper."



"Then why haven't you visited the tailor? That's what the base tailor-shop is for, isn't it. Does your
commanding officer approve of his men appearing before him sloppily dressed? I doubt it!, What the
devil do you mean by it?"



"I haven't had time to tend to it, sir. The zipper packed up only a few minutes ago," explained Leeming.



"Is that so?" Fleet Admiral Markham lay back in his chair and scowled at nothing. "There's a war on, a
galactic war. To fight it successfully and to win it we are wholly dependent upon our space-navies. It's a
hell of a thing when the navy goes into battle with defective zippers."



Since he seemed to expect a reply to that one, Leeming gave it: "With all respect, sir, I don't see that it
matters. During a battle a man doesn't care what happens to his pants so long as he survives intact."



"I agree," said Markham. "But what worries me is the question of how much other and more important
material may prove to be substandard. If civilian contractors fail on little things they'll certainly fail on big
ones. Such failures can cost lives."



"Yes, sir," said Leeming; wondering what the other was getting at.
 "A new and untried ship, for instance," Markham went on. "If it operates as planned, we'll and good. If it
doesn't--" He let the sentence peter out, thought awhile, continued, "We asked for volunteers for special
long-range reconnaissance patrols: You were the first to hand in your name. I want to know why."