"Eric Frank Russell - Allamagoosa" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russell Eric Frank)

Working his way down the sheet, Cassidy got nearer and nearer while nervous tension built up. Then he
reached the critical point and said, "V1098. Offog, one."

"Morbleu!" said Blanchard, shooting sparks from his eyes, "I have say before an' I say again, zere never
wasтАФ"

"The offog is in the radio room, sir," McNaught chipped in hurriedly.

"Indeed?" Cassidy took another look at the sheet. "Then why is it recorded along with galley
equipment?"

"It was placed in the galley at time of fitting-out, sir. It's one of those portable instruments left to us to fix
up where most suitable."

"Hm-m-m! Then it should have been transferred to the radio room list. Why didn't you transfer it?"

"I thought it better to wait for your authority to do so, sir."

The fish-eyes registered gratification. "Yes, that is quite proper of you, Captain. I will transfer it now." He
crossed the item from sheet nine, initialed it, entered it on sheet sixteen, initialed that. "V1099. Inscribed
collar, leather тАж oh, yes, I've seen that. The dog was wearing it."

He ticked it. An hour later he strutted into the radio room. Burman stood up, squared his shoulders but
could not keep his feet or hands from fidgeting. His eyes protruded slightly and kept straying toward
McNaught in silent appeal. He was like a man wearing a porcupine in his britches.
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"V1098. Offog, one," said Cassidy in his usual tone of brooking no nonsense.
Moving with the jerkiness of a slightly uncoordinated robot, Burman pawed a small box fronted with
dials, switches, and colored lights. It looked like a radio ham's idea of a fruit machine. He knocked down
a couple of switches. The lights came on, played around in intriguing combinations.

"This is it, sir," he informed with difficulty.

"Ah!" Cassidy left his chair and moved across for a closer look. "I don't recall having seen this item
before. But there are so many different models of the same things. Is it still operating efficiently?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's one of the most useful things in the ship," contributed McNaught, for good measure.

"What does it do?" inquired Cassidy, inviting Burman to cast a pearl of wisdom before him.

Burman paled.

Hastily, McNaught said, "A full explanation would be rather involved and technical but, to put it as simply
as possible, it enables us to strike a balance between opposing gravitational fields. Variations in lights
indicate the extent and degree of unbalance at any given time."