"E. E. Doc Smith - Spacehounds Of IPC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

centimeter
of acceleration means a lot on a long trip when they're holding us as close as
they are.
We'll ride this trip on 981.286 centimetersтАФwith our scheduled mass that means
thirty
six point oh four seven kilofranks plus equilibrium power. All set to go," the
computer
stated, as he changed, by fractions of seconds of arc, the course-plotters of
the
automatic integrating goniometer.
"You're the doctorтАФbut I'm glad it's you that'll have to explain to the
observatory,"
and Breckenridge set his exceedingly delicate excess power potentiometer
exactly upon
the indicated figure. "Well, we've got a few minutes left for a chin-chin
before we lift her
off."
"What's all this commotion about? Dish out the low-down."
"Well, it's like this, Steve. We pilots are having one sweet timeтАФwe're
being
growled at on every trip. The management squawks if we're thirty seconds plus
or
minus at the terminal, and the passenger department squalls if we change
acceleration
five centimeters total enrouteтАФclaims it upsets the dainty customers and loses
business
for the road. They're tightening up on us all the time. A couple of years ago,
you
remember, it didn't make any difference what we did with the acceleration as
long as we
checked in somewhere near zero timeтАФwe used to spin 'em dizzy when we reversed
at
the halfway stationтАФbut that kind of stuff doesn't go any more. We've got to
hold the
acceleration constant and close to normal, got to hold our schedule on zero,
plus or
minus ten seconds, and yet we've got to make any detours they tell us to, such
as this
seven-million kilometer thing they handed us just now. To make things worse,
we've got
to take orders at every check-station, and yet we get the blame for everything
that
happens as a consequence of obeying those orders! Of course, I know as well as
you
do that it's rotten technique to change acceleration at every check-station;
but we've told
'em over and over that we can't do any better until they put a real computer
on every
ship and tell the check-stations to report meteorites and other obstructions
to us and