"John E. Stith - Redshift Rendezvous" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stith John E)

I was down on level two of theRedshift, on my rounds,making sure my eyes told me the same story I
got from the ship's status panels and the rest of the crew.Not that I distrusted either the indicators or the
peopleтАФ I just didn't like to rely entirely on reported observations, even if the optical illusions on the
Redshift were enough to make my own eyes less trustworthy than sensors.

In the high-gee field of level two,my feet scuffed the floor as I walked along the equatorial corridor.
Closely spaced ceiling lights lit the gray corridor walls and the charcoal deck floor.The cargo bays I'd
surveyed so far had been packed with expensive machinery,containers of rare metals,exotic foods,unique
fabrics...the staples of a typical hyperspace run; items not universally available,and expensive enough to
justify passage.Nothing so far had been out of the ordinary,but ahead and on my right a cargo bay door
was not entirely closed.

The door was open the width of a hand.I glanced through the gap and then slid the door all the way
open.The bay was full of labelled crates,mostly rectangular,in a multitude of sizes.Near the center of the
bay,a passenger sat atop a tall stack of crates,hugging her knees,looking forlorn and tired, like a lost child
.The woman's hair nearly touched the deck overhead.She must have crawled up a staircase of crates to
reach her resting place near the centre aisle.

The woman was Jenni Sonders.I remembered seeing her boarding,and I had talked to her once briefly at
dinner.She looked to be in her late twenties,about my age.She was a redhead,narrow-hipped,perpetually
sadтАФ at least I hadn't seen her smile since she boarded theRedshift at Megorath.Her red curls hung
slightly lower than normal in the strong gravity down here.She wore off-white pants and a matching
long-sleeved blouse.The cuffs of both the pants and blouse were circled with violet bands in a chic
paramilitary style that looked good on her.

Jenni was far enough from me that I stood by the door and waited for indications of my arrival to reach
her.

After a delay long enough for light to reach her and return,I saw her head turn toward me.Suddenly she
was in motion,scrambling off her perch and behind a crate that nearly touched the overhead.

I frowned,trying to imagine what she might have been doing down here,wondering what was going on in
her head right now.She wouldn't be trying to steal; every cargo crate was securely locked.And she was
obviously ill at ease in the hyperspace environment; otherwise,she would have remembered that I'd had
ample time to see her before she hid.

I waited a moment,saying nothing,partly because I didn't know what to say,partly because I was curious
about what she would do next.She stayed hidden.

Finally,I called out,"I know you're there,Ms.Sonders.Why don't you come on out?"

There was a long delay,even longer than simple sound-transmission time,so she must have taken time to
think about her response.Finally her head showed to one side of the crate.She said nothing.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked,and began walking toward her.
 A panicked expression came over her face and her lips moved before I heard her words."Don't come
any closer." Her voice was scratchy,as though on the edge of tears.

I stopped where I was.This wasn't going at all the way I had expected."I'm Jason Kraft,the first officer,
Ms.Sonders.What's the problem?"