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

"Go away," was all she said.I got the feeling it took quite an effort for her to say even that much.She got
back up on a high crate and scooted closer to the edge.She looked down at the floor from there,and
turned back to me."Goa way"

"Look,I can't just go away.I'm responsible forтАФ" "Go away or I jump."

There was such pain in her voice that for an instant I considered honoring her request,but I couldn't.I
finally realized what this was all about.For whatever reason,she was apparently near suicide.But I hadn't
a clue what to do about it.I could call the ship's doctor,but by then she might have jumped off a pile of
crates.

Maybe someone trained in how to deal with people like this would have done things differently.I did the
only thing that came into my mind; I decided to try to distract her from whatever it was that was eating at
her.

"I would have thought the beds in the passenger cabins were more comfortable than a stack of shipping
crates." Impatient with the long delays of large rooms,I waited for her reply.She remained silent, perched
on the lip of the crate.

Calmly,softly,I said,"This delay between sentences makes it tough to talk.Would you mind if I come
closer?"

"Stay away," she said through clenched teeth.

I backed up to the wall and made a point of not moving at all for a good part of a minute.At last I said,
"You come here often? You don't look like one of the regulars."

Jenni sobbed once and was silent.Her lips opened and closed several times without speech,and finally
she said,so softly that I could barely hear,"Not funny."

"Ms.Sonders,I know how to fire a crewmember who's not making the required effort.I know how to tell
the skipper when she's made a rare bad decision.I don't have the smallest notion of how to deal with
someone who wants to commit suicide."

She tacitly confirmed her intentions by not correcting my statement,but she glared at me as though I
should know exactly what to do with a suicider,as though this kind of problem had a solution as
straightforward as artificial respiration.I felt suddenly inadequate,and at the same time a little like an
intruder.Maybe someone else would have decided the fairest thing to do was to go away and quit
meddling,but I couldn't do that.

As she sat there fidgeting,looking over the edge,I shifted my weight slightly so I'd be able to move
quickly if I needed to.I tried again to think of a way to get her thoughts away from whatever pain had
caused all this."You know," I said finally,"a fall from that height might not be fatal.You might just put
yourself in a lot of pain."
Some of her words were too soft to hear, or she wasn't able to speak clearly."...be condescend ing..."

"I wasn't being condescending," I said truthfully."You probably read the brochure that says the gravity is
two and a half gees on this level,but that's only at the floor.The gravity tapers off.Up where you are,it's
probably only one point five to one point seven.That means the average from you to the floor is about