"Arkady and Boris Strugatsky_Destination Amaltheia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Strugatski Arkady)

chocolate and a squeeze bottle of tea. He did it in his usual smart way but
the thick white biscuits jumped up all the same and hung above the table.
The bottle stood firm however, held in place by a magnetic rim round the
bottom. The chief caught one of the biscuits, took a bite and touched the
bottle. The tea was cold.
"Soup," said Hoak. He was speaking in a low voice-just for the chief.
"You can imagine what kind of soup. And they think I'm going to serve them
chicken broth." He pushed the trolley away and sat down at 'the table. He
watched the trolley run down the aisle slower and slower. "Incidentally
they're still enjoying chicken broth on Callisto."
"I don't think so," the chief said absent-mindedly.
"But they are," said Hoak. "I gave them one hundred and seventy
cans-more than half of our iron rations."
"And we've finished what was left?" "Yes, of course."
"Well, they must have finished theirs too," the chief said, munching
his biscuit. "They've got twice as many people as we have."
I don't believe you. Uncle Hoak, he thought. I know you, nutrition
engineer. You surely have another two dozen or so cans tucked away somewhere
for the sick and just in case.
Hoak sighed and said, "Your tea's gone cold? Let me refill...."
"No, thank you."
"Chlorella's still not taking on Callisto," Hoak said and again sighed.
"They've radioed again, asking for another twenty pounds of culture. Sent a
rocket for it, they said."
"Well, we must give it to them."
"That's all right," said Hoak. "But who will give us any? As if I had a
hundred tons... it takes time to grow. But I'm spoiling your appetite."
"Never mind," said the chief. He had no appetite anyway.
"Enough of this!" someone said. The chief looked up and saw the
embarrassed face of Zoya Ivanova. Next to her sat the nuclear physicist
Kozlov. They always sat together.
"Enough, d'you hear!" Kozlov said hotly.
Zoya flushed and lowered her head. She was visibly disconcerted to find
herself the centre of general attention.
"You slipped your biscuit on to my plate yesterday," said Kozlov.
"Today you're up to it again."
Zoya was silent and on the verge of tears.
"Don't yell at her, you baboon!" Potapov bawled from the far end of the
canteen. "Zoya dear, why d'you have to feed that brute? You'd do much better
giving it to me. I'd eat it. And I wouldn't yell at you."
"No, really," Kozlov said in a calmer voice. "She needs more than a
healthy fellow like me."
"Stop it, Valya," Zoya said without raising her head.
"Can I have some more tea, Uncle Hoak?" somebody asked.
Hoak got up. Potapov bawled out again:
"Hey, Gregor, care for a game after the knock-off?"
"I don't mind."
"You'll get licked again, Vadim," a voice said.
"The theory of probability's on my side!"
Potapov bawled.