"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 24 - Nectar of Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

caught the sun, the shapes within humped and indistinct.

Vardoon joined him as the craft vanished toward the south.

"The top brass," he said. "On the run. They must know
something we don't."

"Maybe not."

"They've left, haven't they? The engineers, the assayers, the
rest." Vardoon slammed his hammer against a lump of dirt and
grunted as the head did nothing but indent the surface. "Three
hits to do the work of one. Five times as long to check for
nodules. How many have earned the price of a meal as yet? Now
that raftтАФwhat's the answer, Earl?"

It came during the noon break. Hunched in his furs, the
supervisor was curt.

"We're closing down. Hand in your tools before dark.
Tomorrow you get paid. Transportation to town will be provided
at noon."
 A man chose to object. "Hell, why the hurry? It's early yet."

"That's right." The supervisor nodded. "If things were normal
there'd be five or six weeks before winter closed us down. But
things aren't normal. A storm's brewing and we want out while
the going's good."

"Can we take a chance?" Wiess? Dumarest looked and saw
another just like him, one just as desperate. "Work on for a
couple of weeks at least? Hell, man, we've had storms before."

"Sure, but it's too close to winter. We're closing down."

Dumarest reached for his stew as the protests continued. It
was thick, rich with synthetic meats, laced with spices, hot and
warming to throat and stomach. Top-brass food but he could
afford it. As he tore a morsel from a crust Vardoon slipped into
the seat at his side.

"So now we know." He set down his own bowl and reached for
his spoon. "It's time to move on." He frowned at the continued
noise. "Listen to them howl. CrazyтАФdid they think the job would
last forever?"

Dumarest shrugged. The noise was born of desperation, of
those who had hoped to accumulate a stake so as to move on
from the trap that was Polis. A futile hopeтАФthe pay was too little
to provide other than sustenance. Now they had lost even that.