"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 27 - Earth is Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

saw his expression. "Trouble?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"The field?" She touched the bulkhead, repeating his earlier
test, registering her relief at what she found. "It's still active. We
aren't drifting, thank God. So what's the matter?"

"I can't tell. It's just a feeling I have." Dumarest looked at the
woman, at her hair, her face, the smooth contours of her body
bared by the fallen cover. Looked and saw nothing but the
specialist she was. "Join Andre and make a check. I'll be with
Jed."

Craig didn't move as Dumarest entered the engine room. The
engineer sat slumped before his console, a bottle standing to one
side, a vial containing tablets close to his hand. A broad man, no
longer young, rust-colored hair cropped to form a helmet over
his skull. The scar tissue ruining his face gleamed with reflected
light. "Jed?"

"I wasn't asleep!" Craig reared as Dumarest touched his
shoulder. "I was just easing my headтАФthe damn thing aches like
fury."

Dumarest said nothing, noting the sweat dewing the man's
face, the rapidity of his breathing. Lifting the bottle he tasted the
contents, finding water sweetened and laced with citrus. The
tablets were to ease pain.
 He said, "I want a complete check of all installations. Start
with the generator."

"It's sweet." Craig gestured at the panel. "See? Every light in
the green. No variation to speak of. Which is just as it should be.
It's a new unit, Earl. And I supervised the installation myself."

The truth and checks proved its efficiency. As they did the
power supply, the monitors, the governors and relays, the
servo-mechanisms.

Batrun called from the control room. "Ysanne told me of your
fears, Earl. Have you found anything wrong?"

"Not as yet, Andre. You?"

"All is functioning as it should be. Maybe you had a
nightmare. YsanneтАФ" Her voice took over from the captain's.
"All clear as far as I can make out, Earl. But we're getting close to
the Chandorah. We'll have to change course if we hope to avoid
it." She added, musingly, "Maybe that's what your hunch is all