"Jack Vance - Sail 25" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

re-flector dwarfed the hull, and now the sail was ready to move.
The carrier brought up a final cargo: water, food, spare parts, a new magazine for the microfilm viewer, mail. Then
Henry Belt said, "Make sail."


This was the process of turning the sail to catch the sun-light while the hull moved around Earth away from the
sun, canting it parallel to the sun-rays when the ship moved on the sunward leg of its orbit: in short, building up an
orbital velocity which in due course would stretch loose the bonds of Terrestrial gravity and send Sail 25 kiting out
toward Mars.
During this period the cadets checked every item of equipment aboard the vessel. They grimaced with disgust and
dismay at some of the instruments: 25 was an old ship, with antiquated gear. Henry Belt seemed to enjoy their
grumbling. "This is a training voyage, not a pleasure cruise. If you wanted your noses wiped, you should have taken
a post on the ground. And, I have no sympathy for fault-finders. If you wish a model by which to form your own
conduct, observe me."
The moody introspective Sutton, usually the most diffident and laconic of individuals, ventured an ill-advised
witticism. "If we modeled ourselves after you, sir, there'd be no room to move for the whiskey."
Out came the red book. "Extraordinary impudence, Mr. Sutton. How can you yield so easily to malice?"
Sutton flushed pink; his eyes glistened, he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it firmly. Henry Belt, waiting
politely expectant, turned away. "You gentlemen will per-ceive that I rigorously obey my own rules of conduct. I am
regular as a clock. There is no better, more genial shipmate than Henry Belt. There is not a fairer man alive. Mr.
Culpepper, you have a remark to make?"
"Nothing of consequence, sir."
Henry Belt went to the port, glared out at the sail. He swung around instantly. "Who is on watch?"
"Sutton and Ostrander, sir."
"Gentlemen, have you noticed the sail? It has swung about and is canting to show its back to the sun. In another
ten minutes we shall be tangled in a hundred miles of guy-wires."
Sutton and Ostrander sprang to repair the situation. Henry Belt shook his head disparagingly. "This is precisely
what is meant by the words 'negligence' and 'inattentiveness.' You two have committed a serious error. This is poor
spacemanship. The sail must always be in such a position as to hold the wires taut."
"There seems to be something wrong with the sensor, sir," Sutton blurted. "It should notify us when the sail
swings behind us."
"I fear I must charge you an additional demerit for making excuses, Mr. Sutton. It is your duty to assure your-self
that all the warning devices are functioning properly, at all times. Machinery must never be used as a substitute for
vigilance."
Ostrander looked up from the control console. "Someone has turned off the switch, sir. I do not offer this as an
ex-cuse. but as an explanation."
"The line of distinction is often hard to define, Mr. Ostrander. Please bear in mind my remarks on the subject of
vigilance."
"Yes, sir, butтАФwho turned off the switch?"
"Both you and Mr. Sutton are theoretically hard at work watching for any accident or occurrence. Did you not
observe it?"
"No, sir."
"I might almost accuse you of further inattention and ne-glect, in this case."
Ostrander gave Henry Belt a long, dubious side-glance. "The only person I recall going near the console is
your-self, sir. I'm sure you wouldn't do such a thing."


Henry Belt shook his head sadly. "In space you must never rely on anyone for rational conduct. A few moments
ago Mr. Sutton unfairly imputed to me an unusual thirst for whiskey. Suppose this were the case? Suppose, as an
exam-ple of pure irony, that I had indeed been drinking whiskey, that I was in fact drunk?"