"Donald Westlake - SH6 - Here's Looking At You" - читать интересную книгу автора (Westlake Donald E)

level. And always, having announced the impossibility, Hester would grumble and
sigh and shake her head and wade back in to try some more.
Everyone else rooted for her, of course, partly wanting Hester to succeed
simply because she was their shipmate and they wanted their shipmate to succeed,
but also because they wanted to know what had happened to the Matrix colony and
assumed the tape would tell them. That is, everybody but Ensign Benson assumed
that. As the struggle to read the tape grew more and more prolonged, he came to
believe it would turn out тАУ if they ever did crack it тАУ to be no damn use at all.
Instead of the Rosetta tape, instead of the answer to the mystery of the colonyтАЩs
failure, it would prove to be, in Ensign BensonтАЩs private, unstated opinion, nothing
more than some silly piece of entertainment, songs and dances perhaps, some piece
of forgettable 500-year-old fluff brought along by the colonists to distract
themselves during the long nights of their settlementтАЩs youth. In a brand-new
colony, after all, there is no downtown.
On the third day, Hester didnтАЩt appear for lunch, she was so engrossed in the
complexities of her impossible task. It was midafternoon when she emerged from
the ship, looking as disgruntled as ever but with some sort of firm line of satisfaction
in her jaw. She marched out across the dusty tan landscape toward Ensign
Benson, who had been studying the grave markers yet again, hoping to find some
inscription he hadnтАЩt noticed before, some clue that had eluded him up till then.
Reaching him, she stopped and put her stubby hands on her broad hips. тАЬItтАЩs there
if you want it,тАЭ she announced.
He straightened, one hand to his aching back. тАЬHester? The tape?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs what IтАЩve been working on, isnтАЩt it?тАЭ
тАЬYou found a way to play it!тАЭ
тАЬI invented a way to play it,тАЭ Hester corrected, тАЬand it wasnтАЩt easy.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm sure it wasnтАЩt.тАЭ Then, unable to keep his doubts to himself any longer, he
said, тАЬWhatтАЩs on it? A sports roundup? A wet T-shirt contest?тАЭ
тАЬSome gloomy-looking fellow sitting g at a table,тАЭ she told him. тАЬThatтАЩs all I
know. IтАЩm sick of that damn thing, Kybee. You want to watch it, watch it.тАЭ
тАЬI want to watch it,тАЭ he agreed.
тАЬItтАЩs in there, in my workroom next to the engine room,тАЭ she told him. тАЬJust
push the green button. ItтАЩs not the cleanest picture youтАЩve ever seen, but you can
make it out.тАЭ
Doubtful, he said, тАЬYou donтАЩt want to operate it yourself?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt want to be anywhere near it,тАЭ Hester told him. тАЬNot for a while. Go
ahead, take a look.тАЭ


They were nearly ready. They slithered and groped toward the surface, moving
unfamiliar parts, tiny clods of dirt dropping down past their shuuz. Shooz. Shoez.
Shoes.


A terrible picture, with green horizontal lines of interference and a pink glow
around every object. A raspy, furry buzz obscured the sound track. Ensign Benson
leaned forward, squinted and listened.
тАЬI am Hafter Kass,тАЭ said the frowning, bulky, steep-shouldered, despairing man
seated at the black plastic table, elbows and forearms on the table before him,
fingers nervously twining. Behind him was a blank wall with a closed door in it. тАЬI