JК
World Of Ptavvs :: Нивен Ларри
Страница: 72 из 127But I may tell one of your superiors, if you pick the right superior. Get him on fast, were getting further away every minute."
"The Belt will not allow you passage unless you explain your purpose here."
"The Belt won't touch us. Good-by."
At the sound of the bell Marda rolled off the couch and walked smoothly into the phone booth. Already there was only a slight pull in her abdomen from the surgical cement, though the operation was just twelve hours old. A slight pull when she moved, to remind her of what she had lost.
"Lit!" she called. "Ceres. It's for you."
Lit trotted in from the garden.
Cutter looked apprehensive for once. "Remember the two bandit ships from Topeka Base? Someone's joined the procession."
"Took them long enough. We warned them days ago. When did it take off?"
"Two days ago."
"Two days, Cutter?"
"Lit, the Heinlein gave us plenty of warning and an accurate course projection. She also used strap-on boosters. The time/position curve looks completely different from the curves for the bandits. It took me this long to see that everybody's going in the same direction."
"Damn it, Cutter never mind. Anything else?"
"The Heinlein 's passing Ceres now. Do you want to talk to Lucas Garner, Arm of the UN?"
"An Arm? No. What's an Arm doing out here?"
"He won't say. He might tell you."
"What makes you so sure the Belt won't stop us?"
"Well, they can't catch us and board us. All they could do is throw missiles at us, right?"
"You make me so happy."
"Belters aren't stupid, Anderson. Uh, oh."
A space-tanned Caucasian with black hair and wrinkled eyes looked out of the screen at them and said, "Do I have the honor of addressing Lucas Garner aboard the Heinlein ?"
"Right. Who's this?"
"Charles Martin Shaeffer. First Speaker, Belt Political section. May I ask-"
"'Little' Shaeffer?"
The mahogany man's face froze for an instant, then barely smiled. "They call me Lit. What are you up to, Garner?"
"You I'll tell, Shaeffer. Now don't interrupt, because a long story…"
It took fifteen minutes to tell. Shaeffer listened without comment. Then there were questions. Shaeffer wanted details, clarification. Then some of the questions were repeated. There were veiled accusations, which became less veiled. Anderson kept the beam fixed and sensibly let Luke do the talking. After an hour of question-and-answer, Luke shut it off.
"That's as much cross examination as I'm taking today, Shaeffer.
"The Belt will not allow you passage unless you explain your purpose here."
"The Belt won't touch us. Good-by."
At the sound of the bell Marda rolled off the couch and walked smoothly into the phone booth. Already there was only a slight pull in her abdomen from the surgical cement, though the operation was just twelve hours old. A slight pull when she moved, to remind her of what she had lost.
"Lit!" she called. "Ceres. It's for you."
Lit trotted in from the garden.
Cutter looked apprehensive for once. "Remember the two bandit ships from Topeka Base? Someone's joined the procession."
"Took them long enough. We warned them days ago. When did it take off?"
"Two days ago."
"Two days, Cutter?"
"Lit, the Heinlein gave us plenty of warning and an accurate course projection. She also used strap-on boosters. The time/position curve looks completely different from the curves for the bandits. It took me this long to see that everybody's going in the same direction."
"Damn it, Cutter never mind. Anything else?"
"The Heinlein 's passing Ceres now. Do you want to talk to Lucas Garner, Arm of the UN?"
"An Arm? No. What's an Arm doing out here?"
"He won't say. He might tell you."
"What makes you so sure the Belt won't stop us?"
"Well, they can't catch us and board us. All they could do is throw missiles at us, right?"
"You make me so happy."
"Belters aren't stupid, Anderson. Uh, oh."
A space-tanned Caucasian with black hair and wrinkled eyes looked out of the screen at them and said, "Do I have the honor of addressing Lucas Garner aboard the Heinlein ?"
"Right. Who's this?"
"Charles Martin Shaeffer. First Speaker, Belt Political section. May I ask-"
"'Little' Shaeffer?"
The mahogany man's face froze for an instant, then barely smiled. "They call me Lit. What are you up to, Garner?"
"You I'll tell, Shaeffer. Now don't interrupt, because a long story…"
It took fifteen minutes to tell. Shaeffer listened without comment. Then there were questions. Shaeffer wanted details, clarification. Then some of the questions were repeated. There were veiled accusations, which became less veiled. Anderson kept the beam fixed and sensibly let Luke do the talking. After an hour of question-and-answer, Luke shut it off.
"That's as much cross examination as I'm taking today, Shaeffer.