[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
out." He grinned. "You, Dopps-you'd better stay
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on. I can't afford you!" More relaxed now, the man smiled back. Making slow
work of it, Parnell stood.
"Then we're adjourned."
He turned to Zelde. "My leg's gone to sleep. Steady me while I walk it alive
again?" She went to him, and when he tried to move she held his arm until the
rest of them left, most giving parting words or gestures. Then Turk took his
other arm and the three moved along together. "I didn't fool them much, did
I?"
"What matter?" said Zelde. "You been hurt; they know that. Easy now-not much
more to go."
Back in his rooms, he sat on the bed and looked up at Turk. "I want to thank
you." She nodded. "How are you quartered?"
"All right. With so many dead, and the Uties locked up, there's vacancies.
Dopples let me put my people in them- issued what clothes he could, and fit us
into galley schedules. Some of us have jobs to do now, and that's good." She
waited, then said, "There'll be more than a few saying, when they hear, that
we ought to have shares, too. What should I tell them?"
He began to shake his head, then squinted. "Starting with the fighting some of
you did, and now working, you can earn credit toward shares. It'll take some
figuring, but I'll handle that."
"You think fast, Captain-and good. That ought to hold them. Well-I'd better
get back and see what's
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boss, sort of, for my crowd-mainly to get them settled in, on here, without
bothering \iyour\i people any more than we have to. I'll see you."
Turk left, and Parnell said, "She'll be a help, that one."
"Sure. She was Underground-big in it, I think. Couldn't hardly be dumb, could
she?"
Zelde got his jacket off him, then the shoes. She started to do more, but he
shook his head. "That's enough. Just to lie down for a while."
"You hurting?"
"Some. I'll manage."
So it wasn't the time yet. All right-she could wait.
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Parnell woke hungry. Zelde called the galley; it was one of a few places she
knew how to get hold of, on the inter-
\r 49
\rcom. "Could somebody pile a couple hot trays for captain's quarters?" The
man at the other end asked when she wanted them. "Oh, I'll come get 'em.
Thanks." As she left, Parnell gave her a smile.
Going into the galley she felt funny. She didn't know anybody much, yet. They
seemed to know her, though, and several told her hello, looking friendly. Not
like down in the hold. She tried to figure it, and decided it was partly she
was younger-sort of a pet, the way the Kids had been with little ones,
sometimes. And couldn't hurt, either, that she'd knocked out the power suit.
Anyway, having people act nice was a help, with everything so strange and a
little scary.
She got the food down to Parnell and they ate. He did better than he had been,
but still left some; she didn't let it go to waste. Drinking coffee, he looked
pretty relaxed, so she said, "Some things I don't know." His brows lifted.
"Like what's the ship going to \ido?"\i
First he didn't say anything. Then: "I think I know what you mean. We got
clear of UET, but what happens from now on?" Zelde nodded. "Well, we're in
business for ourselves. When we make connections with the Hidden Worlds, which
is our prime concern now, we have to keep ourselves in fuel and supplies by
giving service. Buying and selling cargo, carrying news and messages and
passengers."
He looked thoughtful. "Most of us are on here because we prefer space to
groundhogging. Some will get off, somewhere or other, and there'll be people
wanting on, too, so there's always some change. The difference now is that
\iwe\i decide those changes, not UET."
Zelde thought she had it straight but wasn't sure. She felt her frown tighten
up. Parnell said, "Look at it this way. Our first priority is keeping the ship
a working concern. The second is to be some help to other
Escaped ships and to the Hidden Worlds. And the third is, any time we get the
chance, to do UET one in the eye."
"Like how?"
"Escaped ships sometimes raid small colonies, just to hijack needed supplies.
That's one way, but quite a risk for an unarmed ship." The armed ship Zelde
had heard about, he didn't mention.
50
Parnell's hip and thigh healed fastest; the leg stayed stiff, a little, but he
moved around all right. Fesler took the stitches out of his belly, but Zelde
thought the gut wound still hurt him, inside. The shoulder was worst, though;
when he tried to exercise, to make it move loose again, his face got gray.
Then he'd take another pill and keep trying.
Zelde fetched and carried, stayed beside him when he took duty, slept in his
quarters on a foldout cot.
Hearing what he heard in Control and what he said back, she began to
understand a little bit of how
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\iChanticleer.\i She got really interested, and began to ask questions-but
never when
Parnell was busy, or more tired than usual.
When time came to change course and set thrust, aiming for Terranova, she
watched like a cat at a mousehole. At first she couldn't follow it at all,
couldn't see any pattern. Then she noticed something-the numbers Parnell said,
and punched into the computer terminal, kept getting bigger. But not so
\imuch\i bigger, each one, as the one before had been. It was leveling off,
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whatever he was doing-and it did, and then the numbers got smaller and the
dropoff kept getting faster, until the bright trace moving on a side-
screen went out of sight at the bottom, and Parnell said, "Curvature zero,
effectively." And over the intercom: "Keep thrust as-is for now, Harger. We'll
correct later."
Excited, Zelde had all she could do to keep her mouth shut-but until they were
back in quarters, she did. Then, after they'd eaten, she said, "Parnell, I'm
learning! Changing course, what you did-it started to make sense. When you-"
She explained, words coming as fast as she could talk. Then she waited.
"Yes." He nodded. "You got that part straight. I rather thought you were
bright, Zelde, even though you're obviously not schooled. Now the important
thing is, if you want to train in these matters on a regular basis, you'll be
a bigger help to me than you are already. Which also means, of course, that
you'll be improving your own status." He paused. "I think I'll list you on the
roster as-oh, apprentice navigator.
Does that sound all right?"
She grinned. "Just fine, Parnell!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
