"Robert A. Heinlein - Job, A Comedy of Justice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

Graham? About to catch me snooping at his door? Or is the trying my door
while I am trying his door?
There is a small but not zero chance that a given key will fit a strange lock. I
had in my own pocket my room key from the Konge Knut. I tried it.
Well, it was worth trying. I stood there, wondering whether to sneeze or drop
dead, when I heard a sweet voice behind me:

‚Oh, Mr Graham!’
A young and pretty woman in a maid’s costume - Correction: stewardess’
uniform. She came bustling toward me, took a pass key that was chained to
her belt, opened C109, while saying, ‚Margrethe asked me to watch for you.
She told me that you had left your cabin key on your desk. She let it stay but
told me to watch for you and let you in.’

‚That’s most kind, of you, Miss, uh-‚
‚I’m Astrid. I have the matching rooms on the port side, so Marga and I cover
for each other. She’s gone ashore this afternoon.’ She held the door for me.
‚Will that be all, sir?’
I thanked her, she left. I latched and bolted the door, collapsed in a chair and
gave way to the shakes.
Ten minutes later I stood up, went into the bathroom, put cold water on my
face and eyes. I had not solved anything and had not wholly calmed down,
but my nerves were no longer snapping like a flag in a high wind. I had been
holding myself in ever since I had begun to suspect that something was
seriously wrong, which was - when? When nothing seemed quite right at the
fire pit? Later? Well, with utter certainty when I saw one 20,000-ton ship
substituted for another.
My father used to tell me, ‚Alex, there is nothing wrong with being scared...
as long as you don’t let it affect you until the danger is over. Being hysterical
is okay, too... afterwards and in private. Tears are not unmanly... in the
bathroom with the door locked. The difference between a coward and a
brave man is mostly a matter of timing.’
I’m not the man my father was but I try to follow his advice. If you can learn
not to jump when the firecracker goes off - or whatever the surprise is - you
stand a good chance of being able to hang tight until the emergency is over.
This emergency was not over but I had benefited by the catharsis of a good
case of shakes. Now I could take stock.
Hypotheses:
a) Something preposterous has happened to the world around me, or
b) Something preposterous has happened to Alex Hergensheimer’s mind; he
should be locked up and sedated.

I could not think of a third hypothesis; those two seemed to cover all bases.
The second hypothesis I need not waste time on. If, I were raising snakes in
my hat, eventually other people would notice and come around with a
straitjacket and put me in a nice padded room.
So let’s assume that I am sane (or nearly so; being a little bit crazy is helpful).
If I am okay, then the world is .out of joint. Let’s take stock.
That wallet. Not mine. Most wallets are generally similar to each other and
this one was much like mine. But carry a wallet for a few years and it fits you;