"Robert A. Heinlein - Space Family Stone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

I hate a ship that wobbles. If we could pick up a war-surplus triple-duo gyro
system, cheap, you would have soinething. I’ll inquire around.’
It was much later when Mr Stone looked in. ‘Still awake, boys?’
‘Oh, sure, come in.’
‘About that matter we were discussing tonight -‘
Pollux said, ‘Do we get the money?’
Castor dug him in the ribs but it was too late. Their father said, ‘I told you that
was out. But I wanted to ask you: did you, when you were shopping around
today, happen to ask, us, about any larger ships?’
Castor looked blank. ‘Why, no sir. We couldn’t afford anything larger could
we, Pol?’



14
 ‘Gee, no! Why do you ask, Dad?’
‘Oh, nothing, nothing at all! Uh, good night.’
He left. The twins turned to each other and solemn!y shook hands.


II

A CASE FOR DRAMATIC LICENSE
At breakfast the next morning - ‘morning’ by Greenwich time, of course; itwas
still late afternoon by local sun time and would be for a couple of days - the
Stone family acted out the episode Hazel had dictated the night before of Mr
Stone’s marathon adventure serial. Grandma Hazel had stuck the spool of
dictation into the autotyper as soon as she had gotten up; there was a typed
copy for each of them. Even Buster had a small side to read and Hazel
played several parts, crouching and jumping around and shifting her voice
from rusty bass to soprano.
Everybody got into the act - everybody but Mr Stone; he listened with a dour
try-to-make-me-laugh expression.
Hazel finished her grand cliff-hanging finale by knocking over her coffee She
plucked the cup out of the air and had a napkin under the brown flood before
it could reach the floor under the urge of the Moon’s leisurely field. ‘Well?’
she said breathlessly to her son, while still panting from the Galactic
Overlord’s frantic attempts to escape a just fate. ‘How about it? Isn’t that a
dilly? Did we scare the dickens out of ‘em or didn’t we?’
Roger Stone did not answer; he merely held his nose. Hazel looked amazed.
‘You didn’t like it? Why, Roger, I do believe you’re jealous. To think I would
raise a son with spirit so mean that he would be envious of his own mother!’
Buster spoke up. ‘I liked it Let’s do that part over where I shoot the space
pirate.’ He pointed a finger and made a zizzing noise. ‘Whee! Blood all over
the bulkheads!’
‘There’s your answer, Roger. Your public. If Buster likes it, you’re in.’
‘I thought it was exciting,’ Meade put in. ‘What was wrong with it’
Daddy?’
‘Yes,’ agreed Hazel belligerently. ‘Go ahead. Tell us.’
‘Very well. In the first place, spaceships do not make hundred-and eighty-