"C M Kornbluth - Shark Ship" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

It was Salter's impression that Degerand had said the same words many times before, usually to large
audiences.



The Commodore's talker boomed out: "Now hear this!" His huge voice filled the stateroom easily; his
usual job was to roar through a megaphone across a league of ocean, supplementing flag and lamp
signals. "Now hear this!" he boomed. "There's tuna on the table—big fish for big sailors!"



A grinning steward whisked a felt from the sideboard, and there by Heaven it lay! A great baked fish as
long as your leg, smoking hot and trimmed with kelp! A hungry roar greeted it; the captains made for the
stack of trays and began to file past the steward, busy with knife and steel.



Salter marveled to Degerand: "I didn't dream there were any left that size. When you think of the tons of
brit that old-timer must have gobbled!"
 The foreigner said darkly: "We slew the whales, the sharks, the perch, the cod, the herring—everything
that used the sea but us. They fed on brit and one another and concentrated it in firm savory flesh like
that, but we were jealous of the energy squandered in the long food chain; we decreed that the chain
would stop with the link brft-to-man."



Salter by then had filled a tray. "Brit's more reliable," he said. "A Convoy can't take chances on
fisherman's luck." He happily bolted a steaming mouthful.



"Safety is not everything," Degerand said. He ate, more slowly than Salter. "Your Commodore said you
were a rash seaman."



"He was joking. If he believed that, he would have to remove me from command."



The Commodore walked up to them, patting his mouth with a handkerchief and beaming. "Surprised,
eh?" he demanded. "Glasgow's lookout spotted that big fellow yesterday half a kilometer away. He
signaled me and I told him to lower and row for him. The boat crew sneaked up while he was browsing
and gaffed him clean. Very virtuous of us. By killing him we economize on brit and provide a fitting
celebration for my captains. Eat hearty! It may be the last we'll ever see."