"C. Sanford Lowe & G. David Nordley - The Small Pond" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowe C Sanford)

Or not, she realized. Chaos! There it was, bald and simple. She could give the
bastard what he wanted, or maybe risk everything she’d come for—everything she’d
promised Hilda she’d do.
Liz went through her internal arguments pro and con. She craved power and
she didn’t want to risk losing it. She wanted to be in charge and wanted it in the
worst way. It meant never getting kicked out of your own office at the drop of a hat,
never being humiliated like that again. She could pay the price. She could take a
shower afterward.
She let the captain lead her back into his room.
****
The dinner table was almost full when she and Captain DeRoot arrived; she
felt as if every eye was upon her. What did her face look like? Did they know?
“How was your visit to 131?” David seemed cheery and oblivious.
But a dark knowingness in Judi’s eyes screamed to Liz. Liz sent her a
message on the ship’s net. It’s not what you think. He wanted something from me,
I wanted something from him. Nothing emotional. Besides, I’ve had worse.
“I got to see the brass telescope. We looked at Campbell and the comm
laser,” she said to David.
A nervous smile flickered across Judi’s face. What does he have on you?
What does he have on you? Liz answered.
Judi frowned. My kid. A custody judgment. He could take the kid to his
father and leave me here.
“Captain DeRoot has an interesting collection. Did he show you his working
reproduction of that ancient Greek computer? He made it himself.” David, of course,
had replied to what she’d said aloud.
Liz touched the net for data on the device and recognized it; it had been on the
top shelf in DeRoot’s bedroom. She’d stared at it during his heaving climax.
“I saw it.”
Come on, what’s he got on you? Judi came back.
My job. She gave Judi the details.
“Uh, ladies, is something going on?” David asked.
It must have been transparent that they were exchanging net messages. Liz
gave a quick glance toward Captain DeRoot, but he was explaining something to an
entranced female passenger, one of the last to come out of hibernation.
Liz gently shook her head. Later. Aloud she bantered, “You wouldn’t believe
it. Well! Any luck with your panspermia studies?”
“Oh sure. Did you know that there are at least forty stars that made visits to
the solar neighborhood? Five of them came through at roughly the same time as
Lacaille 9352....”
****
After dinner, David found himself walking back along the curve of the access
tube with Elizabeth Avonford.
She seemed subdued, and he tried to think of something to say to cheer her
up, but when he opened his mouth he shut it again. What was one supposed to call
her? Dr. Avonford, Elizabeth, or Liz? He deferred to his more normal upbringing and
compromised on Avonford. Okay, maybe Elizabeth Avonford, he thought.
She looked increasingly upset, so he risked seeming foolish. “What’s
wrong?”
 She stopped in the passageway and looked into his eyes, her face hard and
weary. “I shouldn’t say anything.”