"Smith, E E 'Doc' - SubSpace Vol 1 - Subspace Explorers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

Subspace Explorers

First published, 1965, Canaveral Press

By E.E. ‘Doc' Smith


Chapter 1
CATASTROPHE

At time zero minus nine minutes First Officer Carlyle Deston, Chief Electronicist of the
starliner Procyon, sat attentively at his board. He was five feet eight inches tall and
weighed one hundred sixty two pounds. just a little guy, as spacemen go. Although
narrow-waisted and, for his heft, broad-shouldered, he was built for speed and
maneuverability, not to handle freight.

Watching a hundred lights and half that many instruments; listening to four telephone
circuits, two with each ear; hands flashing to toggles and buttons and knobs; he was
completely informed as to the instant-by-instant condition of everything in his department
during countdown. Everything had been and still was in condition GO.

Nevertheless, he was bothered; bothered as he had never been bothered before in all his
three years of subspacing. He had always had hunches and they had always been right,
but this one was utterly ridiculous. It wasn't the ship or the trip-nothing was yelling "DAN-

GER!" into his mind-it was something down in the Middle that was pulling at him like a cat
tractor and it didn't make sense. He never went down into passenger territory. He had no
business there and flirting with vacskulled girls was not his dish.

So he fought his hunch down and concentrated on his job. Lift-off was uneventful; so was
the climb out to a safe distance from Earth. At time zero minus two seconds Deston
poised a fingertip over the red button, but everything stayed in condition GO and
immergence into subspace was perfectly normal. All the green lights except one went
out; all the needles dropped to zero; all four phones went dead; all signals stopped. He
plugged a jack into the socket under the remaining green light and said: "Procyon One to
Control Six. Flight eight four nine. Subspace radio test number one. How do you read
me, Control Six?"

"Control Six to Procyon One. I read you ten and zero. How do you read me, Procyon
One?"

"Ten and zero. Out." The solitary green light went out and Deston unplugged.

Perfect signal and zero noise. That was that. From now until Emergence-unless some
robot or computer called for help-he might as well be a passenger. He leaned back in his
seat, lit a cigarette, and began really to study this wild hunch, that was getting worse all
the time. It was all he could do to keep from calling his relief and going down there right
then; but he couldn't and wouldn't do that. He was on until plus three hours. He couldn't
possibly explain any such break as that would be, so he stuck it out.