"John E. Stith - Redshift Rendezvous" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stith John E)

"Don't try to get me involved.I don't know anything about medicine."

"You know that's not the issue.It would probably do you as much good as her if you did get involved.
Getting close to someone wouldn't hurt you."

I didn't want to talk about it,so I forced the thoughts away.I grinned at him and deepened my voice."A
man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

"You're wrong,Jason.A man does what he chooses to do."

I took my time on the way to the bridge.I hadn't been officially on duty anyway.

I found Bella Fendell leaning back in a comfortable chair she had long ago moved from her cabin to the
bridge.Her feet were propped up on the console,and before her were multiple circular status panels
showing the current condition of systems all over theRedshi ft.We were cruising in hyperspace layer ten
at nine meters per second,nine-tenths of the speed of light in this layer.

Measured by the corresponding locations in layer zero,we were effectively traveling at about 1000 times
the normal speed of light.And the wind didn't even ruffle my hair.

"You're looking really nice tonight," she said,noting my fresh scratches."I assume your opponent came
out second best." She didn't ask me outright what had happened,pretending that she wasn't intensely
curious.I refrained from volunteering information so she'dhave to ask me.It was one of our rituals.

Bella Fendell was a large woman,described by some as maternal.Since I had never known my mother,
the expression was hard to evaluate,but Bella was rarely afraid to ask personal questions,whether they
were intrusive and prying or not.Not only was she obviously curious about my scratches,she was
probably even more interested in my having been down on level two in a cargo bay with a woman.

She waited a moment longer for my reply and then shook her head,amused.She grinned,her round
cheeks puffing out farther,and said,"So tell me.What was the minor incident?"

"One of the passengers,Jenni Sonders, wanted to kill herself." I gave her the whole story.

When I finished,Bella asked,"Do you think she'll keep trying?"

"Ask Rory.I'm no judge.How far is she traveling with us?"

"She's paid through Far Star." Bella knew that without having to look it up.When I had called for Jenni's
cabin number,Bella would have found out all there was to know about Jenni.

I glanced at the schedule on a wall screen."Ten more days.I suppose Rory would get in trouble if he
kept her sedated that long."

Bella gave me a wry grin."She is a paying passenger.We can't treat her like a sick pet."

"But she is sick,right? I mean she did try to kill herself."
 "Who's to say what's sick and what's not? Even you might do the same thing if you ever let someone get
that close to you and then dump you.of course with you that's one awful big 'if.'