"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 27 - Earth is Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

or the other," she reminded. "Do I change course for Trabe?"

"No."

"But—"
 "We maintain our present course." He wanted to do the
unexpected. To avoid the waiting trap. He said, "Jed was too
pessimistic, we can make the air last longer than a week. And we
can do without replacement parts for a while. All we need is a
world with breathable air. It's up to you to find us one."

"I'm a navigator," she said tightly. "Not a miracle worker.
And, in case you've forgotten, we're heading into the
Chandorah."

The region was rife with danger for any vessel venturing too
close. The very radiance which gave the stars their splendor
rilled space with roiling forces; surging waves of radiation when
caught and guided by etheric currents cojoined to form nodes of
gravitational flux and areas of violent destruction. These
vortexes could take a ship and twist it into a parody of its
original shape. The energies would turn metal into incandescent
vapor, flesh and bone into a fuming gas.

She said, when he made no comment, "Do we have any
choice?"

"No."

"I'm remembering it's your neck too," she said. "And I can
guess why you don't want to land on Aschem. The Cyclan. I know
they're after you and, one day, I might be told why." She looked
at her hand, clenched to form a fist as it rested on a chart. "One
day—when you trust me enough."

That knowledge she was better without. Dumarest said,
quietly, "Can you do it? Find us a world with air we can tank?"

"In the Chandorah? In a week?" Her shrug was expressive. "I
hope to God it's enough!"


There had been no obsequies. The incident had been handled
by the Cyclan with the cold efficiency which was its pride and
power. Elge was dead, his body and brain reduced to a pinch of
ash, and the only regret possible was that the once-keen
intelligence which had lifted him so high was irrevocably lost.
Now he was nothing but a notation in the data banks and a new
Cyber prime would take his place.