[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.I was initiating the control sequence for an in-space attitude change, ready to direct us on a low-thrust approach path to Horus, and as I was leaning over the control board I was struck a violent blow on the back of the head.”Grenville lifted his face to the ceiling, and rolled his head back and forth from shoulder to shoulder.Sally Polk felt that what Grenville really wanted to do was rub at the back of his skull with one vanished hand.“I began to turn, but before I could get more than halfway round I was hit again, even harder.That knocked me cold.”“What else do you remember of events inside the ship?”“Inside the ship? I remember nothing.My next memory is of waking in the emergency medical facility on Horus.Two of my crew were with me.We were all—like this.” Grenville turned his head, to look at the empty jacket sleeves.“Where are those crew members now?”“They are still on Horus.In due course they ought to be brought to Earth.We will all be fitted with prosthetics.I am told that these days they can do wonderful things with prosthetics.”“The other two are expected to survive?”“Oh, yes.We will all survive.Unfortunately.”The impact was in his words, not in his calm tone.Sally felt sick.A few weeks ago Russell Grenville had been a complete man, healthy and powerful.Now.“What happened to the other crew members?” said Deirdre Walsh gently.“And to the Schimmerhann chimpanzees?”“I am not sure.This can be only a conjecture.” Grenville nodded at Leon Karst, forestalling any possible objection.“But it is, sir, a conjecture based on good evidence.First, we arrived at Horus in our little pinnace, not in the ship.It’s a miracle that we made it at all, because we were down to our last dregs of power.The main ship itself has not been found, although a search is being made for it throughout the Egyptian Cluster.”“So could the other crew members perhaps be alive on that ship?”“Absolutely not.We each wore life-support beacons, transmitting on selected frequencies and with coded identification signals.They function as long as their wearer is alive, and they have enough power for years of operation.The other crew members are dead.”“And the Schimmerhann chimpanzees.Did they also wear beacons?”“It was not considered necessary.Or appropriate.”“So the Schimmerhann chimpanzees might still be alive?” Deirdre Walsh glanced across at Leon Karst.“Before my honored colleague can object to that question as leading or conjectural, let me ask Captain Grenville to comment in his own way.”“Thank you, Counsel,” said Judge Williams.But the reproof in his tone was mild.“They might certainly be alive,” said Grenville.“But it’s my bet they are all dead.One of them certainly is.We had been having some discipline problems with all of them for a week or two.They didn’t like some of their assignments, and they were doing a sloppier and sloppier job.I think they became angry when they were chastised, and so they attacked without warning.I feel sure they put my crew out of action and gained the run of the whole ship.They killed some, and then did—what they did—” he drew in a long, controlled breath “—to the rest of us.Then they stuck us in the pinnace, and let us fly off to die.But they were stuck, too, because running the ship was way beyond them.They could be gibbering on their way to Sirius by now, with no idea how to turn off the drive.”“And what would you say, Captain Grenville, if you were asked again to lead a ship with Schimmerhann chimpanzees as part of the crew?”Grenville smiled wearily, and took plenty of time to look all around the courtroom.“Don’t you think that is rather an improbable request, Counsel, given my present condition? But I’ll answer you.I would say, no.I would say, definitely no.I would say, never.I would say, not under penalty of court martial, or any other penalty you care to name.I will never again permit myself to be in a situation in which a Schimmerhann chimpanzee is in a position to do me harm
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]