Атлант расправил плечи

           "She’stheonlyoneinthecountrythathasn‘t,"saidtheengineer. 

           "There’salwaysafirsttime,"saidthefireman. 

           "Youdon’tknowaboutrailroads,lady,"saidapassenger."There’snotasignalsystemoradispatcherinthecountrythat’sworthadamn." 

           Shedidnotturnornoticehim,butspoketotheengineer. "Ifyouknowthatthesignalisbroken,whatdoyouintendtodo?" 

           Hedidnotlikehertoneofauthority,andhecouldnotunderstandwhysheassumeditsonaturally. Shelookedlikeayounggirl;onlyhermouthandeyesshowedthatshewasawomaninherthirties. Thedarkgrayeyesweredirectanddisturbing,asiftheycutthroughthings,throwingtheinconsequentialoutoftheway. Thefaceseemedfaintlyfamiliartohim,buthecouldnotrecallwherehehadseenit. 

           "Lady,Idon’tintendtostickmyneckout,"hesaid. 

           "Hemeans,"saidthefireman,"thatourjob’stowaitfororders." 

           "Yourjobistorunthistrain." 

           "Notagainstaredlight.Ifthelightsaysstop,westop." 

           "Aredlightmeansdanger,lady,"saidthepassenger. 

           "We’renottakinganychances,"saidtheengineer. "Whoever’sresponsibleforit,he’llswitchtheblametousifwemove. Sowe’renotmovingtillsomebodytellsusto." 

           "Andifnobodydoes?" 

           "Somebodywillturnupsoonerorlater." 

           "Howlongdoyouproposetowait?" 

           Theengineershrugged. "WhoisJohnGalt?" 

           "Hemeans,"saidthefireman,"don’taskquestionsnobodycananswer.