"Allen, Roger MacBride - Chronicles of Solace 3 - Shores of Tomorrow" - читать интересную книгу автора (Allen Roger Macbride)

УHis performance just now might not have been much, but his dataТs all been good,Ф said Norla. УBad acting doesnТt mean heТs done bad science.Ф

УYouТre not really goingalong with him, are you?Ф Bolt demanded. УHim and his СanswerТ?Ф

УEverything leading up to his СanswerТ checks out. What haveyou got?Ф asked Sindra Chon. УAnything better?Ф

Koffield spoke before Bolt could reply. УSomeonehad better come with an Сanswer,Т he said. УOtherwise, humanityТs doomed. So yes, weТre going to wait until heТs ready, then weТll listen.Ф He gestured around the room, and DeSilvo City besides. УWhat else have we got to do?Ф



It was some hours later, after Koffield had turned in for the night, and was lying awake in bed, unable to sleep. There was something he had missed, a movement, half-hidden in shadow, that had put his subconscious on guard, even if his conscious mind had missed it. Then it came to him. He remembered, and put the pieces together.

УWhat else have we got to do?Ф

KoffieldТs gaze had fallen upon Yuri Sparten as he had asked that question. Koffield remembered SpartenТs expression at that moment.

A tight, angry little smile, almost a smirkЧas if Sparten had an answer to that questionЧan answer that Koffield felt sure he would not like one little bit.

Andthat was a notion that banished any thought of sleep for a long, long time.

Chapter Five

MEMORYТS REACH

SCO STATION,ORBITING THEPLANETSOLACE
THESOLACIANSYSTEM

Elber Malloon backed himself into the far corner of the tiny kitchen compartment, making room to let his wife Jassa open the cupboard and get down a bowl for their daughter ZariТs breakfast, hot cornsoy porridge from the pot on the cooktop. Elber struggled to keep half an eye at least on the view panel set into the wall opposite as two-and-a-half-year-old Zari unfolded her chair from the wall and sat down, happily singing to herself. Jassa closed the cupboard, pulled the table panel out, and set ZariТs breakfast before her. Zari set to work with a will, proudly eating by herself at the grown-up table.

Jassa put the porridge pot in the cleaner, carefully folded the cooktop up out of the way, then snuggled into Elber, wrapping her arms around him.

Elber, still holding coffee in one hand and soytoast in the other, had all he could just to avoid spilling coffee on Jassa, or smearing her with jam. He smiled to himself. It was a pleasure to have such minor problems. He popped the last bite of toast into his mouth, wiped his hand on a borrowed corner of JassaТs apron, set his coffee down on the pull-out table, and hugged his wife properly. УGood morning to you,Ф he said.

Jassa looked up at him and smiled. УWeТve already said good morning,Ф she objected.

УI knowЧbut itis a good morning. A very good one. Good enough to say it twice.Ф He pointed at the viewscreen. УFrom what they say, itТs all on schedule. TheyТve got the system tests done. The NovaSpot is all set, theLodestar VII is in position, and theyТll be ready when the day comes. ItТll work.Ф

УDo you really think so?Ф Jassa asked. She always had less faith in the authorities than Elber, and didnТt hesitate to express her doubts about what motivated the uppers to do whatever they were doing. УIs it really going to bring Greenhouse back to life? Will Greenhouse really save us?Ф

УI donТt even really know if we need saving,Ф Elber said playfully. УWeТre safe here.Ф

Safe.That was something to think about. They had lost everythingЧhome, farm, their firstborn child Belrad, their neighbors, their whole way of life. They been forced to start over from nothing in this strange, cramped, inside-out urban jungle of a giant space station. But somehow, in exchange for all that had been taken away, they had been givensafety. No famines for Zari, no mobs, no floods. The trade seemed more than fair. Except for the loss of little Belrad, at the start of their troubles. That was a scarЧno, an open woundЧthat would never heal. But still, they were here, and moving forward, moving upward, andsafe .

УI hope youТre right, Elber,Ф Jassa said.

УI am,Ф Elber said, startled by how sure he sounded, how sure hewas . УThings will keep getting better.Ф

Jassa laughed. УNot if you lose your job, they wonТt. Now hurry, or youТll be late.Ф