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

Andthat scared the devil out of PlanEx Kalzant.



Somehow, Berana Drayax had felt KalzantТs gaze on her, and known to look up. Kalzant looked worried, worn-outЧas well she ought.SheТs lucky, Drayax told herself.She doesnТt know whatТs really going on. Thank the stars the PlanEx hadnТt ordered status reports every five minutes, or some such damn-fool thing. УGroundside Power Reception,Ф she said to the open air, and into her hidden microphone, Уis there any change in status?Ф

УNothing, maТam. WeТve replaced the bad sensor but the replacement unit shows there is an actual slight misalignment. But even accounting for that, efficiency is still trending down, just barelyЧbut the slope is still getting steeper. And we still donТt know why.Ф

Drayax looked at the power storage indicator, stuck at 83.01 percent, willing it to climb higher, faster. УVery well,Ф she said. УWhat are our manual control options at this point?Ф

УHigh-risk,Ф the voice replied, his tone flat and unequivocal. УIТveЧweТveЧfigured out how to configure the control system so we can do it, at least in theoryЧbut there has been no way to test it.Ф

УI know,Ф Drayax said. УNot enough time before todayЧФ

УAnd no chance to try during the day,Ф Groundside Power agreed.

УAnd no reason for trying tomorrow,Ф she said.Unless there was . . . УWhat about doing a wave-off?Ф she asked. УA wave-off now, as we are, with the power store nearly full? We let the SunSpot set while we sit on 83 percent of the power we need, plus whatever we can pull in on the rest of this pass. Then we wait for the SunSpot to rise again tomorrow, pull in the last 10 percent or so, plus whatever power we need to make up overnight losses.Ф

УMaТam, it wonТt workЧor at least IТd strongly advise against risking it. Our current lead theory is that weТve got multiple problems, not just on the receptor alignment that bad sensor was masking. We think there are several additional faults masking each other. ThereТs something wrong at the storage end too. WeТre getting a much faster power drain-off than expected.Ф

УWe knew weТd losesome stored power,Ф Drayax objected.

УYes, of course. ThatТs inevitable. Second law of thermodynamics. But weТre getting a much bigger loss than we thought. WeТre pouring water into a leaky bucket. The bucketТs filling, because weТre pouring water in faster than the leak is draining it outЧbut it might be that the leak is getting bigger. Once SunSpot sets, and weТre not pouring anything more in, the leak will take over. We might not even have 50 percent power tomorrow morningЧand the power storage system loses efficiency every time it drains power. It might not even accept any additional power beyond what itТs retained overnight.

УBesides all that, the Array took a hell of a beating today. WeТve put a massive amount of energy through it, and itТs deteriorated somewhat. Again, thatТs more or less inevitable. Plus the Array ishot right now, but itТs going to get cold overnight. If we heat the whole system up again, with another shot from the SunSpot, something will be bound to give out. And IТd be willing to bet the SunSpot control team wouldnТt want to try the whole thing twice from their end. IТm sure theyТve got the same sorts of problems. And the timing of the orbital alignments for shielding will be way off if weЧ

УAll right. All right. YouТve made your point.Ф Drayax shut her eyes and tried to shut out the outside world, if only for a moment.Why in the hell did I take this job? she asked herself. She had more than half expected Groundside Power to say what he had said, but that didnТt make it any less frustrating. There had to be some sort of way out.

She opened her eyes and stared at the figures on her center screen.



CURRENT POWER RECEPTION PROCESS DURATION: 09:00:35
CURRENT POWER STORAGE LEVEL AS PERCENTAGE OF REQUIREMENT: 83.10%



To come so far, to be so close . . . Her gaze slid down to the big red button, front and center, in the middle of her console. She could see it through the clear safety cover. The button that would light the NovaSpot. The button wasnТt activatedЧnot yetЧbut when it was, and if and when she chose to push itЧwell, whatever happened, would happen. No ArtInt control, no cutouts or countdowns or second buttons that someone else would have to push. She had ordered the system to be set up that way, so it would be her immediate, personal, final choice. However things turned out, people would know who had done itЧor who had chosen not to act.

УGroundside PowerЧbest estimateЧhow much more time will you have the SunSpot usefully visible?Ф

УOur estimate is sixteen degrees above the horizon,Ф he replied. That works out to one hour, twenty-one minutes from my markЧmark.But the closer to the horizon, the tougher it will be for the receptors to make the angle. WeТll be less and less efficient with every minute that passes.Ф

УUnderstood.Ф The receptors could track on the SunSpot, but only within limits. And the closer to the horizon, the more one receptor would tend to crowd out another, the western receptors literally casting a shadow over the eastern ones. УYou were talking about just barely keeping up with the power loss. WhenТs the break-even point? When are we just treading water, taking in just as much as weТre losing?Ф

УAh, I canТt give you anything exact, but, say, ah, about four minutes before we reach that sixteen-degree point.Ф

УCan you get me more stored power or less by jumping over to manual control?Ф Drayax asked, still staring at that big red button.