"Kevin J. Anderson -1993- Assemblers of Infinity (v1.0) (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Kevin J)

"You know, Gunny, if we're successful with this practice mission, the only thing we have to look forward to is doing it all over again -- only then for real."

Gunther blinked at him. "Naturally."

Kent sent the exploration rover crawling up a slope. Behind him he left wide tracks, like the first marks on a pristine landscape. He got a thrill out of that. It reminded him of the family vacation when he was ten years old, traveling from British Columbia across the western U.S. The most memorable part had been the Great Salt Desert in Utah, a vast expanse of featureless white alkali. All along the Interstate other people had lined up rocks to make arrows, circles, and their initials. Kent and his sister had spent half an hour gathering rocks to write their names on the blank slate of the desert. Seeing KENT W. spelled out like that gave him a feeling he had never been able to match, but it was cheapened by the fact that hundreds -- thousands -- of other people had done the same thing before.

Kent wanted to make his mark on the world in a way no one else had. He wanted to go where no man had gone before, as the cliche said.

Antarctica was the closest thing he had found yet. Mars would be the ultimate. He wanted to spell out his name in the red Martian sand for everybody to see. Then he would be fulfilled.

He guided the rover across the unbroken landscape, using the doppler radar to lock in on where exactly he was going. With his background in exploration and expertise in geology, Kent had been the natural choice for exploring with one of the base camp's two rovers. Gunther, with his combined specialty in medicine and aeronomy, was completely at a loss about what they were doing. Kent had once made the comment that his buddy couldn't find north if he were standing on the south pole.

"If you please, Kent," Gunther said, taking off his helmet again. "Could you tell me what our mission is today? You have been so secretive. I saw nothing interesting on the schedule."

Kent cocked a smile. "Why, Gunny, we're out cruising for girls! I thought you knew -- didn't you dress up?"

Gunther maintained his serious expression. "Does it have something to do with that flyover and package drop from this morning?"

Kent blinked in shock. Indeed, he had received a priority transmission to go meet a rapid-transport helicopter from McMurdo Sound. "Gunther! I don't know what you're talking about."

Gunther nodded to the interseat compartment. "Then what is in that canister?"

"What canister?" The sealed black container was roughly cylindrical, contained no markings whatsoever, and bore an encrypted interlock keypad. "Oh, that's just a thermos of coffee."

"Coffee?" Gunther said, playing along. "May I please have some?"

"No. It's bad for your nerves. Just relax -- Commander Grace sanctioned this."

Gunther fell silent. Kent flashed a glance at him. The German's pale skin had flushed in anger. "I am weary of not knowing what my partner is doing."

Ah, so he was trying the guilt-trip ploy. Kent knew how to divert that. "Still need to work on your vernacular, Gunny. Nobody says the word 'weary.' It's like something out of a Jane Austen novel. Old stuff. You should say, uh, horny. Yes! When you're very tired, just say 'I'm horny,' and then people will get the point."

Gunther nodded. He kept his voice low. Kent could barely hear his partner's words over the rumble of the wide wheels and the hum of the methane engine. "Not knowing what is going on makes me very horny, Kent."

When they reached the top of the rise, they looked down into a rocky depression. The wind howled outside, jetting snow across the opening. Tall crags shielded the area from three of the four sides. They could see the crushed snowpath from the other direction. Kent had purposely gone around to the back to deceive Gunther as to their true destination. Now he circled the big outcroppings to reach the path.

In the center of the depression, surrounded by boulders like pillars from Stonehenge, stood three optical satellite telescopes. Glinting in the sun sat the dome and adjacent housing unit of the Nanotechnology Isolation Laboratory. The dome shone with metal and glass, looking completely out of place in the desolation.

Kent waited for his partner's reaction. Gunther stood half out of the seat, his expression twisted with alarm and dismay. His skin flushed a deeper red. "We are not supposed to be going to that place. Mission profile states that it is off-limits except under extreme circumstances."

"I'm just doing a little sightseeing."

"You could jeopardize the Mars mission!"

Kent sighed with a you-caught-me expression. "Special orders. Straight from Director McConnell." He tapped the black canister beside them. Gunther suddenly seemed to realize what the encrypted-lock cylinder must contain and writhed away from it as if it had suddenly changed into a cobra.

"Still feel like having some coffee, Gunny?" Kent asked.

"Do not joke!"