"Brin, David - Uplift 06 - Heaven's Reach" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brin David)

6 Hand Brin Heaven's Reach 7

"7%e alarm denoted an interruption in our patrol cir-
cuit ofE Level hyperspace, " the monitor continued, un-
perturbed. "The station has apparently become mired in
an anomaly region."

"You mean we're grounded on a reef. I already knew
that much. But what kind of . . ." he muttered. "Oh,
never mind. I'll go see for myself."

Harry ambled over to a set of vertical louvered blinds

Чone of six banks that rimmed the hexagonal chamber

Чand slipped a fingertip between two of the slats, pry-
ing them apart to make a narrow slit opening. He hesi-
tated, then brought one eye forward to peer outside.

The station appeared to be shaped in its standard for-
mat, at least. Not like a whale, or jellyfish, or amorphous
blob, thank Ifni. Sometimes this continuum had effects
on physical objects that were gruesomely bizarre, or
even fatal.

On this occasion the control chamber still perched
like a glass cupola atop an oblate white spheroid, com-
manding a 360-degree view of a vast metaphorical realm

Чa dubious, dangerous, but seldom monotonous do-
main.

Jagged black mountains bobbed in the distance, like
ebony icebergs, majestically traversing what resembled
an endless sea of purple grass. The "sky" was a red-blue
shade that could only be seen on E Level. It had holes
in it.

So far so good.

Harry spread the slats wider to take in the foreground,
and blinked in surprise at what he saw. The station
rested on a glistening, slick brown surface. Spread
across this expanse, for what might be a kilometer in all
directions, lay a thick scattering of giant yellow starfish!

At least that was his first impression. Harry rushed to
another bank of curtains and peeked again. More "star-
fish" lay on that side as well, dispersed randomly, but
thickly enough to show no easy route past.