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

"Damn." From experience he knew it would be use-
less to try flying over the things. If they represented
two-dimensional obstacles, they must be overcome in a

two-dimensional way. That was how allaphorical logic
worked in this zone of E Space.

Harry went back to the control board and touched a
button. All the blinds retracted, revealing an abrupt pan-
oramic view. Mountains and purple grass in the dis-
tance. Brown slickness closer in.

And yes, the station was completely surrounded by
starfish. Yellow starfish everywhere.

"Pfeh." Harry shivered. Most of the jaundiced mon-
sters had six arms, though some had five or seven. They
didn't appear to be moving. That, at least, was a relief.
Harry hated ambulatory allaphors.
"Pilot mode!" he commanded.

With a faint crackling, the floating helvetica M was
replaced by a jaunty, cursive P.

"Aye aye, o' Person-Commander. Where to now,
Henry?"

"Name's Harry," he grunted. The perky tones used by
pilot mode might have been cheery and friendly in An-
glic, but they came across as just plain silly in Galactic
Seven. Yet the only available alternative meant substitut-
ing a voice chip programmed in whistle-clicking
GalTwo. A Gubru dialect, even. He wasn't desperate
enough to try that yet.

"Prepare to ease us along a perceived-flat course tra-
jectory of two forty degrees, ship centered," he told the
program. "Dead slow."

"Whatever you say, Boss-Sentient. Adapting interface
parameters now."

Harry went back to the window, watching the station
grow four huge wheels, bearing giant balloon tires with
thick treads. Soon they began to turn. A squeaky whine,
like rubbing your hand on a soapy countertop, pene-
trated the thick crystal panes.

As he had feared, the tires found little traction on the