"David,.Peter.-.Fantastic.Four.the.Movie" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)

"They crashed it into a wall. A flight simulator."
"I'm sure he's matured since then."
Still without looking in Reed's direction, Ben reached over, took Reed's binoculars, and held them up to indicate that Reed should look through them once more. Confused but cooperative, Reed peered through them at the rocket, until Ben gripped Reed's shoulder and angled his torso so that the lean scientist was focused in another direction. Then he saw it and his heart sank.

There was Johnny Storm, perched atop a red Victory motorcycle with a license plate that said REDHOT. He was leaning over and planting a prolonged and smoky kiss on the lips of a drop-dead gorgeous redhead in the driver's seat of a vintage black Corvette convertible. Her license plate read FRANKIE.
Reed moaned inwardly, but tried to maintain a positive attitude for Ben's sake, if nothing else. "When have I asked you to do something you absolutely said you could not do?"
"Five times," Ben said instantly-
Reed glanced out the side of the binocs at his oldest friend. "I had it at four."
Returning the sidelong glance, Ben replied, "This makes five."
Reed lowered the binocs and breathed a sigh of relief. "You had me going there for a moment, Ben."
Ben started heading down toward the locker room facilities, Reed falling into step behind him. "If you think I'm gonna count on that wannabe jet jockey to get you back down here in one piece, then yer not the big brain I always thought y' were."
"I wouldn't ever want to chance letting you down."
"Just one thing .. ."*
"Name it."
"If the kid turns us into a blazing fireball, then the second before we blow up, you gotta say, 'Ben, you were right about everything.' That's the deal. Take it or leave it."
"Everything?" Reed was a bit distressed about that. "I
don't know, Ben. I mean, there's been some things you've said that turned out to be-"
Take it. Or leave it"
"Would you want my last words to be a lie?"
"I got no problem with that" Ben assured him.
"Fine," Reed sighed. "Should it come to that I'll accommodate."
"Loud enough so I can hear you 'cause, y' know, a ship blowin' up can get pretty noisy."
Til shout it at the top of my lungs."
"Good. 'Cause it won't happen, but if it does, I'll be listening."
Once they'd gotten down into the locker room, they were busy unpacking their gear and going over some final flight check routines. Actually, Reed was busy doing that. Ben was busy shifting uncomfortably in the formfitting blue jumpsuit, which seemed determined to give him as little flexibility in his shoulders as possible. Then a brash voice called out, "Captain on the bridge!"
Muscle memory was a powerful thing. That much was evident as, on the strength of the commanding tone alone, Ben snapped to attention on reflex. The instant that he did so, there was a click accompanied by a flash. Reed shook his head. Whatever illusion he might have had that Johnny Storm had become remotely more professional in the past few years was being thoroughly dashed.
Johnny, gleefully grinning from ear to ear, shared his sisters striking blonde hair and snapping blue eyes.


And he was nearly as intelligent, as Reed knew for a fact since in the old days. Sue delighted in boasting about her brother's impressive test scores. Even then, though. Reed had known there was trouble in Johnny's future. Good grades came to him so easily that he never developed the discipline required to get ahead in life. So when he finally did encounter things that required serious work, he didn't have the focus or determination to stick with them. It was this lack of focus that had held him back, and also tended to put Ben Grimm's teeth on edge.
Already attired in the blue jumpsuit that was obviously the outfit of choice for the mission. Johnny held up the camera he'd just used to photograph Ben standing at attention. "Digital camera: Two hundred and fifty-four dollars. Memory stick: Fifty-nine dollars." He took a step closer and continued, "The look on your hard-ass former CO's grill when he finds out he's your junior officer: Priceless!"
Ben eyeballed him silently for a moment, and then his hand thrust forward with such speed and force that Reed was sure Ben was about to put his fist directly through Johnny's head. Even Johnny flinched, stepping back, and there was a flash of fear in his eye.
But all Ben did was grip the zipper on the front of Johnny's uniform and adjust it so that it was up on the collar and flat. "I can handle the ship," Ben said with remarkable control. "I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition." He released the zipper and looked with disgust

toward Reed. "But I don't know if I should be flying or playing Vegas with these suits. Who the hell came up with them?"
"Victor did."
Sue had seemingly appeared out of nowhere; she might have been invisible for all that Reed had seen her coming. She was wearing the same suit as they, except it was clinging to her so tightly that it left almost nothing to the imagination. She had a sack of flight suits draped over her arm as she handed them out to the men. The synthetics act as a second skin," she said, touching the top of the outfit. "Adapting to our individual needs to ..."
"Keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool!" Johnny finished cheerfully, although he still looked slightly rattled from earlier when he'd thought Ben was about to cave in his face.
"Wow. Fantastic," Reed said, making sure to sound duly impressed. He was studying the way the uniform hugged Sue's body, marveling at its flexibility. "Material made from self-regulating, unstable molecules. I've been working on a formula for this."
For no reason he could determine, Sue looked slightly crestfallen. He wasn't sure why she would be. He was, after all, paying due compliments to her boss. WTiat more could she want from him? "Great minds think alike," was all she said.
Victor chose that moment to make his entrance with a smug, "Guess some think faster than others." Reed wondered whether Von Doom had been lurking there the entire time, simply waiting for a proper moment to

make his entrance, or if he just had good timing. Von Doom was already attired in the flight suit that Sue had entered with. He paused a moment and stood with hands on his hips in mimicry of a model on a runway. "I hired Armani to design the pattern. These colors will look great on camera."
"Well, good," Ben said. "It's nice t' know that ya haven't forgotten the important things."
"I haven't forgotten anything, Ben," Von Doom informed him. "Important, trivial . . . it's all been attended to."
Reed knew that Ben was about to ask where in the grand scheme of importance being photogenic fell on the Von Doom scale, but Leonard Kirk selected that instant to walk in. In a sharp, charcoal gray suit, he was a stark contrast to the uniformed individuals in the locker room. "They're ready for you, sir," he said.
Victor grinned wickedly and said, "Showtime. Get into your flight suite and join me outside, folks. Wouldn't want to keep the press waiting."
He turned on his heel and headed out. The moment he was gone, Johnny said wryly, "Well? You heard the man."
"Yeah," Ben noted, "and what I heard was a guy who wanted to make damned sure that he got solo time with the press before we made it out there."
"Didn't know you cared," said Johnny, stepping into the flight suit and pulling it up over his shoulders.