"Suzette Haden Elgin - What The EPA Don't Know Won't Hurt Them" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elgin Suzette Haden)

excitement of the launch was over. Earthlight and starlight mingled
were
streaming in through the windows. The men were looking out at the
immensity around them, half-uneasy that they didn't really understand
how
it had been done, much less what the women were doing now to keep it
all
going - and half-grateful that they didn't have to know the details.
They
were reasonably certain they wouldn't have found those details
reassuring.
And still - in spite of the tension they all felt - when Johnny Beau
pointed out how happy the city people were going to be now, the
laughter
went round low and easy. He was always a help, that Johnny Beau.

Planetside, Hannah Bridges tried to speak calmly. "Harry," she said, "I
understand that even the government doesn't know where they went, or
why,
or whether they'll ever be back. I understand that. It scares me to
death,
but I've accepted it."
"That's my girl," said Harry fondly.
"And I must say, I wish I'd been nicer to them I wish I didn't have to
think they'll never know I didn't mean to be so harsh."
"Try not to think about it, Hannah," he said. "It won't change
anything."
"Harry, do you have any idea how it could have happened?"
"No, Hannah, I don't."
"You don't suppose they were kidnapped.... You don't suppose they were
taken away against their will?"
"By somebody considerate enough to let them pay all their bills first?
I
don't think so, darling."
Hannah whimpered a little bit, startling herself, and coughed to cover
the
childish sound of it.
"It's all right, Hannah," Harry said to her, understanding. "I'm just
as
scared as you are."
"You're scared, too?"
"Sure I'm scared. Who wouldn't be?"
She went into his arms, glad to have them strong and gentle around her,
glad she didn't have to pretend a serenity she didn't feel. And with
her
face buried against his chest, she said, "Harry?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"There is one good thing that's come out of all of this," she said,
trying
to sound casual, not wanting to sound as if she were unaware of the