"Edward L. Ferman - Best From F&SF, 23rd Edition" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ferman Edward L)

safety features. They now slept in a pressurized building inside the dome, and one of them stayed awake
on watch at all times. In drills, they had come from a deep sleep to full pressure-integrity in thirty
seconds. They were not going to get caught again.
Crawford looked away from the madly whirling rotors of the windmill farm. He was with the rest of
the crew, sitting in the dome with his helmet off. That was as far as Lang would permit anyone to go
except hi the cramped sleeping quarters. Song Sue Lee was at the radio giving her report to the Edgar
Rice Burroughs. In her hand was one of the pump modules she had dissected out of one of the plants. It
consisted of a half-meter set of eight blades that turned freely on teflon bearings. Below it were various
tiny gears and the pump itself. She twirled it idly as she spoke.
"I don't really get it," Crawford admitted, talking quietly to Lucy McKillian. "What's so revolutionary
about little windmills?"
"It's just a whole new area," McKillian whispered back. "Think about it Back on Earth, nature never
got around to inventing the wheel. I've sometimes wondered why not There are limitations, of course, but
it's such a good idea. Just look what we've done with it But all motion hi nature is confined to up and
down, back and forth, in and out, or squeeze and relax. Nothing on Earth goes round and round, unless
we built it. Think about it"
Crawford did, and began to see the novelty of it. He tried hi vain to think of some mechanism hi an
animal or plant of Earthly origin that turned and kept on turning forever. He could not
Song finished her report and handed the mike to Lang. Before she could start, Weinstein came on the
line.
"We've had a change in plan up here," he said, with no preface. "I hope this doesn't come as a shock.
If you think about it, you'll s┬л the logic hi it We're going back to Earth in seven days."
It didn't surprise them too much. The Burroughs had given then: just about everything it could hi the
form of data and supplies. There was one more capsule load due; after that, its presence would only be a
frustration to both groups. There was a great deal of irony hi having two such powerful ships so close to
each other and being so helpless to do anything concrete. It was telling on the crew of the Burroughs.
"We've recalculated everything based on the lower mass without the twenty of you and the six tons of
samples we were allowing for. By using the fuel we would have ferried down to you for takeoff, we can
make a faster orbit down toward Venus. The departure date for that orbit is seven days away. We'll
rendezvous with a drone capsule full of supplies we hadn't counted on." And besides, Lang thought to
herself, it's much more dramatic. Plunging sunward on the chancy cometary orbit, their pantries stripped
bare, heading for the fateful rendezvous . . .
тАЬIтАЩd like your comments," he went on. "This isn't absolutely final as yet."
They all looked at Lang. They were reassured to find her calm and unshaken.
"I think it's the best idea. One thing: you've given up on any thoughts of me flying the Podkayne?"
"No insult intended, Mary," Weinstein said gently. "But, yes, we have. It's the opinion of the people
Earthside that you couldn't do it. They've tried some experiments, coaching some very good pilots and
putting them into the simulators. They can't do it, and we don't think you could, either."
"No need to sugar-coat it I know it as well as anyone. But even a billion to one shot is better than
nothing. I take it they think Crawford is right, that survival is at least theoretically possible?"
There was a long hesitation. "I guess that's correct. Mary, IтАЩll be frank. I don't think it's possible. I
hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect ..."
"Thank you, Winey, for the encouraging words. You always did know what it takes to buck a person
up. By the way, that other mission, the one where you were going to ride a meteorite down here to save
our asses, that's scrubbed, too?"
The assembled crew smiled, and Song gave a high-pitched cheer. Weinstein was not the most
popular man on Mars.
"Mary, I told you about that already," he complained. It was a gentle complaint and, even more
significant he had not objected to the use of his nickname. He was being gentle with the condemned. "We
worked on it around the clock. I even managed to get permission to turn over command temporarily. But