"Michael Flynn - Falling Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flynn Michael)

confidentiality safeguards had been installed after the bomb scare back in тАЩ11, no one inside Pegasus had
ever had any trouble locating friends and colleagues before.
тАЬOh, why not tell him?тАЭ asked Victoria. The third coordinator was tall, slim, and dark-chocolate. тАЬWonтАЩt
make any difference an hour from now. Will it?тАЭ
The three again exchanged mutual glances and somehow achieved consensus without words. Marie
spoke for them. тАЬCaptain Brunnemacher, Antonov, and Scott are bringingGagarin back from the
Moon.Artie Smith andBobbi Trout are docked at Goddard;Chkalov II at Tsiolkovsky; andHenri Farman
andNeta Snook at Europa. But their crews are attending the meeting by telepresence. Wendy, do you
have the crew lists for the orbitals?тАЭ
Chase said, тАЬDonтАЩt go to any bother. I was just curious.тАЭ They traded a few more pleasantries, then Chase
worked his way to the back of the room. He repeated for Singh and Honnycott what the coordinators had
told him. Lakhmid scowled. тАЬOnly five vessels up?тАЭ he said. тАЬThat does not sound very good.тАЭ
тАЬSix, counting the LTV,тАЭ Chase reminded him. тАЬAnd all but the LTV in dock.тАЭ
тАЬWhere are all the other ships?тАЭ Honnycott asked.
Chase twisted the spigot on a coffee urn and filled another cup. He gazed at the foul black brew, suddenly
wishing it was something stronger. тАЬGroundside,тАЭ he said before gulping a swallow.
тАЬIt oughta be tea,тАЭ said Honnycott. Chase looked at him.
тАЬWhat?тАЭ
The other pilot gestured toward the cup. тАЬTea leaves,тАЭ he said. тАЬRead the future.тАЭ
Chase downed the rest of the coffee. тАЬI donтАЩt need no freaking tea leaves.тАЭ On the slowest commercial day
in the history of Pegasus Space-lines, there had never been a day with only six ships in the air. Five
docked. Loading, unloading? Or just docked?Gagarin would have been docked, too, he suddenly realized,
if it hadnтАЩt been on an irreversible lunar orbit.
тАЬI donтАЩt get it,тАЭ he said. тАЬThereтАЩs this asteroid coming, right? And theyтАЩre shutting down the biggest orbital
carrier in the world and putting its pilots on the beach.тАЭ
тАЬYou donтАЩt know theyтАЩre shutting down,тАЭ Singh temporized. Chase could hear the anxiety and denial in the
otherтАЩs voice. тАЬMaybe itтАЩs just another schedule change.тАЭ Bad news is never real until someone official
says it out loud. But the way Sandy Feathershaft looked, up there in the front of the room, the news must
be pretty damn bad, and Chase wasnтАЩt any too sure he wanted to hear it. He tried to catch SandyтАЩs eye,
but she wasnтАЩt pitching any looks. Chase felt his stomach knot up.
тАЬAsteroidтАЩs not for six years,тАЭ Honnycott said. тАЬPlenty of time to put the pieces back together.тАЭ He nodded
toward the front of the room. тАЬGive the new CEO a chance.тАЭ
Chase shook his head. тАЬBallistics,тАЭ was all he said; but the other two knew what he meant. You couldnтАЩt
wait until the last minute. There would be only a few launch windows where they could shoot missiles at
the thing тАФ what had Roberta called it in that press conference? The Jenuine Bean. Shoot missiles, or go
there bonebag and blow the sumbitch up. Only a few windows, and who knew when those windows would
open and shut?
There was no point in racing the bad news home. Karen followed the financial news closely and her
spyder had probably downloaded the skinny as soon as the shutdown and layoffs were posted on the Net.
So all heтАЩd find when he got there would be sympathy and understanding, and Chase wasnтАЩt quite up for
that.
Impulse pulled him off Interstate 10 and onto the surface streets тАФ past traffic lights, car dealerships,
restaurants, strip malls, and body shops. There were a few people about, though not many, and all of
them in cars. Pedestrians in the Arizona desert were as rare as the dodo, and for much the same
reason тАФ too stupid to live. Daytime Phoenix was never actuallycool . Even now, in the butt end of winter,
the temperature hovered in the high seventies. The Sierra Estrellita gleamed in the distance. The sun was
approaching noon and Chase decided he was hungry тАФ but perversely, once he started looking, all the
eateries seemed to have vanished.
He passed up a couple of bun-and-runs тАФ he wanted a cool one as much as he wanted a burger тАФ and
was just about to say the hell with it when he spotted the roadhouse.