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

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Torrance was a community of small frame houses packed along winding streets. The lots werenтАЩt all that
big тАФ about the size of a swimming pool, which was what most of them had for backyards тАФ but they
were big enough to separate each house from its neighbors and save them from the label of тАЬrow homes.тАЭ
The silver apple refuge must have been a school at one time тАФ and still was, since the sisterhood ran
under charter one of the better public schools in the district тАФ a boarding school for тАЬgirls at risk.тАЭ Jacinta
shaded her eyes against the sun and peered at the upper floors. TheyтАЩd find a place for her. That was one
of the rules. The First Precept read, тАЬThe apple is never far from the tree.тАЭ Yet, it felt more like exile than
homecoming; and that was wrong. She was a silver apple. She belonged here.
Another jetliner took off. Her mind transmuted the roar into the holy rumble of high-impulse rockets lifting
from Phoenix Sky Port, hundreds of miles east.
But nothing would be lifting from Phoenix тАФ or Allentown, or Prague, or anywhere else тАФ until the
financial crisis had passed. And even then, would anyone remember the cadet training schedules that had
gotten shredded when it all hit the fan?
Just a short sabbatical, was how Mr. Calhoun put it when he announced that shortfalls in the lift tax on
ballistic and orbital flights required drastic economies at the Glenn Spaceflight Academy.They canтАЩt afford
to keep the orbital fleets grounded for too long: and they sure as hell canтАЩt afford not to train the next
generation of pilots.
Brave words, but Jacinta wished she hadnтАЩt heard him trying to convince himself as much as the cadets.
Sometimes, the ability to read voices and postures told you more than you wanted to know. Self-deception
could be a comfort.
She stood for a while on the portico calling on her Inner Strength before she dared look into the
DoorWarden and let it scan her appearance against the тАЬmaster dataface.тАЭ Tears, she told herself, could
short the optics.
After a few days to settle in, Jacinta Rosario was invited to meet the director тАФ an encounter she
approached with hesitation. Ostensibly, it was to welcome Jacinta officially to the Torrance Refuge.The
hand is always open for those in need. But there was an unspoken stigma attached to those who reached
too quickly for that hand. Fledgling fluttering back to us? Was Outside more than you could handle, dear?
Maybe you shouldnтАЩtneed quite so easily. But, expecting the knives of kindness, Jacinta found no
condescension in the refuge directorтАЩs voice or posture. The concern and sympathy were genuine.
Perhaps the circumstances тАФ the recession, the temporary closing of the Academy тАФ were so clearly
elements beyond anyoneтАЩs control that no stigma could attach to Jacinta seeking shelter. She was only
one more storm-tossed pebble on the beach. And yet, Jacinta herself could not help but feel that in some
indefinable fashion she had failed.
Failure, after all, had nothing to do with Fault.
Mother Linda Fernandez-Jacoby was a lean and narrow-faced woman who, despite her age, still wore the
MaidenтАЩs Shawl over her shoulders. She would probably be buried in it. Most apples joined only for a term
or two, to get their lives in order; but no organization could survive without its тАЬlifers.тАЭ Self-consciously,
Jacinta adjusted the hang of her own shawl. The fabric tickled her neck and she tried not to scratch there.
She had not worn it in over a year. Public displays were not required by the Precepts тАФ the Shawl could
attract unwanted approaches тАФ but Jacinta had not worn it even in private, and she felt as if the mother,
somehow, knew that.
тАЬHave you settled in, sister?тАЭ Mother Linda asked. She had a pot of hot water on a sideboard and busied
herself with the steeping of a cup of tea. Like all the apples, she dressed in bright, affirming colors. Her
office was comfortable тАФ feminine without being dainty тАФ with soft chairs and low tables. The computer
pixwall on standby portrayed an ocean beach.
тАЬYes, maтАЩam,тАЭ Jacinta said. тАЬThank you again for taking me in. ItтАЩll only be until the Academy reorganizes
and reopens.тАЭ
Mother Linda turned and handed her a cup; kept one for herself. тАЬYes,тАЭ she said, тАЬthough you donтАЩt want
to depend on the future unfolding to your plans. All the economists say that this тАФ тАШDip,тАЩ I think is the