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

find those тАФ but because the world had shrugged its shoulders and tossed an entire cohort of cadets from
their perches.
But I wouldnтАЩt trade that year at the Academy for anything. She had hung a pixure over the desk. Grinning
cadets, looking a little queasy and a little uncertain on their legs, posing in front of NASAтАЩs Vomit Comet
after their training flight. That was her in the middle тАФ the short, dusky one with cropped dark hair, high
cheekbones, and a smile like helium, so that she still seemed to be floating, even back on the ground. She
stood in front of Colonel Hancock, their free-fall instructor. Flanking the group were the two pinned cadets,
Total Meredith and Lonzo Sulbertson, who had gone up with them as cadet-instructors shortly before their
own graduation. And around her were the others: Kenn Rowley and Kiesha Ames and Karyl
Krzyzanowkski (everyone called him тАЬKadet KonsonantтАЭ) and тАж standing beside Jacinta (where he so
often contrived to be) was Yungduk Morrisey тАФ slim, serious, even a little exotic with the slight upturn in
his eyelids. His eyes, she noted, were on her and not on the camera.
Friends, all of them. Close friends, some of them. Dreamers of the same dreams. Where were they now?
In what refuge had they found themselves?
***
The RefugeтАЩs print shop had not been used in a while. The odors of old inks and papers and lead types in
their California cases competed with the smell of dust and rust and stale oil. Jacinta spent a few days
cleaning the shop. She sorted through the type cases for strays, cleaned the ink rollers and platens,
scrubbed down the letterpress тАФ it was a Heidelberg upright тАФ and disposed of the warped and curled
paper and dried-out ink buckets. She set in fresh stores, though not too great a variety because money
was tight and she wasnтАЩt sure how many students would sign up when she started the craft class.
Lilly Katilla found her there. The child entered the shop so quietly that Jacinta did not know she was there
until, with a slug of type in her hands, she turned toward the stone and almost collided with her. Lilly
jumped back and Jacinta gasped and the types went flying.
тАЬOh, no!тАЭ the girl cried. тАЬOh, sister, IтАЩm sorry!тАЭ And she scurried about the shop retrieving the scattered
letters. Jacinta smiled to herself and knelt to pick up the ones that had fallen by her feet.
тАЬNo harm,тАЭ she said.
тАЬI thought you saw me come in.тАЭ
тАЬMy mind was somewhere else.тАЭ
тАЬWe were waiting for you on the roof and you didnтАЩt show up, so someone said she thought you were
down here and I came to get you.тАЭ
тАЬWhat?тАЭ Jacinta looked at her watch. тАЬIтАЩm sorry, I wasnтАЩt watching the time. Are the Star Gazers still up
there?тАЭ
Lilly nodded. The girl was ten, thin and awkward; and, while very conscious of no longer being a child, was
still uncertain whether she was quite yet a woman. She looked around the shop, taking in the type
cabinets, the stone, the press, the bindery, the shelves of paper and ink buckets. тАЬWhat are you doing
down here?тАЭ She didnтАЩt quite skip as she crossed the room with the types clutched in her hands.
Jacinta took them and set them on the make-ready table along with the tray and the remaining types. She
would reset the lines later. She untied the apron, hung it on a hook by the stone, and washed her hands in
the little sink there. тАЬI learned specialty printing when I grew up at the North Orange Retreat,тАЭ she told the
girl. тАЬI thought as long as I was here, IтАЩd pass the skill along. You know the Sixth Precept.тАЭ
тАЬтАШThere will always besomething you can do,тАЩтАЭ the girl recited.
Jacinta nodded. тАЬSo this is another тАШsomething.тАЩ When youтАЩre ready to fledge, you should be able to walk
into any of a half-dozen places with at least an apprenticeтАЩs level of skill.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm going to college.тАЭ
тАЬIncluding college. ThatтАЩs why we teach youhow to learn, by тАФтАЭ
тАЬBy тАШobservation, research, calculation, and experiment.тАЩ I know. But I thought you were a space pilot, not
a printer.тАЭ
Jacinta paused while she rinsed the protective lotion from her hands and forearms. For a moment, she
saw the cockpit of Ned DuBoisтАЩs jump jet the time she and Yungduk had snuck aboard, gotten