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

surrendered entirely and the terminator shrouded the Moon in an unrelenting night. A single gleam broke
the darkness where Artemis Mines nestled on the edge of the Smythe Sea.
At apogee, Chase hit the kick motor and theBuzzer entered Low Lunar Orbit. Used to be, back in Apollo
days, that the insertion took place out of contact with Mission Control and the world held its collective
breath until the ship came out from behind the Moon. Miss an insertion burn and youтАЩd keep on going and
never, ever come back. Even back in тАЩ09, when he and Ned DuBois had тАЬmoonstormedтАЭ in the oldGlenn
Curtiss , they had been out of contact at the critical times. Now Space Traffic Control had relays all over
Farside.
тАЬWe have entered LoLO,тАЭ Gar confirmed.
тАЬAcknowledged.тАЭ Of course, what did тАЬcontactтАЭ mean? Only that now, if someone ever did miss a burn, the
world would know about it sooner rather than later.
тАЬArtemis reports bucket is down rails,тАЭ said Rustov. Chase glanced at the clock. The catapult launch was
late by a few seconds, but not enough to affect closing distance or relative velocity. Chase had snagged
enough pods in his time to know when he had to tickle his orbit. Still, younever depended on gut instinct тАФ
especially in ziggy, where your guts sometimes twisted inside out. He queried the navcomp and the
Artificial Stupid agreed that the rendezvous would indeed fall within the envelope.
Too bad. There were times when Chase wished for something a little more exciting than catching pop
flies. Something that would pump the old adrenaline; something that would take him out to the edge and
test his mojo.
тАЬDocking collar D-as-in-dog-Three is prepped,тАЭ announced the flight engineer. Rick Sung-yi sat at right
angles and тАЬaboveтАЭ the two pilots; but in ziggy, who cared? The teep helmet enclosing his head made him
look like The Human Fly. Telepresent, he could prep docking collars using remote-control waldos.
TheBuzzer was an ungainly craft тАФ fully loaded, it looked like a bunch of grapes held together with
Tinkertoys тАФ but it got the job done.
тАЬHowтАЩs the balance?тАЭ Chase asked, not because he thought Rick would neglect TheBuzzer тАЩs center of
mass, but because Chase always checked everything. Tedious, but it wasnтАЩt like he had something else
he had to do; and three times in the past anal-retentiveness had saved his butt. Not very dramatic, but he
was alive; so there were no complaints coming.
тАЬPod orbit is тАж in groove,тАЭ announced Rustov. He leaned back in his seat. тАЬClose approach in twenty
minutes.тАЭ Chase set the countdown clock and the crew relaxed. Nothing to do now but wait.
тАЬSo.тАЭ Rustov turned his seat to face inboard. тАЬAre you having sold your Pegasus stock?тАЭ
Chase shook his head. тАЬNah. I figure to hold on until the smoke clears.тАЭ
Rick Sung-yi flipped the goggles from his teep helmet. тАЬMe, IтАЩd sell.тАЭ
тАЬNothing wrong with the Old Gray Mare.тАЭ Chase patted the winged stallion logo on his scarlet coveralls.
тАЬPitchlynn ran a tight ship. Too bad she was seduced by the Dark Side.тАЭ
тАЬThat wonтАЩt impress the turkey herd,тАЭ Sung-yi answered. тАЬThey spook easy. How much has the stock
dropped in the last week?тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt matter none. ItтАЩs still higher than when I bought it.тАЭ Chase hadnтАЩt bought it, exactly: it had been part
of his comp package. But, still тАж
Below, dawn was a knife edge west of Riccioli. Off to the south, a gleaming line thrust two hundred meters
from the ringwall into Grimaldi Flats. тАЬIs new catapult,тАЭ Rustov told them. On the telescope viewscreen
robots and waldos slid a coil module onto the quenchgunтАЩs inner tube. тАЬSuperconducting coils,тАЭ Rustov
explained. тАЬCoil ahead of payload attracts, and one behind repels. Bing, bing down tube тАФтАЭ His two fists
moved in tandem left to right. тАЬIs how they move maglev trains.тАЭ
тАЬI know the guy who made that possible,тАЭ Chase said. тАЬLeland Hobart тАФ Hobie, we always called him.
Back in school, we thought he was dumb as bricks, but he was only thinking deep, you know.тАЭ
тАЬNever heard of him,тАЭ said Rick.
Rustov turned and looked at Chase. тАЬYou mean тАШHobie, the Master of CoolтАЩ? You were in school with
him?тАЭ
Chase Coughlin, Hot Pilot, did not impress Gar тАФ who was, after all, something of a hot pilot himself. But