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

Chase Coughlin, Classmate of Leland Hobart, was another story. Chase grinned. HeтАЩd have to tell Hobie,
next time they crossed orbits.
тАЬIs almost no metal in catapult,тАЭ Rustov told Sung-yi, тАЬbecause barrel coils induce wery high
circumferential currents. And тАШslinkyтАЩ springs between barrel and outer tube not only take recoil but also
make long heat path for dissipation.тАЭ
Chase caught the F/EтАЩs eye. тАЬHey, Rick, I thoughtyou were the engineer here.тАЭ
Sung-yi shrugged. тАЬEveryone has a hobby.тАЭ
тАЬYeah? MineтАЩs women.тАЭ
тАЬRight. How many in your collection?тАЭ
тАЬWell тАж okay, one. So far. But тАФтАЭ
Sung-yi laughed. тАЬBut KarenтАЩs more than you can handle anyway.тАЭ
Rustov turned from the viewport as the catapult site fell behind and TheBuzzer soared out over the dark
soil of the Ocean of Storms. тАЬSomeday,тАЭ he said, тАЬthey move ships with quenchguns. Shooting iron pellets
behind at great velocity, ship moves forward. Action, reaction.тАЭ
тАЬUntil then, Gar,тАЭ said Chase, тАЬweтАЩll set you in the afterlock with a peashooter.тАЭ Sung-yi laughed.
тАЬLobbing those canisters up onto L-1 will make pickups easier,тАЭ the flight engineer admitted. тАЬWe wonтАЩt
have to duck down here to LoLO to make the retrieval. Save two klicks delta-V, easy.тАЭ It was well known
that an F/E would sell his grandmother for half a klick.
тАЬIfthe cans donтАЩt fall off the saddle,тАЭ Chase pointed out. тАЬL-1 is unstable.тАЭ
тАЬThey will be using spin stabilization,тАЭ Rustov said, тАЬand apolune kick motors. Cans will be reusable, too.тАЭ
тАЬReusable?тАЭ said Chase. тАЬYou mean weтАЩll get to lug the empties back to the Moon? Man, this job is a thrill
a minute.тАЭ
тАЬBe glad it isnтАЩt,тАЭ said Rick soberly.
They raised the Earth coming around the western limb of the Moon just as the countdown clock kicked in
and the Artificial Stupid announced the five-minute warning. Rick flipped his teep goggles back in place
and Chase and his crew swung back to their workstations.
TheBuzzer swung between the Earth and Moon and there, directly forward and framed between the two,
was red Mars.
There was an asteroid coming. Roberta Carson said so on her big web-cast. Impact in six years? Jesus,
no wonder the market had crashed. Chase had asked around and it seemed olтАЩ Styxy had the straight
skinny. A Planetary Defense Committee had been quietly meeting since April trying to put a plan in place
before breaking the news to the public. The asteroid was somewhere out around Mars for now, but there
would be a close approach in July of тАЩ21 and a new FarTrip expedition would go out to meet it.
Yeah, thought Chase. Something new. Something different. Something out on the edge.
There was nothing Chase Coughlin loved so much as the punch of acceleration when a big bird lifted,
unless it was the euphoria of utter freedom that followed as the Earth relaxed its obstinate grip and he
floated free above the world. He was not given much to poetry тАФ people sometimes said that he lacked
depth тАФ yet the mixture of power and skill and delicate balance involved in orbital flight moved him in a
way he was utterly unable to describe. So perhaps it was only that he seldom spoke about such things
that led others to hasty judgment.
Yet, Earth held charms of its own, if of a different sort, and Chase approached his mandatory groundside
rotation with a surge of visceral anticipation. Karen and Little Chase met him at the pilotтАЩs lounge at
Phoenix Sky Port, where Chase tossed his screeching son high in the air to simulate free fall. тАЬLift into
orbit!тАЭ he cried.
тАЬDe-orbit burn!тАЭ the five-year-old hollered coming down to a soft landing.
The three of them walked out together laughing, but the chuckles died as they passed the gate area.
Chase noted that Gates Five and Six seemed to be shut down entirely тАФ at least there were no lift
announcements posted. Two men sat in the waiting lounge at Gate Six with the air of having sat there a
long time and, to judge by the belongings spread about, intent on staying for a good deal longer. Chase
didnтАЩt think they were waiting for the next lift. He shook his head. He hadnтАЩt seen that sort of thing since