"Michael Flynn - Wreck of The Rivers of Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flynn Michael)

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Gorgas broke into the channel. тАЬCan it be fixed?тАЭ

Bhatterji snorted. тАЬOf course. I expect it will be fun.тАЭ

тАЬFun! This is a serious matter.тАЭ

Bhatterji made no response. Gorgas did not know the pleasures of engineering. Indeed, Bhatterji did not
think Gorgas knew any pleasures. Already, Bhatterji had thought of three possible repair designs and a
workaround for the Florence struts, though which design he would use would depend on what parts and
materials he could scrounge.

тАЬI am going to check Number Two now,тАЭ he told Miko.

тАЬButтАФthat was the automatic shutdown, wasnтАЩt it?тАЭ his mate said.

тАЬThink it through. The ship can boost on any three Farnsworths. The AI knows that.тАЭ

тАЬBut, thenтАФтАЭ

тАЬIt can even fly on two,тАЭ Bhatterji went on. тАЬPay attention. It can even fly on two,provided they are
antipodal on the rim. But if twoadjacent engines go down, the ship will twirl around its diameter, which
makes navigation problematical. So the AI performs a complete shutdown.тАЭ

(тАЬDamned cages,тАЭ Satterwaithe said off-circuit to Ratline, тАЬyouтАЩd never get a failure mode like that with
a magsail.тАЭ Ratline cackled.)

тАЬFor two engines to fail at the same timeтАФтАЭ Miko began to say, but Bhatterji interrupted again.

тАЬPonder why the CoRE magnets failed. DonтАЩt distract me.тАЭ He stood still for a moment, eyes closed,
nerving himself for flight; then he loosened his boots from the rim and rose slowly on his suit jets. The
conviction welled within him that he was falling away from the ship into a vast and endless pit. The hull
was no longer a surface, but a precipice. Breathing hard, sweating, he brought himself to a stop at ten
feet, paused to orient, then jetted toward the Number Two Farnsworth. A dangerous maneuver. Motion
wants always a straight line, and that means tangent to the shipтАЩs rim and her considerable forward
velocity. But fear wants danger to vindicate itself, and that means tangent to oneтАЩs desires.

Following the curvature of the rim, Bhatterji coasted above moribund shroud motors for the old
magnetic sails; above empty connector cradles for long-gone luxury modules; around the antennae for
the comm system; above a junkyard of sensors and couplings and equipments that resembled a great
coral reef. His pulse rattled like a snare and his groin tightened into a hard ball. He tickled the jets


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