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

Miko sometimes sensed an edge to the older man, a fascination with death and risk. He might seek the
Void as another might grasp a serpentтАФas an act of defiance. And yet, the Universe could be pushed
only so far before it pushed back.

Simultaneous failure argued a common cause. A whispered command to the AI brought the schematics
up on MikoтАЩs screen. What systems did Two and Three have in common?

While his mate searched deebies, Bhatterji turned away from the damaged cage. He noticed that he was
casting a shadow and, turning to look, saw the smoky opal gleam of Jupiter off the fore starside quarter.
It was a minute disk, not even a tenth the size of the Moon over the Bay of Bengal, and for just a
moment, Bhatterji wondered what he was doing here, so far from the temples and the forests and the
jangly cities. He remembered that Miko came from Amalthea and one of the wranglers from Callisto.
They had signed the articles within a day of each other on the previous transit. Yet Circumjovia was the
new frontier. Odd, how people fled from heavens that others scrambled to reach.

Turning back to the rim, he squinted his eyes at the forest of pylons back the way he had come, then he
lifted off the hull once more. This time, he stayed closer to the surface and toed down a moment later at
the Ayesaki valve, halfway between the two damaged cages.

тАЬMr. Bhatterji,тАЭ Miko said, тАЬI think you should check the north exterior coolant diverter valve.тАЭ

тАЬThe Ayesaki. Yes, IтАЩm already there.тАЭ BhatterjiтАЩs satisfaction at having reasoned so well was tempered
by what he saw. The valve had cracked and molten lithium had sprayed, coated, and ruined every piece
of equipment around it before the cutoffs could shut down the flow.

тАЬHow did youтАФтАЭ

тАЬBecause I have the ship up here,тАЭ Bhatterji told his mate, tapping his helmetтАФa wasted gesture, though
Miko understood. тАЬThe anodes failed. Why? Because they both lost their magnetic insulation. Why did
the insulation fail? Because the CoRE magnets failed. Why did the CoRE magnets fail? Because
resistive heating in their coils quenched the superconductor. Why did the coils grow hot? An
interruption in their coolant supply. And whytwo cages at the same time? A coolant failure at the
diverter valve that served them both. You must always ask тАШwhyтАЩ five times when diagnosing a failure.
ItтАЩs really quite pretty, the way everything falls into place.тАЭ

(тАЬPretty!тАЭ said Gorgas, who was watching and listening from the bridge.)

(тАЬItтАЩs more than pretty,тАЭ Fife told Wong and the others in the common room. тАЬItтАЩs beautiful.тАЭ He had
itched to track the root cause himself, but had lacked sufficient knowledge of the system to leap ahead of
Bhatterji. Yet following another on the scent was pleasure still.)


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тАЬThe only thing left,тАЭ Bhatterji said, тАЬis to discover why the valve failed.тАЭ

(Corrigan, who was on the bridge with Gorgas, shook his head. тАЬNo! WhatтАЩs left is to fix the forsaken
thing.тАЭ But Gorgas silenced him with a gesture and Bhatterji never heard.)