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

The engineer studied the equipment closely. Frozen lithium coated everything with a grim yellowed
frost. The Lotus JewelтАЩs comm antennae were badly damaged. As for the valve itself, what Bhatterji saw
was so simple that at first he could not comprehend it. His mind tried and discarded a dozen templates
while he struggled to understand the bent and mangled casing. Curiously, of the others watching through
his suit camera, only The Lotus Jewel, who did not know what was reasonable, saw plainly what must
have happened.

тАЬWe have been struck,тАЭ Bhatterji concluded at last, something like awe in his voice; as if he had won a
cosmic lottery or, more accurately, lost one in which winning had been ensured. тАЬBy a small object, the
size of my fist.тАЭ Yes, there were the broken ends protruding on the far side of the shell. Bhatterji
wondered at the trajectory and squatted to sight through the holes.

Gorgas had watched BhatterjiтАЩs EVAsion on the shipтАЩs monitors, watched the manтАЩs progress from one
piece of equipment to the next, saw through the suit camera what Bhatterji saw; and if Bhatterji saw
puzzle and The Lotus Jewel fear, and Satterwaithe vindication, it was Gorgas who saw beyond the
immediate phenomena to a glimmer of what lay ahead.




Evan Dodge Hand had always allowed Bhatterji a time to decompress after Outside work. Though he
never spoke of it, Hand had been well aware of his engineerтАЩs phobia and had granted him this grace
period before reporting; and Bhatterji (who also never spoke of it) was grateful for both the grace and
the silence. Over the years, that grace had metastasized into a right, one of those тАЬcustomary privilegesтАЭ
that accumulate in any crew.

But there sat now a pharaoh who knew not Joseph. Stepan Gorgas waited in his day room with
increasing impatience for Bhatterji to appear. While he waited, he replayed the video from the
engineerтАЩs EVAsion, freezing and zooming on the damage the man had found, extrapolating from that
damage to the likely bill of materials, hyperlinking to stores inventories, considering and discarding a
dozen possibilities. Every now and then he would glance in irritation at the door and growl, тАЬWhere the
devil is that fellow?тАЭ

тАЬThat fellowтАЭ was one level up, naked, and rubbing himself vigorously with a moist scrubber.
Intellectually, Bhatterji knew that the sweat of fear had no distinctive odor. It was indistinguishable from
the sweat of hard work or the sweat of vigorous play; but this knowledge wasonly knowledge and before
he would report to Gorgas he rubbed himself and rubbed himself until his skin tingled and he wished
Miko were with him. Gorgas would never have noticed. If there was a smell to fear, it was Bhatterji who

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caught the whiff; Bhatterji who must wipe it clean.

The engineer completed his decompression ritual in the deckhandsтАЩ mess. It was a favorite spot of his.
Though nominally an officer, Bhatterji always felt more relaxed among the crew. The talk was easier up
on the crew deck, the atmosphere more relaxed. The near-beer had fuller body than down belowтАФ
though the officersтАЩ mess drew its own тАЬneerтАЭ from the same tanks.