"David Gerrold - The Trouble With Tribbles" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

Should have.
DidnтАЩt.
In this situation, the supplementary channels remained bafямВingly
blank. And the itch behind KorieтАЩs shoulders became a full-blown rash,
so much so that even Captain Parsons had to scratch. She grumbled her
annoyance. тАЬThey want help, but they wonтАЩt give details. YouтАЩre right,
Commander Korie. This has to be a high-security operation.тАЭ
тАЬExtremely high security,тАЭ Korie noted. тАЬWay out here, a month deep
into the south end of the riftтАФthis is the other side of nowhereтАФwhat-
ever it is theyтАЩre doing, they want it secret.тАЭ
On the forward display, the red star was already visible as a teardrop
hung against the darkness. A pinpoint ямВare of blue-white ямВamed beyond,
but the spiral streamer wasnтАЩt apparent yet, only a soft pink glow sur-
rounding the blue-white dwarf.
тАЬWe have our bearings,тАЭ reported Tor. тАЬReady for the next jump.тАЭ
тАЬInitiate,тАЭ said the captain.
The Star Wolf jumped. And jumped again. And one more time. Soon,
the object known only as IKE-34 was a wall of ямВame that ямБlled half the
visible universe. It occupied a volume of space equal to the orbit of Jupiter.
Against the darkness, the blue dwarf could now be seen pulling a great
streamer of ямВaming gas out of the tip of the crimson teardrop. The line of

7
ямБre curled out and around, stretching across the visible sky like a rip; as
it reached the disk-shaped well of the bright blue star, it began to spiral
inward, around and around, the colors shifting more and more brightly
as the crimson ямВames were gathered into the purpling corona. And yes,
the scenery was spectacular. Better than spectacular. Astonishing.
From this angle, below the red starтАЩs south pole, it wasnтАЩt immediately
apparent that the giant was also ямВattened at both poles; it was impressive
nonetheless. Despite the Star WolfтАЩs distanceтАФseveral billion kilome-
tersтАФthe massive size of the star created the looming perception that
they were close enough to touch it. The perspectives of space create
impossible visions, and this was one of the more impossible views. That
long-dead poet had been right. Enjoy GodтАЩs handiwork in silence. Across
the Bridge of the starship the crew worked wordlessly, but again and
again their eyes were drawn to the forward display.
Eventually, the magnitude of the view became so intimidating and
oppressive that Captain Parsons ordered the image muted down. тАЬWe
donтАЩt need the eye of hell looking down on us,тАЭ she remarked. тАЬWeтАЩve
got work to do. LetтАЩs turn that off.тАЭ She stepped down from the Com-
mand Deck, only three short steps into the well of the Operations Bay,
but a whole other domain of command and control. She took a familiar
position next to the astrogation console, just behind TorтАЩs left shoulder.
тАЬHow long to close with the Norway?тАЭ
тАЬFifty-six hours. Coming in across the pole brings us in a lot fast-
erтАФbut the NorwayтАЩs in the plane of the eclipticтАФa тАШMissionary Orbit.тАЩ
Coming up from under, weтАЩll have to accelerate constantly to catch up,
correcting all the way in, and decelerate only in the last few hours. Tricky,
not impossible.тАЭ