"Nicola Griffith - Ammonite" - читать интересную книгу автора (Griffith Nicola)

There was another airlock at the center of the corridor. She went through the
dictated procedure, familiar now. The micro-gravity and her sensitivity to the strong
magnetic field under her feet made her dizzy. She closed her eyes and took three fast
breaths to trigger a meditative state, monitoring for a moment her heartbeat and
electrical activity.
She went on: more corridor, another lock. C Section.
In C Section there were beds, like B Section, but each had a hood waiting to be
lowered over an occupant to suck out her blood and lymph, ready to push physical
and electrical fingers deep into her intestines to kill and remove the swarm of bacteria
and yeasts, eager to sear away the first layers of skin and leave red, raw tissues with
colorless fluids until new skin grew back. Tombs for the living. She hated them.
They had not been able to save her mother.
She walked faster; she wanted to be out of C Section.
In the lock. Hurry. Eyes shut and arms out. Faster. Key sequence. Now.
Nothing. The panel still flashed red.
Marghe stared at it. If she could not get through into D Section, she was trapped.
The lock systems would not permit her to retrace her steps without a record of her
having undergone either isolation in D or fluid replacement in C.
Think.
Perhaps she had input the wrong number sequence. She had been in a rush. Yes.
Precisely, accurately, she tapped in the code a second time.
No change.
She tongued on the comm channel. тАЬHiam, can you hear me?тАЭ
Her helmet speaker clicked. тАЬI can hear. Go ahead.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm still in lock four.тАЭ
тАЬSo my readouts say.тАЭ
тАЬIt wonтАЩt accept the sequence.тАЭ
 тАЬYouтАЩre sure you got it right?тАЭ
тАЬSeven-eight-three-six-nine.тАЭ Silence. тАЬItтАЩs the right one, isnтАЩt it?тАЭ
тАЬYes,тАЭ Another silence. Marghe imagined the tck-tck of HiamтАЩs nails on the
keyboard. тАЬHow much air do you have?тАЭ
тАЬAbout eighty minutes.тАЭ
тАЬThere should be an emergency suit. In the locker to your left.тАЭ
Marghe opened the left locker, then the right. They were both empty. тАЬNothing.
And all the emergency blow patches have gone.тАЭ
тАЬI forgot. We had to clear everything, just in case someone infected tried to blow
her way out. Let me think.тАЭ
Marghe stood in the dim light and breathed precious air. Eighty minutes. She did
not want to die here, alone, surrounded by nothing but dead machinery and empty
space.
The audio relay clicked back on. тАЬNyoтАЩs back from her repair stint,тАЭ Hiam said.
тАЬShe knows more about the systems than I do, sheтАЩs working on it right now.
SheтАФhold on.тАЭ Marghe thought she heard a muttered conference. тАЬSigrid says
NyoтАЩs on the track of some software glitch.тАЭ
тАЬHow long will it take?тАЭ
тАЬHold on.тАЭ More muted discussion. тАЬNo guesses. But NyoтАЩs working fast.тАЭ
Minutes dragged by. Marghe concentrated on increasing her blood flow to tensed
muscles, washing away fatigue acids and stress toxins. She checked to make sure
her boot electros were off. She had seventy-one minutes of air left.
тАЬMarghe, listen, IтАЩve been talking to Sigrid, and we agree. WeтАЩve decided that if