"Peter F. Hamilton - Misspent youth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

Timothy couldn't see his mother's eyes behind her wide goldmirror
sunglasses, but he knew from her tone that she was
disappointed again. It was always so hard to please her. He licked
at the cone, delighted by the weird taste mix.

There was a long row of hangars behind the stalls. Two distinct
types, providing a contrast which neatly illustrated the base's
history: modern stealth composite bubbles lurking between huge
1950s concrete and corrugated iron structures. The new dark grey
hemispheres, looking like lead mushrooms bursting out of the
grass, were sealed against curious eyes. They contained the latest
EuropeanAerospaceCorporation automated attack fighters, which
operated from Cottesmore. In contrast to the secrecy of the hemispheres,
the tall rusty panel doors on the older buildings were wide
open. Large banners outside advertised the service companies
which had taken over the hangars for the weekend. The Bakers
went into the first hangar. Few people were inside.

Timothy moved along the company stands. None of them
captured his interest. It was all test equipment and maintenance
tools. Dull stuff compared to what was outside. Not even the vast
array of intricate parts from a dismantled high-speed turbine held
his attention for more than a few seconds. Then the stand right at
the end made him come to a complete halt.

The company was actually promoting -its fuselage-vibrationanalysis
software, but it was using an 'eternal' tap as part of its
advertising. Three slender nylon fishing lines had been tied to the
iron rafters of the hangar's gloomy roof high overhead, holding a
big old brass tap four metres off the floor. From that, a fat column
of water splashed continually into a bowl on a table at the end of

yet the water splashing into it never stopped. And when he
squinted up at the tap he couldn't see any kind of pipe attached.
For a moment he thought the tiny nylon lines might be miniature
pipes, but there were only three of them, and they were way too
small to feed such a big tap. What he was seeing simply wasn't

possible. It was like some special effect from a cable show.

'Dad,'

file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Peter%20F.%20Hamilton%20-%20Misspent%20youth.txt (3 of 376)16-2-2006 21:38:35
 file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Peter%20F.%20Hamilton%20-%20Misspent%20youth.txt



Jeff Baker looked up from the pieces of high-speed turbine he
was inspecting.