"Ken Jenks - Vectors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jenks Ken)

Trent nodded. "Roger, that. Their thump down is pretty damned hard, and there's the resupply schedule to think about."

"What does Shackelford say about evacuating her on Atlantis?"

"I haven't asked him yet. They're undoubtedly having a similar debate about Bear. I think Houston is telling James their side of the story now. He won't be happy to have his mission cut short. Weather has Edwards and the Cape socked in, and a landing at White Sands is marginal, so if they have to land soon, it'll be messy. Did you and Bear have any luck figuring out an infection vector?"

"None at all. He's been safe from swamps and seafood for well over a week. And we don't have a clue how Kathy got it."

Trent looked pained. "This medical privacy is fine for normal stuff like blurry vision, funny heartbeats and a bad day on the treadmill, but until we can find that vector, the safety of the whole crew is at stake here. I'm going to call a meeting and tell the everybody about it."

"I'll talk to Kathy first," I volunteered, frowning. "I hope she'll understand."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The meeting went reasonably well. Although Kathy was still sulking, the crew of Calypso discussed the situation calmly and seriously. With the history of infectious diseases in the space program, and the known negative effects of microgravity on the human immune system, space station astronauts had always been prepared for the possibility of disease. When the meeting was over, Trent called the commanders of the Russian, European and Japanese modules together for a private discussion, but that was interrupted when Houston called.

Bear was dead.

I found myself crying over my chocolate chip cookies as I took a break from my lab work. I used a napkin to mop up the spheres of drifting tears. A few wayward cookie crumbs floated on the soft breeze. Trent came in from the node, closed the door, and pulled himself toward me using the station's hand-rails.

"Victoria, I need to talk to you about Kathy."

I sniffed into my napkin. "How's she doing?"

"Not well," replied Trent, "She took Bear's death pretty hard. Houston says she's not responding to the rehydration, just as you expected."

I nodded. "Sometimes I hate being right."

"We'll have to drop her down via Soyuz. Probably within an hour."

"What about Atlantis?"

Trent shook his head gently. "There's a hole in the weather. They're landing at Edwards in about two hours. Shackelford is sick, so they'll use the autoland sequence. We can't risk having them dock with Calypso again."

I nodded, then tilted my head as I saw Trent biting his lip uncomfortably.

"There's one more thing," said Trent. "You will deorbit with Kathy on the Soyuz." Seeing my outrage growing, Trent touched my arm. "As the only other crewmember . . ."

"Hell, no!" I interrupted. "Don't you dare try to get rid of me that way. Ever since that night in Houston, first you tried to keep me grounded, now you grab the first excuse to send me down. You egotistical, self-serving, two-faced . . ."

"Now wait a minute," he yelled. "I didn't try to ground you!"

"It sure looked like that from Houston," I fumed. "What else could it mean: you asked for Charlie instead of me."

"That's not what I meant!" He shifted his grip on the hand rail. I'm sure the other astronauts were getting an earful. There is no privacy in space.

"So what the hell did you mean? First you screwed me, then you screwed me!"

"I've been doing my damnedest to keep myself impartial, and it's tearing me up inside! This is my first command. I didn't want to spend all of my time worrying about you or fighting this stinking battle not to play favorites with the crew. They all know how I feel about you."

I waved my free hand to encompass the station. "So if they all know how you feel, how about letting me in on it?"