"Michael P. Kube - McDowell - Black Fleet 2 - Shield of Lies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kube-McDowell Michael P)

"Unless what triggered this climatic episode was a dirty war--with
incendiaries, or surface-burst weapons," Josala pointed out.

"Not much atmosphere left, but I can drop a probe to take a sniff,"
said the pilot. "We ought to be able to settle that question pretty
quickly."

"No," said Stopa. "Put us in a mapping orbit. Let's have a look at
the other side. We only need one landing site--a few grams of
material. There could be a geothermal field, or some other sort of hot
spot--a warm current from a deep vent, perhaps, that kept a portion of
some seacoast ice-free. If so, surely the Qella would have fled there
before the end."

"You don't expect to find anyone alive, do you?
Look at the surface temperature readings."

"No, not alive," Stopa said. "But I would be grateful for a single
corpse that is not buried under three hundred meters of ice."

"Mapping orbit it is," said the pilot, reaching for the controls.

"Maltha Obex, here we come."

"Qella," Josala amended quietly. "If at least a little bit of this
planet doesn't still belong to the Qella, we're going to be a big
disappointment to the folks who sent us here."

From the close vantage of a standard mapping orbit, Qella's face proved
no more inviting. The land was blanketed in ice to a depth of up to a
kilometer, while the shrunken oceans, too salty to freeze, were thick
with bergs and growlers.

"That's it," said Stopa, studying the data from the final pass. "Some
of the Qella might have tried to live on the ice--we might get lucky
and find their remains only fifty or a hundred meters down. It's
something we can work on while we're waiting for reinforcements. But
we have to assume the worst, and call for help."

"Maybe we can get Dr. Eckels's team," said Josala.

"They were supposed to be finished with the Hoth excavation by now."

"We can try. Open a hypercomm link to the Obroan Institute," Stopa
said.

"Ready," said the pilot.

"This is Dr. Kroddok Stopa, verification code
al-pha-eager-four-four-two.