"Jay Lake & Ruth Nestvold - The Canadian Who Came Almost All the Way Back from the Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lake Jay)

Kelly pointed the broken end toward me. The end looked more like it had been blown off. Would my
hand have done the same, under the pressure of the rapidly expanding ice?

Kelly came to the same conclusion at about the same time. "Cold," she said, her voice strangely satisfied.
"The aspen shattered from the cold."

"What's so great about cold?" The cold could have killed me. I was feeling groggy from the dive, chilled
in the half-hearted sun of the Canadian Rockies.

Her smile flashed. "Very slow entropic progression, that's what's so great about cold."

Very slow entropic progression. I'd never heard her talk like that before.

The following winter, we were enjoying a comfortable afternoon in front of the lodge fireplace when we
heard shots. We looked at each other in shock for a moment before we jumped up, pulled on our
Gore-Tex snowpants and parkas, and headed out for the snowmobile.

Less than a mile from the lodge, we found Sergeant Perry's body in the snow, his skis sticking up at an
odd angle, his blood spattering the pristine white of the landscape.

Kelly stifled a sob, then bent to close his eyes. I had to stop myself from reaching to comfort her, so I
scanned the woods for signs of movement instead. Nothing.

I called Maryland. There wasn't much point in seeking cover тАФif the shooter was still out there, we were
in their sights.

"Perhaps it was a hunting accident?" Marge said over the static-filled connection.

"A hunting accident?" Islamists, Chinese, environmentalists тАФI could think of a lot more likely
explanations than that. "Marge, no one should be able get past our security for there to be a hunting
accident. You need to initiate an outside investigation."

Kelly knelt in the snow next to the body, tears streaming down her face. We hadn't known the Mountie
well, but he had been one of the few people we'd had any contact with in the last four-plus years.
On the other end of the line, Marge sighed. "You're right, this needs to be looked into. I'll take care of it,
Bruce."

"Thanks."

An NSA helicopter flew in to collect the body and take Perry back to wherever he had come from.
Kelly and I watched it wing away again, and to my surprise, her arm slid around my waist.

I had the odd thought that I wished I could die right then, standing in the snow like one half of a couple
with Kelly Maclnnes.

The dimple was definitely changing. During the summer following Sergeant Perry's mysterious
deathтАФwhich NSA had failed to clear up тАФit had grown visibly wider and shallower. Even with our
crude measurements, the heat rise was becoming noticeably greater. Radiation levels remained stable,
however the dosimeters and my Geiger counter were consistent.