"Michael McCollum - Gibraltar earth" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCollum Michael)

Frees moved to the after compartment where the rest of his boarding party waited. The three were
sealed inside vacuum suits and looked slightly ludicrous with a collection of weapons strapped to their
chests. Firing a gun in microgravity was a tricky business. The recoil could send you caroming off in the
wrong direction, not to mention the possibility of a ricochet puncturing a suit. Nevertheless, considering
what had happened to Scout Three, the captain had ordered the boarding party armed.

тАЬIтАЩll lead the way,тАЭ Frees told Able Spacers Goldstein, Valmoth, and Kurtzkov. тАЬMonitor this frequency
and the emergency one at all times. Everyone set?тАЭ

He received several clenched fists, the gesture that substitutes for a nod in a vacuum suit, in response.
After checking to see that Grimes was prepared in the cockpit, he turned the valve that spilled cabin air
directly to space. This was one time, Frees reasoned, when they might not have time to cycle through the
airlock in the normal manner. When both inner and outer doors were latched open, each man floated
through the short airlock tunnel and entered the alien ship.

They encountered corridors that were two meters square and lined on two sides with equipment lockers.
This confirmed that the ship was designed to be spun to produce artificial gravity. In ships designed for
microgravity, the lockers would have covered walls, deck, and overhead. During fifteen minutes spent
exploring the dark, they discovered several members of the crew. There were more of the four-armed
beings that looked like beetles with fur. Another species had bulging eyes and thin manipulators that
seemed to have evolved from something like a lobsterтАЩs claw. Whether the bulging eyes were natural or
the result of explosive decompression was not immediately obvious.

Frees was examining one of the dead when a radio call came echoing to him through the metal corridors.
тАЬCome look at this, Lieutenant. WeтАЩve found a section with air behind it.тАЭ

тАЬStand by.тАЭ

Frees pulled himself hand over hand to where the able spacer shone his light on a closed pressure door.
The door was similar to that found on a human spaceship, although the proportions were different. So,
too, was the control inset in the doorтАЩs face. It glowed in a script composed primarily of dots and swirls.
Kurtzkov braced his legs against a ledge that stuck out into the corridor and tried to lever the door open
with his own strength. The hatch did not budge. That was hardly surprising if there were air on the
opposite side.

тАЬAre you sure it isnтАЩt jammed?тАЭ Frees asked as he floated to join the two spacers.

тАЬDonтАЩt think so, Mr. Frees. None of the other hatches we came through was.тАЭ

тАЬRight. Valmoth, get back to the ship and break out the portable airlock. We have atmosphere on the
other side of this bulkhead.тАЭ

Rigging the airlock took twenty minutes. The biggest problem was finding a point to anchor the lock in
order to control the blow-off load when it was pressurized. The lock was just big enough for two men in
vacuum suits. Frees and Kurtzkov crowded together and let the other two seal them in before getting to
work on the hatch. A quick flash of light from KurtzkovтАЩs drilling laser and the airlock filled with air.

As soon as his suit collapsed around him, Frees reached out to touch the hatch control. Pressing one
contact had no effect. He tried the other. The pressure door swung silently back on its hinges.