"Michael McCollum - Maker 2 - Procyion Promise" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCollum Michael)

If the probe seemed large from the daycruiser control room, it was gigantic from the vantage point of the
outer framework of the damaged control sphere. Chryse Haller grasped a crossbeam as she carefully
snaked a safety line around a jutting side beam. She glanced across the rounded plain and shivered at the
suddenly realization of just how alone she felt.

тАЬStatus check,тАЭ the daycruiser computer said into her earphones. Its voice contained metallic overtones
of unease. The computer had been quite vocal in its opposition to her leaving the safety of the ship and
going out alone to explore the probe.

тАЬI want to see it with my own eyes,тАЭ she had explained in announcing her intentions.тАЭ

тАЬYou are seeing it with your own eyes,тАЭ the daycruiser responded, referring to the holocube projection
that hung in midair before ChryseтАЩs couch.

тАЬNo, I mean outside. I want to touch it, to feel its solidity, to make it real!тАЭ

тАЬIt is far too dangerous. You could be injured.тАЭ

She shrugged, and then remembered that the machine only responded to voice inputs. тАЬYouтАЩll be
monitoring my vital signs. If I get into trouble, you can fly my suit back by remote control.тАЭ

тАЬI still recommend against this unnecessary risk.тАЭ

тАЬLife is an unnecessary risk,тАЭ Chryse had said as she unbuckled from the pilotтАЩs couch and aligned her
axis with the daycruiserтАЩs small central passageway. тАЬIтАЩm going.тАЭ

She had suited up and let the computer do complete telemetry readout on her before entering the airlock.
As in everything else relating toHenningтАЩs Roost , the suit was the best money could buy. Its air recycling
system was good for a week or more, its water tanks and pharmaceutical stores were full, and its outer
covering of armor made it virtually impervious to damage. If the need arose, she would be able to call the
ship for help, have her message relayed to Earth, and wait for the rescue craft to arrive. It would not be
comfortable, but it was safe.

Once outside the airlock, she had jetted across the two hundred meters of void separating the daycruiser
from the probe and grounded on its outer frame. Above her, the sun blazed hotter than the hottest day
Death Valley had ever seen. The beams beneath her boots reflected the light with a dull metallic sheen.

After she assured her mechanical nursemaid that all was well, Chryse turned her attention to the massive
mechanism beneath her feet. She peered down into the depths of the open sphere, feeling for a moment
like an ironworker in the upper stories of a megastructure. It took a few moments to orient herself and
educate her brain to interpret the message her optic nerves were sending it.

The first thing she noticed was that not all the damage had come from the collision with the I-masses.
Here and there, amid structures that appeared undamaged, were gaps that should not have been. These,
she quickly realized, were the results of the salvage operation that had gone on for nearly fifty years after
the probeтАЩs destruction.

She finished her inspection and glanced up at the daycruiser. тАЬIтАЩm going inside. I want to see what itтАЩs
like down where the main personality was housed.тАЭ