"13 Sentinels 01 - The Devils Hand" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinney Jack)

The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. "Rise and shine," said a synthesized, possibly female voice from the room's control deck.
Rick pulled the sheet over his head and buried his face in the pillow. He could sense Lisa stirring beside him, sitting up and stretching. In a moment he felt her warm hand on his bare back.
"Morning."
"What good is it being an admiral if you can't sleep late?" he asked without lifting his head.
She laughed and kissed the nape of his neck. "Not today, Rick."
"Then tell me why five-fifteen never seemed this early before."
"Maybe because bed never felt this good before," she purred, snuggling against his back.
Rick rolled over and put his arms around her. "That's a fact, ma'am."
The door tone sounded, ending their embrace. Rick muttered something and climbed out of bed, stepping into trousers before answering the door.
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter," a robo-butler announced. The thing was squat and silly-looking, with a rubber skirt that concealed its wheels; it was holding a full breakfast tray in its plasticized grips. "Dr. Lang wanted you to have breakfast in bed," the butler continued in the same monotone. "Please enter the appropriate commands."
Rick allowed the piece of Robowizardy to enter, but shut it down soon afterward, taking over the butler's program and conveying the tray to bed himself.
He bowed theatrically as Lisa sat up. "Service with a genuine smile."
They ate hurriedly and said little, famished all of a sudden. Then they showered together and began to dress. Rick watched Lisa in front of the mirror, smoothing her uniform and adjusting the collar of her jacket.
"Off to work," he said, looking himself over. "Do you realize that the next time we're in this room together, I'll be asking you what you did today, and you'll tell me that you commanded a starship across the galaxy. Does that sound a little odd to you?"
"Odd how?" she said, with a crooked smile.
"Odd like not something we do every day."
Lisa came over to tug his black torso harness into place. "Just think of it as a honeymoon."
Rick made a face. "I'll be sure and tell that to the Masters."

Jean Grant had cried at the wedding; those, however, had been tears of joy and remembrance, while the ones streaming down her cheeks today were anything but. Bowie was on the verge of tears himself, but was trying hard to be a man about it. Not that mom and son stood out any, though; the shuttle hold was filled with like scenes: tears, embraces, heartfelt exchanges. Wedding guests and family members would be shuttled home over the course of the next few days, but with the SDF-3 launch window less than four hours off, this was the crew's last chance for good-byes. Within a month, Human factory personnel would be transferred to new assignments on-planet, or at Moon Base or Liberty Space Station. No decision had been made concerning the satellite itself, but speculation was that the Zentraedi crew would remove the installation from Earth orbit-to where, no one knew.
Vince Grant bent down and put a hand on his son's head, giving it an affectionate rub. "It's going to be all right, Bowie. We'll be back before you know it."
"But why can't I come with you?" he wanted to know. "Other kids are going-kids not too much older than us," he added, including Dana. Bowie was thinking of one kid in particular he had met at the wedding, Dr. Lang's godson, Scott Bernard.
"That's true, sweetie," Jean said, smiling through her tears. "But you know you can't go." She touched Bowie's chest with her fingertips. "Your heart won't let you go."
Dana, who was bored and practicing spin kicks against a bulkhead, frowned and said, "Come on, Bowie. We don't want to go with them anyway. Space is no fun, anybody knows that."
Max and Miriya regarded each other and shook their heads as if to say, where did that one come from?
"Dana's right, Bowie," Jean smiled, tugging in a sob. "It isn't going to be any fun."
"Yeah, Dana, but you were in space already," Bowie pointed out. "I've never been there."
Rolf Emerson took advantage of a momentary silence to step forward and put his arm around the boy. "We're going to have a good time, Bowie. You wait and see."
Vince and Jean embraced Rolf. "Take good care of him for us, Rolf," Vince said with a serious look.
"You know I will."
Just then Lazlo Zand walked by headed for the shuttle ramp. Instinctively, Emerson hugged Dana and Bowie to his legs, a look in his dark eyes like he wanted to put a stake through Zand's heart.

Elsewhere in the shuttle boarding area, Janice and Minmei had received their seat assignments and were walking off in the direction of the VIP lounge. They were ordinary folk this morning, dressed in slacks and simple blouses. There was plenty of time to kill until the prep call, and Minmei wanted to get a drink.
"What's with you today?" Janice asked while they moved through the crowd. "The clouds are below us, so I don't see how you can have your head in them." When Minmei didn't respond, Janice took her by the arm. "Earth calling Lynn-Minmei. Please relay your hyperspace coordinates."
"Huh?" Minmei said, turning to her.
Janice made an exasperated sound. "What is it-Rick?"
Minmei looked away. "He always looked out for me. I just don't know if I can leave him like this."
"Look, Lynn," Janice began in a worried voice, "I don't think Lisa is going to appreciate your cutting into their-"
"If I could just see him once more. Both of them. Only to wish them good luck."
"You already did that-about two dozen times!"
Janice could see that she wasn't listening; Minmei's eyes were searching the bay for something. "There!" she said after a moment, pointing to a small EVA vehicle near a secondary launch port reserved for maintenance craft.
"I'm afraid to ask," Janice said warily. But Minmei was already on her way.

"Admiral on the bridge!" a young enlisted-rating tech announced, snapping to as Lisa stepped through the hatch She couldn't help remembering Captain Gloval constantly smacking his head on a hatch very similar to this one. And indeed he would have felt right at home on the SDF-3 bridge, which for all intents and purposes was identical to that on the SDF-1. Lisa had insisted it be so, even though Lang had tried to convince her of the giant strides his teams had made since reconstructing that doomed fortress There were redundancies and severe limitations to the design, he had argued; but in the end Lisa had her way. It was her command, and this bridge was as much a tribute as anything else. To Gloval, to Claudia and the others...Of course, there were some changes that had to be allowed...
The crew, for example: they were all men.
"At ease, gentlemen," Lisa told them.
She led herself through a tour of the now completed room, running her hands across the consoles and acceleration seats. Along the rear bulkhead were two four-by-four monitor screens linked to internal systemry and astrogation. Starboard was a complex laser communication and scanner console, crowned by a tall multiscreened threat board. And forward, below a wraparound forward view port, were twin duty stations like the ones she and Claudia had manned for almost three years.
Lisa shook hands with her exec and crew-Forsythe, Blake, Colton and the rest. It was a formality, given the fact they all knew one another, but a necessary one. She wished each man good luck, then moved toward the raised command chair that was hers alone. She took a long time settling into its padded seat, but why not: the moment was six years in the making.
A terrible memory of her last short-lived command flashed through her mind, but she willed it away. She took a lingering glance around the room and declared in a determined voice, "Mister Blake, I want systems status."