"Steve Perry - Aliens 01 - Earth Hive" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

dead of old age. There ainтАЩt no air in there and if by some miracle somebody is home, theyтАЩre in a
suspension tank. And aside from that, this thing has about thirty minutes before it hits enough
atmosphere to boil lead. Pop it.тАЭ
Lyle shrugged. Touched controls.
The probe attached a small charge to the hatch and retroed back a hundred meters. The
charge flared silently in the vacuum and the hatch shattered.
тАЬKnock, knock. Anybody home?тАЭ
тАЬGo see. And try not to bang the probe up too bad this time.тАЭ
тАЬThat wasnтАЩt my fault,тАЭ Lyle said. тАЬOne of the retros was plugged.тАЭ
тАЬSo you say.тАЭ
The tiny robot ship moved in through the opening in the derelict ship.
тАЬInner hatch is open.тАЭ
тАЬGood. Saves time. Move it in.тАЭ
The probeтАЩs halogens lit as it moved into the ship.
The radiation alarm chimed on the computerтАЩs screen. тАЬKinda hot in there,тАЭ Lyle said.
тАЬYep, hope you like your soypro well done.тАЭ
тАЬMmm. I guess anybody in this baby would be toast by now. WeтАЩll have to give the probe a
bath when it gets back.тАЭ
тАЬChreesto, look at that!тАЭ Barton said.
What had been a man floated just ahead of the probe. The hard radiation had killed the
bacteria that would have rotted him, and the cold had preserved what the vacuum hadnтАЩt sucked out
of him. He looked like a leather prune. He was naked.
тАЬLordy, lordy,тАЭ Lyle said. тАЬHey, check the wall behind him.тАЭ He touched a control and the
visuals enhanced and enlarged. Something was written on the bulkhead in smeary brown letters:
KILL US ALL, it said.
тАЬDamn, is that written in blood? Looks like blood tome.тАЭ
тАЬYou want an analysis?тАЭ
тАЬNever mind. We got us a flip ship.тАЭ
Lyle nodded. TheyтАЩd heard about them, though he himself had never opened one. Somebody
went nuts and wasted everybody else. Opened a port and let the air out, or maybe flooded the ship
with radiation, like this one. A quick death or a slow one, but death, sure enough. Lyle shivered.
тАЬFind a terminal and see if you can download the shipтАЩs memory. The meter is running here.тАЭ
тАЬIf the batteries are still good. Oops. Got motion on the detector.тАЭ
тАЬI see it. I donтАЩt believe it, but I see it. Nobody can possibly be alive, even somebody in a full
rad suit would cook in this tubтАФтАЭ
тАЬThere it is. ItтАЩs just a cargo carrier.тАЭ
A short, squat robot crawled along a line of Velcro against the ceiling.
тАЬWe must have jolted it awake when we blew the hatch.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, right. Get the memory.тАЭ
The probe floated toward a control panel.
тАЬDamn, look at those holes in the deck. Looks like something dissolved the plastic. Radiation
wouldnтАЩt do that, would it?тАЭ
 тАЬWho knows? Who cares? Just dump the memory and pull the probe so we can blow this
sucker. I have a date tonight and I donтАЩt want any overtime.тАЭ
тАЬYouтАЩre the commander.тАЭ
The probe connected to the control board. The shipтАЩs power was almost gone, but sufficient to
download the memory.
тАЬComing in,тАЭ Lyle said. тАЬHereтАЩs the ID scan, onscreen.тАЭ
тАЬNo surprises here,тАЭ Barton said. тАЬType five nuke drive, lotta deep-space time, bad shields,
dead core. No wonder they junked this bucket. ThatтАЩs it. Shove it sunward, set the 10-CA and letтАЩs