"Alastair Reynolds - Minla's Flowers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Alastair)

I told it to ease off on the wisecracks and start giving me the bad news. And it
most certainly was bad news. The precious syrinx was still func-tionalтАФI touched it
and felt the familiar tremble that indicated it was still sensing the nearby WaynetтАФbut
that was about the only flight-critical system that hadnтАЩt been buckled or blown or
simply wiped out of existence by the unscheduled egress.

We were going to have to land and make repairs. For a few weeks or
monthsтАФhowever long it took the ship to scavenge and process the raw materials it
needed to fix itselfтАФthe search for my gun would be on hold.

That didnтАЩt mean I was counting on a long stopover.

****

The ship still had a slow tumble. Merlin squinted against hard white glare as the
burning eye of a bright sun hove into view through the windows. It was white, but
not killingly so. Probably a mid-sequence star, maybe a late F or early G type. He
thought there was a hint of yellow. Had to be pretty close too.

тАЬTell me where we are.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs called Calliope,тАЭ Tyrant told him. тАЬG-type. According to the last Cohort
census the system contained fifteen planet-class bodies. There were five terrestrials,
four of which were uninhabitable. The fifthтАФthe farthest from CalliopeтАФwas
supposedly colonized by humans in the early Flourishing.тАЭ

Merlin glanced at the census data as it scrolled down the cabin wall. The
planet in question was called Lecythus. It was a typical watery terrestrial, like a
thousand others in his experience. It even had the almost-obligatory large single
moon.

тАЬBeen a while, ship. What are the chances of anyone still being down there?тАЭ

тАЬDifficult to say. A later Cohort flyby failed to make contact with the
settlement, but that doesnтАЩt mean no one was alive. After the emergence of the
Huskers, many planetary colonies went to great lengths to camouflage themselves
against the aliens.тАЭ
 тАЬSo there could still be a welcoming committee.тАЭ

тАЬWeтАЩll see. With your permission, IтАЩll use our remaining fuel to reach
Lecythus. This will take some time. Would you like to sleep?тАЭ

Merlin looked back at the coffinlike slab of the frostwatch cabinet. He could
skip over the days or weeks that it would take to reach the planet, but that would
mean subjecting himself to the intense unpleasantness of frostwatch revival. Merlin
had never taken kindly to being woken from normal sleep, let alone the deep
hibernation of frostwatch.

тАЬPass on that, I think. IтАЩve still got plenty of reading to catch up on.тАЭ