"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Room of Lost Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

Karl gave that suggestion a lot of thought, and had an alteration. Once
he reaches the door, he will attach a tether to one of the loops on his belt. If
he loses consciousness in there, we can pull him back.

Mikk and Karl proceed to the airlock. They wave as they step inside.

They wait the required two minutes as their suits adjust. Then Mikk
presses the hatch and Karl sends the lead out the door.
 It only takes a moment to cleave to the jamb beside the RoomтАЩs door.
We picked that spot because it seemed soft enough to hold the line.
Nothing else around the RoomтАЩs exterior did.

TheyтАЩre stepping out of the airlock. TheyтАЩll move at a very slow pace
because theyтАЩre good divers. TheyтАЩll test the line. TheyтАЩll make sure each
part of their suits is functioning. Then theyтАЩll travel slowly to that door, and
coordinate before Karl goes in.

I take those few minutes to walk into the cockpit. Roderick is sitting in
what I consider to be my seatтАФthe pilotтАЩs chairтАФand is already monitoring
the readouts. In addition to the skipтАЩs cameras, some suit monitors send
information directly to the skip itself. And both suits send heart-rates and
breathing patternsтАФor will so long as nothing interferes with the signal.

I plug KarlтАЩs handheld into one small screen but only look at it to make
sure the information is coming to me. Grainy flat images, mostly of the line,
appear before me.

Then I look up. Roderick still has the portals opaqued.

тАЬLetтАЩs watch this in real time,тАЭ I say.

He doesnтАЩt look up from the instrumentation. тАЬI donтАЩt like staring at
interior station walls when IтАЩm on a skip.тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt care,тАЭ I say. тАЬWe have a team out there. We need our eyes as
well as our equipment. We need every advantage we can get.тАЭ

I shudder to think heтАЩs run dives in the habitats on instruments only,
and make a mental note to tell Karl that night. It should be a requirement for
each dive that the pilot watches from the cockpit. The pilot wonтАЩt be able to
see inside some of the spaces, but he will be able to see if thereтАЩs a
problem between the lead and the skip itself.

тАЬKarl says IтАЩm supposed to make the decisions,тАЭ Roderick says.

тАЬWell, I have twenty years of dive experience, and let me tell you, only
amateurs let their people out of a ship on instrument only.тАЭ

He winces, then flattens his hand against the control panel. With a
hum, all of the windows become visible.