"Robert Tine - The Astronaut's Wife" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tine Robert)

uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. тАЬWe lost contact with both of them for about two
minutes.тАЭ
 JillianтАЩs gaze lost none of its intensity. тАЬTwo minutes? You lost contact for two minutes?тАЭ
The Director continued to look at the floor. Suddenly the buzz from the fluorescent light
seemed very loud.
тАЬWhat do you mean,тАЭ said Jillian, тАЬlost contact?тАЭ There was no doubt in the tone of her voice
that she was going to get a straight answer.
The Director glanced at her and then back down at the floor. тАЬThey were off radio and out of
visual contactтАЭ he said. тАЬAfter the explosion they drifted behind the shuttle. We had to bring the
craft around one hundred and eighty degrees to get them.тАЭ
тАЬThey were all alone,тАЭ said Natalie Streck, her voice shot through with tears! She shivered at
the thought of her husband floating alone and hurt in the middle of so much nothingness.
It was plain that the Director had decided that he had heard enough of wifely hysteria. тАЬBut
now theyтАЩre back on the shuttle and they will be back down here just as soon as we can manage
it,тАЭ he said briskly. He gestured to Sherman Reese urging him forward. тАЬMr. Reese here will stay
with you
until we can take you to your husbands.тАЭ He changed to a more human pitch. тАЬIтАЩve worked
closely with both Spencer and Alex, and I know they are both strong and courageous men. IтАЩm
sure they are going to be fine. I give you my word.тАЭ
With that, the Director turned and with a nod to Reese, as if handing the two women officially
to his command, left the room. There was a sense that the Director was glad that the interview
was over and done with. He had more important things to do.
Natalie and Jillian did not care if the Director had stayed and held their hands. NASA, the
space programтАФnone of these weighty matters were of the slightest significance to them now.
тАЬThey were all alone out there, Jill,тАЭ said Natalie tearfully. тАЬThey could have been lost
forever.тАЭ
Jillian put her arms around Natalie and held her close. тАЬIt will be fine, Natalie. We have to
believe that. ThatтАЩs all we can do. Get them back down and get them home. Then everything will
be all right. Understand, Natalie?тАЭ
Natalie Streck did her best to nod and smile, as if she really believed what her friend had said.
She pushed her face hard against JillianтАЩs shoulder, burrowing for comfort.
Sherman Reese pointed to the television monitor mounted on the wall above them. тАЬThis
monitor will show the view from the shuffle as they land. Would you like me to get the link up?
YouтАЩll be able to see the whole thing from here.тАЭ
Neither Natalie nor Jillian heard him; they had
traveled too far into their own grief to care what anyone said to them. There was a very long
silence as Reese waited for an answer, for a set of instructionsтАФanythingтАФfrom the two women.
But nothing cameтАФand nothing was going to come from either of them.
тАЬI'll get the link up,тАЭ said Reese, as if to himself. He got busy doing whatever it was he had to
do.
Natalie and Jillian paid no attention. As with the Director, they didnтАЩt care about Sherman
Reese, either.


4
The space shuttle Victory flew noiselessly though the sky, dropping thousands of feet in a matter
of seconds until it was over the lush green landscape of Florida.
Jillian watched the vehicle intently while listening to the dispassionate voice of the pilot of the
Victory reporting from the flight deck of the spacecraft. He was a man that Jillian did not know
well and she would not normally have recognized his voice. тАЬThirty feet at 235 knots. Twenty at