"John Varley - Red Thunder" - читать интересную книгу автора (Varley John)

Florida, it rained every day. Today the temperature was only about eighty, but the
humidity was 210 percent.
[2] Two minutes later it started to pour.
We ran to a line of a dozen rusting black tank cars that had been parked on a siding for
as long as I could remember, and ducked under one. No trains came through this part of
the yard anymore, and the grass was thick where spilled oil hadnтАЩt killed it. I wondered if
the EPA had heard of this place. You probably should have had a hazmat suit and a gas
mask to even come here.
There wasnтАЩt enough room to stand under the tank car, so we sat on the gravel and
listened to the rain pelting on it. I think rain is harder in Florida than anywhere else. I
donтАЩt mean it comes down harder, I mean the water is harder. We didnтАЩt say anything for
a while, just picked out suitable golfball-sized rocks and chunked them at a rusty old
fifty-five-gallon drum about twenty yards away. My arm was better than DakтАЩs, I was
getting two hits to his one.
Not the worst way in the world to waste time. But we hadnтАЩt made any progress on the
big question of the day.
тАЬSo, how do we go about building a spaceship on pocket change?тАЭ
That was the big one. Some question.
We had been round and round it over the last few days. We werenтАЩt going to get any
help, we had been specifically told we were on our own. Neither of us had ever designed
a canoe, much less a spaceship. My experience with rocketry was limited to a few illegal
broomstraw-tailed squibs on the Fourth of July. DakтАЩs was no better.
We had what we thought were some pretty good ideas on many aspects of the problem,
all helped considerably by the fact that the central, toughest problem of space travel,
propulsion, was pretty much solved. But now we had to build something, and what we
kept coming back to was, Where do you begin?
тАЬPressure,тАЭ Dak said, for maybe the five hundredth time in the last few days. тАЬItтАЩs
gonna be tough to build something that can stand up to thirty psi for two months.тАЭ
It really only had to stand up to 15 psi, but everything about the ship had to meet
double the necessary tolerances.
We listened to the rain some more, and Dak tossed another rock, which made the drum
ring like a gong.
[3] тАЬWe canтАЩt start from square one,тАЭ I said. тАЬToo much welding, and every weld we
make is a place for trouble to begin.тАЭ
Dak sighed. HeтАЩd heard it before.
тАЬWe need components. Things we can slap together quick.тАЭ
тАЬWhere we gonna get them? Go to the NASA junkyard, patch up an old ship?тАЭ
тАЬA pressure hull,тАЭ I said. Something was tickling the edge of my awareness.
тАЬA globe,тАЭ Dak said. тАЬOr a ...тАЭ
тАЬA cylinder. A metal cylinder.тАЭ
I jumped up so fast I hit my head on the bottom of the tank car.
I ran out and stood in the downpour, looking back at the old, rust-streaked, greasy,
flaky paint, birdpoop-spattered tank car.
тАЬKnock off the wheels,тАЭ I said. тАЬStand it on its end ...тАЭ
тАЬ... and thereтАЩs your spaceship,тАЭ Dak whispered.
Then we were laughing and actually dancing in the driving rain.

BUT OF COURSE that all came later. It started about a month earlier. ...
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