"Timothy Zahn - Spinneret" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

The memory clicked. "Yes, of course. You wanted to study Mt. Olympus."

"Right. Well, I've been trying to see the colonel about getting one of
themтАФthey're back in service, but I'm way down on the list."

Carmen shot a glance at Meredith's secretary, caught the other's look of strained
patience. She'd once worked as a secretary herself тАж "Tell you what," she said to
Hafner. "Let's go to the lounge and you can tell me why a car or plane won't do.
Maybe we can work out something."

file:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/De.../Zahn,%20Timothy%20-%20Spinneret%20[v1.1].html (51 of 309) [2/1/2004 3:54:13 AM]
Zahn, Timothy - Spinneret




"Well тАж " Hafner's eyes flicked behind her to Meredith's door. "Okay."

He didn't wait for them to reach the lounge, but launched into his spiel before they
were even out the door. "Let me remind you first of all why an examination of
Olympus is so important. For whatever mysterious reason, there appears to be
little or no metal content anywhere in the first five hundred meters of Astra's crust,
if the Rooshrike data can be trusted. A volcano like Olympus gives us a sampling
of the deeper magmaтАФand if that layer should turn out to be metal-rich, it would
give us an indication of where the weak points are for drilling."

He paused for breath, enabling Carmen to get a word in. "Yes, I remember all this
from the last time. You haven't said yet why you specifically need a flyer."

"A car doesn't have the room I'd need to carry a coring tube and driverтАФthe tube
breaks down into sections, but they're almost five meters long. I don't know if a
Cessna can carry them, but even if it can I wouldn't be able to land as far up the
volcano cone as I'd need to. I need VTOL, and that means a flyer."

They'd reached the lounge now, little more really than a widening of the hall with
a few chairs and low tables. Three junior officers sat around one of the tables,
deep in conversation; Carmen steered Hafner to the table farthest from them and
sat down. The geologist took a seat opposite her, an expectant look on his face.
"First of all," she told him, "I'm not really in a position to do much about this. I'm
technically a civilian, and don't fit anywhere into the chain of command."

He waved the disclaimer away. "You clearly have the colonel's ear, though. That's
more important to me now than any silly ranking scheme."

First Perez, Carmen thought, and now him. What on Earth am I doing that makes
me look so authoritative?

"Besides," Hafner continued, "civilians like you I can talk to. I sometimes think
military procedure was set up specifically to confuse and intimidate those of us
outside the secret club."