Odnośniki
- Indeks
- William Shatner Quest for Tomorrow 03 Step into Chaos
- Frederik Pohl & Jack Williamson Starchild Trilogy
- William Mark Simmons Undead 3 Habeas Corpses
- Jack Williamson The Ultimate Earth
- William Tenn Venus and the Seven Sexes
- Beth Williamson The Perfect Score 2 W
- WilliamShakespeare RomeoiJulia,Makbet,Otello
- A Mars geniusza Edgar Rice Burroughs
- 09 Zapach luksusu
- Craig Shaw Gardner Wuntvor 02 An Excess Of Enchantments
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Carter of aerial photos of the California desert, after the ridges and arroyos
had been smashed and twisted by the Big One in '14.
Carter sat alone, webbed into his own cocoon seat against the tiny window,
brooding. The cocoons were arranged around the wall of the cylindrical payload
bay; cargo was stored in the middle. Human occupants here were an
afterthought, which added to his sense of frustrated anticipation. He could
not swing into action until they arrived at Hellas. Now, there was nothing he
could do but listen to his own heartbeat counting out Stafford's last minutes.
Annie and Philippe were cozy in the side-by-side seats two rows behind him.
So ... Carter thought to himself, Philippe was already chatting up Annie,
talking about where she grew up. As if they had somehow accepted that this
trip was an isolated fragment of time, when they could do nothing to save
Stafford, and were permitted to ... Why should he begrudge them their talk? He
was the one who had to figure out what to do next, while they rested. He was
the one in charge. He could hear bits of their conversation. Her soft voice.
"...Hawaii. I've been here only a few weeks and I miss it already."
"You are an ocean person, then."
"The ocean ... it's always a presence ... flowers and rain ... petals on the
sidewalks and moss on the rocks. The rocks here look naked."
"You should come with me to the greenhouse sometime."
"I'd like that. But this thing with Stafford..."
Jeez, can't they take this seriously? Flirting while Stafford is ...
Compulsively, Carter looked at his watch and checked his 'corder. Stafford was
still missing, according to the latest updates.
He tried to think ahead. When the shuttle arrived at Hellas, he would talk to
the buggy maintenancecrew, find out what he could about the condition of
Stafford's vehicle when it went out. He also wanted to review orbital imagery
of the area. Satellite images had been one of Stafford's favorite sources of
inspiration; maybe they would be his salvation. Everybody knew that the
orbiters couldn't resolve anything as small as a single buggy, and that the
imagery covered any given region only every few days.
Still, the images might give some clue....
Carter tried to concentrate, but his mind fought back. Flowers and rain. How
had she talked her way into this? Well, his other voice answered, what was
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wrong with it? The more help we have, the more chance of finding Stafford. But
she's a reporter, the first voice said. Second voice: So? First voice: Who
ever heard of bringing reporters along while an investigation is in progress?
Second voice: This is Mars.
We do things differently here. Besides, it's not really an investigation. It's
a rescue. First voice: You're rationalizing everything. Second voice: Yeah, I
know.
Carter turned and faced them directly. "Philippe was right. This search needs
all the help we can give it."
Annie and Philippe broke off their conversation with a start.
"We need to do whatever we can to find Stafford. We need a plan."
"Plan away," Philippe said, still disgustingly jovial.
Annie looked concerned. "Can we talk to the search-and-rescue teams when they
come back?"
"We'll talk to everybody. We'll start with Braddock. He's the manager at
Hellas Base, so technically he's in charge of the search. But we're not gonna
sit on the sidelines. The only way to carry out this assignment is to get
directly involved, as much as Braddock lets us."
"Tell me about Braddock," Annie said.
"Crusty. I only met him once when he came through Mars City. Took the job, oh,
a month or so back, when they expanded the research program. Administrator
type. Everybody was talking him up. They say he's a tough hombre. They hired
him directly from Earth. Headed some government lab there, I think."
"Did he know Stafford?" Annie asked. "I mean before coming here?"
"Who knows? They might have had some professional contact."
"Did Stafford have close friends?"
"He had a wife here. Kept tohimself after she died." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]