"Baxter, Stephen - Manifold 03 - Origin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Baxter Stephen)

he had applied to the recruitment rounds of 1988 - when he wasn't even granted
an interview - and 1990. Finally in 1992, aged thirty-two, he had gotten an
interview at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and had gone back to his base
in San Diego.

At last the Astronaut Office had called him. But he was sworn to secrecy until
the official announcement, to be made the next day. Naturally he had kept the
secret strictly, even from Emma.

So the next day they had boarded a plane for San Francisco, where they were
going to spend a long weekend with friends of Emma's (Malenfant tended not to
have the type of friends you could spend weekends with, not if you wanted to
come home with your liver). Malenfant had given the pilot the NASA press
release. Just after they got to cruise altitude, the pilot called Emma's name:

Would Emma Malenfant please identify herself? Would you please stand up?

It had taken Emma a moment to realize she was being called, for she used her
maiden name, Stoney, in business and her personal life, everywhere except the
closed world of the Navy. Baffled - and wary of Malenfant's expressionless
stillness - she had unbuckled her seat belt and stood up.

I hope you like barbecue, Ms Malenfant, said the pilot, because I have a press
release here that says you are going to Houston, Texas. Commander Reid
Malenfant, US Navy, has been selected to be a part of the 1992 NASA astronaut
class.

'... And everybody on the plane started whooping, just as if you were John Glenn
himself, and the stewards brought us those dumb little plastic bottles of
champagne. Do you remember, Malenfant?' She laughed. 'But you couldn't drink
because you were doubled over with air sickness.'

Malenfant grunted sourly. 'It starts in the air, so it finishes in the air. Is
that what you think?'

'It does have a certain symmetry... Maybe this isn't the end, but the beginning
of something new. Right? We could be at the start of a great new adventure
together. Who knows?'

She could see how the set of his shoulders was unchanged.

She sighed. Give it time, Emma. 'All right, Malenfant. What UFOs?'

'Tanzania. Some kind of sighting over the Olduval Gorge, according to Bill.'

'Olduval? Where the human fossils come from?'

'I don't know. What does that matter? It sounds more authentic than most. The
local air forces are scrambling spotter planes: Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya,
Mozambique.'