"Lee Edgar - Return to Andromeda" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

first place. Cassiopeia simply presents a very useful string of isolated stars to guide anyone out and back
again. Simply go from one to the next and you cannot possibly get lost.’
‘And?’
‘After I was incubated on board ship, he simply named me after the first major star he sighted as he
approached the galaxy - Kappa Cassiopeiae.’
Mike grinned. ‘So I really should call you Kappa?’
She looked at him sharply. ‘Don’t you dare.’
‘Queen Cassiopeia,’ Mike sighed.
Cassi looked confused. ‘I beg your pardon.’
He laughed. ‘Of course, you wouldn’t know about Greek mythology, would you? Queen Cassiopeia was the
beautiful wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. She was very vain and claimed she was better-looking than any
Nereid sea nymph. Unfortunately, this offended Poseidon who sent an ugly-great sea-monster to ravage the
kingdom.’
‘Bit of a vindictive so and so, wasn’t he?’
‘It didn’t end there. The local oracle decreed that the only way to save the kingdom was to sacrifice a virgin
to Poseidon. So they took their own daughter, Princess Andromeda, and chained her to a sacrificial rock by
the seashore where she could be eaten alive by the monster.’
‘Ugh!’
‘Fortunately for the young beauty, along came Jones in the shape of Perseus who happened by on his way
home after slaying Medusa the Gorgon. He saved Andromeda in the nick of time and then whisked her off to
the local Registry Office where they got married.’
Cassi didn’t look convinced. ‘And they all lived happily ever after, I suppose?’
Mike grinned. ‘Something like that.’
‘Load of nonsense. They are just stars.’
‘If you say so, although there is often some grain of truth in these legends somewhere. Talking of stars:
why is it we are going out via the Cassiopeia constellation when we really want to go to Andromeda?’
‘They are next to each other, so to speak. However, all the stars which make up the constellation of
Andromeda are either too close to the Solar System or too small to give us the boost we need. We have to
have a continuous chain of isolated stars from here all the way to the edge of the galaxy if we are to reach the
necessary speed to get to Andromeda in time. There are very few alignments like it but this is one of them.’
‘What happens when we get to the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy?’
‘We’ll be totally on our own for slightly under ten years.’
‘Right out of our own galaxy in fifty-four days, eh?’
Cassi shrugged. ‘It gives us time to get everyone to bed. Juanita is preparing the freezers now.’
‘Freezers?’
‘Suspended animation chambers. They cryogenically reduce bodily functions to virtually nil for the journey.
We’ll have travelled for ten years but will be no older than when we went to sleep.’
‘All of us? No-one to stand guard?’
‘There’s no point. Iris is the best watchdog we will ever need and she has been programmed to wake the
relevant person in case of an emergency.’
‘It seems you’ve thought of everything.’
Cassi looked straight at her husband and nodded. ‘Everything. We’ve had no time to go into detail but some
of us could bed down now if they liked. Two could run the ship once we’ve passed Xen.’
‘Only two?’
Cassi nodded. ‘Father and I did it coming back last year.’
‘Who’s last to bed down?’
‘Juanita. The long sleep is her department. Steve will make the decision as to the order for the rest of us.’
Mike leant towards her. ‘I’m ready for bed now. Coming?’
Cassi winked. ‘Let me get us past Xen. Then, we’ll have thirty-six days to play around in.’