"Lee Edgar - The Andromeda Burn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

NUMBER OF PLANETS - 10
DISTANCE - 41.39AU >
She pressed the button marked TANNOY. ‘Commander Duncan to the flight deck,
please.’
After a few seconds, a man’s voice came from a speaker on the console. ‘What
is it, Cassi?’
‘Iris has Sol on the screen, Commander.’
She could almost hear his smile. ‘Very good. Prepare the reactor for reverse
thrust. I’m on my way up.’
Cassi turned to her right and moved her long, white fingers over the red
keyboard. ‘ACTIVATE MAIN REACTOR’
‘Are you sure? (Y/N) >’ replied the amber characters on the screen of the
drive computer which then waited patiently for her answer.
She pressed ‘Y’. Yes, she was sure.
‘Main reactor activated > 10 minutes to critical mass >’
Cassi relaxed. There was nothing more she could do but wait. During the long
haul across the void, the drive had been locked into stand-by mode and the
auxiliary drive had taken care of all minor course adjustments. The bulkhead
door opened with a slight pressure hiss and in walked a tall man who appeared
to be around fifty earth years.
He laid his clipboard on the console and looked over the girl’s shoulder.
‘Good work, Cassi. We’re coming home at last.’
Cassi glanced up at him. His blue-grey eyes still sparkled despite the
crinkles in the skin at each side. The teeth were still his own though the
once-fair hair and beard were now turning grey. All she knew was that she
loved him and that she could sense his enthusiasm which was infectious as a
tingle of excitement ran through her own body.
He sensed her observations and smiled. ‘How long to critical mass?’
Cassi glanced at the red screen. ‘Seven minutes.’
He stood up straight. ‘Okay. We’d better strap ourselves in. It’s been a
long time since I’ve done this. Warn the others, would you?’
Cassi nodded and pressed the tannoy button. ‘Attention all crew. Reverse
thrust in approximately seven minutes. Repeat, reverse thrust in seven
minutes.’
The Commander sat in his swivel chair and connected the straps across his
lap while Cassi returned to Iris.
‘Is the deceleration bad?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘Not normally. Just a sudden slowing to sub-light speed.
We can’t go tearing across a stellar system in Proton Drive. If we run into
Miranda or Phoebe at this speed, they will do more that scratch Wayfarer’s
paintwork.’
Cassi glanced at the red terminal and pressed the tannoy button once more.
‘Reverse thrust in four minutes and counting.’
James Duncan grinned. ‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’
Cassi’s deep blue eyes flicked to him briefly as she set up the retros for
possible course adjustment. ‘It runs in the family.’
He threw back his head and laughed. ‘That’s my girl.’
Blushing a little, Cassi concentrated on scanning for any other nearby
stellar bodies that could impede their progress. There were none within range.
‘Three minutes to reverse thrust,’ she said over the tannoy. ‘Secure any