"Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor - Boundary" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

Chapter 1

“Dear God, I’m going to die,” muttered Joe Buckley, as the SUV bounced from one rutted
pothole to another.

“Oh, come on, Joe, I don’t drive that badly.”

The silence caused Helen Sutter to glance over at Joe. His face was pale under its tan,
contrasting all the more with his dark hair. His habitually cheerful expression was currently
replaced by that of a man who has discovered he has a terminal illness and just two weeks to
live. “…Do I?”

“Eyes on road! On the road !!! UNGH!”

The “ungh” was from the SUV’s particularly hard, bottoming-out-the-shocks landing
following yet another acrobatic leap across the roadbed, in an attempt to leave the rough dirt
track and strike out across the rocky terrain nearby.

Helen gave a restrained curse and hauled on the steering wheel. The SUV responded,
skidding slightly, but heading back into the center of the dirt track leading to the Secord
ranch. Holding the line with one hand, Helen brushed her blond hair out of her eyes; as usual
it was escaping the ponytail it was supposedly tied into. Despite the fact that it was early in the
season and only eleven in the morning, Helen could feel a thin film of sweat on her forehead.

Well, that’s the life of a paleontologist, she thought ruefully. Pay all your grant money for
the chance to break rocks, instead of getting sentenced to hard labor and doing it for free.

“What’s wrong with my driving?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Joe paused. “If you’re in the Baja 500.”

“Oh, all right, I’ll slow down. But who cut down your testosterone ration? As I recall, the
first year we came out here, you almost got yourself killed trying to offroad along an arroyo.
Nearly lost us our dig, too. Then the second year, you—”

“Hey, all right, already. It’s just that I want to survive this summer. It’s my last year.”

Helen smiled a bit sadly. “I know. We’re going to miss you, Joe.”

“I’ll miss it, too. But… push comes to shove, this is ultimately just a hobby for me. If I
hadn’t taken your course on a whim as an undergraduate, I never would have gotten interested
in paleontology at all, it’s so far removed from my own field of EE.”

“Yeah, I understand. Now that you’re closing in on your PhD, you don’t have any choice
but to clear everything else aside. I know, I’ve been there. We’ll still miss you a lot—and take it
from a pro that your skills as a paleontologist are a lot more than those of a ‘hobbyist.’ ”

“Thanks.”

The gate to the Secord ranch leaped into view as the SUV crested the hill and charged