"Robert L. Forward - Rocheworld 02 - Return to Rocheworld" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forward Robert L)

platters of food. Before she had even swallowed the mushroom, she was already
reaching for the pastel balls of melon that Nels had scooped from the honeydew
and cantaloupe.
Shirley Everett, the tall blond California "surfer girl" and Chief
Engineer, seemed to be collecting some of the cold fresh fruits and the treats
made of chipped beef rolled around pseudocream cheese and horseradish sauce,
for her to enjoy at leisure later. Richard Redwing was also eating with more
speed than relish, washing down each bite with a swallow of soda. He never
seemed to realize that the food was for more than maintaining his muscular
physique. Nels tried to remind himself how much worse it would be if they
didn't like his cooking, and instead, tried to avoid looking at anyone who was
actually eating. To his surprise he found himself watching Carmen Cortez.
Usually Carmen was the most flattering and most ravenous member of the crew.
Carmen had been a last minute addition to the crew; a curvaceous
seorita. At first she was the most fun-loving, and free-loving girl on the




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ship. The youngest women on board, she was the sort of wide-eyed ingenue that
made one consider her an innocent, even while she was showing off the kinkiest
moves in her varied sexual repertoire. Pretty and vivacious, all the men had
vied for her attention. They needn't have competed; she readily acquiesced to
each one of their attempts at seduction. Even as the crew slowly succumbed to
the sexually and intellectually debilitating affects of the drug No-Die in
order to slow their aging for their forty year journey to the stars, Carmen
had done her best to keep the hormone levels hopping. But it was as the crew
first started coming off No-Die, and their intelligence and interests caught
back up to their ages, that Nels first noticed a change in the tiny woman.
Carmen had begun to eat. She ate anything and everything. Fast friends
with Cinnamon, samples of Nels' experiments were always available to her.
Carmen soon looked like a tennis ball with dark curls and flashing eyes. Her
admirers vanished along with her figure, and soon her good humor vanished as
well. Nels could sympathize with her. He knew only too well how it felt to
know that your appearance repulsed people. To have traded on your beauty and
then loose it must be equally hard.
Now, for some reason, Carmen was eating none of his wonderful banquet.
It wasn't as if this was algae gruel; this was fresh fruit, crisp vegetables,
and real meat! He made a mental note to tell John Kennedy about it. As their
acting doctor, John would want to make sure that she wasn't coming down with
something. Maybe that was what Carmen wanted anyway -- the handsome nurse took
after his Presidential namesake in both appearance and temperament, and so
made a habit of seducing all his patients. In fact, he made a habit of
attempting to seduce any women that he was left alone with for two minutes.
Even as Nels watched, John was doing his best to corner Cinnamon. Somehow, he
had trapped her behind a floating ball of champagne and was trying to convince
her to help him drink it before it drifted to the floor in the low
acceleration. No ... there ... she managed to distract him and duck out of the
room. Now, John had his arm around Katrina and was using her "welcome home"