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

prevent his legs from frying in the intense heat. He tried to get his right
hand up to the ladder rung, but couldn't do it. They hit max-Q and the
supersonic blast was finally too much. His fingers slipped off the rung and he
fell through the flaming exhaust toward the distant ground below. He was still
moving upward, coasting on the momentum of the rocket that had left him
behind. He came to the peak of his trajectory and started to fall.
Time seemed to stop. George found that he had automatically assumed the
spread-eagle position he'd learned when skydiving, only this time he didn't
have a parachute. He felt a faint twinge of regret. Regret that he would never
again see Jinjur and Red and the others again. George felt cheated. There was
so much more he wanted to do on this world. There was so much more to be
learned from the superintelligent alien flouwen they had found in the oceans
of Eau. Then there were all the moons of Gargantua to explore. Well ... he had
made it to Barnard alive and had fun exploring at least one world.
_We all have to go sometime_, he said to himself. _Might as well get
this over with_. He pulled in his arms from the spread-eagle position and dove
headfirst for the ground.
"NO! GEORGE! NO!" screamed Red's voice over his suit imp.
George rapidly resumed the spread-eagle position and looked around. The
ascent module had turned in a big circle and was now rising up from underneath
to meet him! As it came closer he could see Thomas St. Thomas's grinning brown
face peering up at him through the triangular docking windows in the cockpit
deck. The entry port at the top of the spacecraft was open. Reaching up from
the lock was a slender, space-suited figure. She had a long lanyard, but it
wasn't needed. Thomas swooped the rocket up underneath George and scooped him
right into Red's arms.
"I always was the best one on the block at the ball-and-cup game,"
Thomas bragged.
George felt the acceleration increase as Red dragged him into the lock
and the air cycle started.
"I nearly lost you!" said Red as she took off his helmet. Tears were
streaming down her face and into her suit. George started to cry too. He put
his arms around her and tried to give her a comforting hug, but the suits got
in the way. When Sam Houston got the inner airlock door open he found them
nuzzling each other's faces, both wet with tears.
With his suit off and holding Red by the hand, George joined the rest
of the crew in the view lounge as they floated at the L-4 point of the
rotating double-planet, waiting for _Prometheus_ to arrive. Arielle was at the
telescope, tracking the fractured cross of duralloy that used to be the _Magic
Dragonfly_ as it was being borne off by the waves, the wing tips crumbling as
they were dashed against boulders and tumbling rocks.
"Goodby, Jill," she cried, her voice breaking.
"Arielle, dear," said Jill's voice through her imp. "I'm still here.
You must remember that these voices we computers use are just to aid you in
identifying which computer is talking to you."
As it spoke, the voice changed slowly from the overtones of Jill to the
overtones of Jack, the voice persona for the rocket lander. It then switched
to that of James, the main computer on their lightcraft Prometheus, who in his
most butlerish voice continued to drive in the lesson as its voice changed to
that of a tinny robot. "It is very important that you realize that we are