"Stephen Goldin - Finish Line" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

"Well, I'm sure my readers would be interested in everything that's happened to
you so far. You did promise me that story, remember. And you also promised
that I'd get to meet and talk to the rest of your crew. Where are they?"

Bred snapped out of his reverie as suddenly as he had gone into it. "Sorry. I
meant to tell you that we've taken the liberty of fixing lunch. You haven't eaten
yet, have you? Good, then you can meet and eat simultaneously. The crew is
waiting for us in the Dining Room. Follow me." Shino picked up her equipment
and let him lead her to the narrow end of the Drawing Room and out the door.

They found themselves standing on a narrow ledge in what appeared to be a
circular well, two meters in diameter, running up and down the length of the
ship. Handholds in the walls led to other levels. "This is the Core," Bred
explained. "It's the main way to get from one level to another—our main artery,
so to speak. It's easier to travel it in free-fall, of course. Fortunately, we don't
have to do any climbing right now—the Dining Room's on this level." He
walked around the ledge and through a doorway clearly labeled "Dining Room."

If Shino had thought the Drawing Room was impressive, she was left absolutely
speechless by the Dining Room. Like the previous room it was wedge-shaped,


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Laser Book 45 - Finish Line by Stephen Goldin (v1.0) (html)


but the floor was covered wall-to-wall with a Persian carpet in a red, blue and
gold design. The ceiling was six and one half meters high and painted to
resemble a vaulted sky with a bright blue surf shining down from directly
overhead. Draperies, painted in the corners of the walls and resembling open tent
flaps, revealed a trompe l'oeil scene of an alien landscape with strange and
beautiful creatures grazing on a plain and a river flowing peacefully by.

In the center of the room stood a large table shaped like an isosceles triangle. At
first glance the tabletop appeared to be transparent, revealing the carpeting
beneath it; but closer examination showed that the top was tiled in an identical
pattern to the carpet. In the center of the table was a large epergne of blue crystal
containing, in miniature, the same exact scene that was painted on the walls. The
animals were carved from ivory and the river was made of emeralds.

The flatware on the table was golden, the goblets were crystal and the fine lonan
china was rimmed with gold. The chairs around the table were of dark wood;
their backs, arms and seats were padded and covered with heavy gold
embroidery.

Shino gave a low whistle. "And you take all this into space with you?"

Bred gave her a bland little smile. "Well, if one must travel, one might as well do
it as luxuriously as possible."