"Tanya Huff - Valor 2 - The Better Part of Valor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

approached.
"Staff Sergeant Kerr?"
"Yes, sir."
"Lieutenant Commander Sibley. I'm your ride." He palmed the lock
and stood aside as the hatch opened.
 Torin peered into the tiny suiting chamber and looked back at the
pilot in time to see him slide a H'san stim into his chest pocket.
Humans chewed the sticks as a mild stimulant. They were
nonaddicting and completely harmless although they had a tendency to
stain the user's teeth and, in extensive use, turn subcutaneous fat bright
orange. Although the sticks were frowned on, they weren't actually
illegal, and Navy pilots, operating in three dimensions at high speeds,
often chewed to give themselves an edge. Navy flight commanders,
who preferred their pilots alive, usually looked the other way.
Lieutenant Commander Sibley followed her gaze and grinned. "I
know, Staff, it's a filthy habit. And I'm not trying to quit."
"Not my business, sir."
"True enough." He stepped into the chamber. Torin followed.
"We've got a one-size-fits-most flight suit for you. I take it your suit
certifications are up to date?"
"Yes, sir. If either branch of the military uses it, I'm certified to wear
it."
The suits were designed to fit loosely everywhere but the collar ring
and the faceplate so one size fit well enough. Exposure to vacuum
caused a chemical reaction which stiffened the suit and filled the
spaces between it and flesh with an insulating foam capable of
maintaining a constant temperature of 15˚ for thirty minutes. Since the
suits came with only twenty minutes of independent air, pilots who
found themselves free of their fighter's life-support pod didn't have to
worry about freezing to death.
Among themselves, Torin knew the vacuum jockeys referred to the
suits as buoys—markers to make it easier for the Navy to find the
bodies.
Theoretically, pilots weren't supposed to come out of their pods
even with their fighters shot to hell all around them. In Torin's
experience, theory didn't stand a chance up against reality.
Theoretically, species achieved interstellar space travel after they'd put
war behind them, but apparently no one had told the Others.
They checked each other's seals and packs, then Lieutenant
Commander Sibley opened the outer door.
SD-31 held, as expected, a two-person Jade although for the
moment all Torin could see of it was the access to the pod.
"Ever ridden in one these jewels, Staff Sergeant?"
 Torin's stomach flipped as she stepped out into the docking bay and
the gravity suddenly lessened. "No, sir."
His hazel eyes held a gleam of anticipation as he showed her where
and how to stow her bag, then he waved at the tiny rear section. "We're
point five gees in here, Staff, so just step in, feet about this far apart..."
He held out white-gloved hands. "... and settle into place. Your pack
fits into the back of the seat and, if you do it right, all hookups are