"Zach Hughes - Mother Lode" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hughes Zach)

makes it seventy-five twenty-five, my way."

"You and the horse you rode in on," she said.
 "All right, Captain," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "Although it
will be a terrible struggle for me to resist your charms, I will control my
animalistic impulses. I will sleep like a bat, hanging to the bulkhead. I will
work twelve-on and twelve-off. Any other orders, ma'am?"

Her face had gone stiff. "If that's your attitude, there's no need
beginning it," she said.

He held up one hand, shook his head. "No, it's all right. I promise I'll be
a good boy."

She clapped her palm to her forehead, looked up, rolled her eyes. "I
shouldn't do this," she said. "I know I shouldn't do this."

Mop came to put his forepaws up on Denton's leg, asking to be picked
up. "You're outvoted, lady," he said. "The hairy member of the crew likes
me."

Denton sold his business to a large corporation that had been gobbling
up small operations all over New Earth. His sporty aircar went into
storage, along with a few personal items from his rented apartment. Erin,
impatient to be off and away, told him that he'd have the money to buy a
new and far more luxurious aircar, that it was silly to store things like
music reproduction equipment.

"Want me to throw away my baby pictures and stamp collection, too?"
he asked.

Actually, he was not quite ready to leave his entire life behind, and, in
spite of her eagerness to be underway, Erin understood. He needed to
know that he would have something to come back to. She had felt the
same kind of wrench while gathering the personal things she had brought
aboard Mother from her home.

It took three days. Mother lifted off the hardpad into the nightside,
orbited briefly as Erin punched in multiple blinks. By the time the
generator was drained and ready for recharging, they were light-years
from New Earth. During the charge period they settled into a routine that
would become familiar. Twelve hours on duty, twelve off.

Only one of them at a time in the small exercise gym. No meals taken
together.
 With a fully charged generator Mother blinked again, and again, and
just behind her, one blink back, the sleek, armed, deep space miner
followed.