"C. Sanford Lowe & G. David Nordley - Imperfect Gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowe C Sanford)

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just checking with the site on how impactor
fabrication was doing. Icestar was reporting a concern about defect frequency.”

“Mom, those pop media gadflies would make a scandal out of someone’s
hangnail.”

She chuckled. “It’s not really important; we’d like the impactor to be a single
crystal, but that’s not a requirement. That close to light speed, its mechanical
properties on impact are almost irrelevant.” In two New Antarctica years, their
billion-ton iron rod would be the first to head toward the implosion site, a little less
than eights light years away. Independently, identical impactors would be launched
from Lacaille 9352, Epsilon Eridani, and Sol. Each impactor and each launch had to
meet exacting specification and schedule constraints to make the implosion as
symmetrical as physics would allow, or the biggest fiasco in human history would
result. She was really not so unhappy to have someone else take responsibility for
that.

A hood fell from one of the passengers, revealing a tall blond with wide-set
eyes and a long nose. She didn’t seem to mind the chill, and she was grinning from
ear to ear. She glanced around and Sasha’s eyes met hers momentarily.

“Mom?”

“It’s her! Dr. Kremer’s the tall one.” Naomi waved. The woman waved back
and headed for the elevator.

“Not bad,” Sasha said. “She’ll melt someone’s icecap.”

Naomi smiled. “She looks really glad to be home.” At twenty, her son was
somewhat of a man-child, brilliant enough in his architectural studies but never quite
connecting socially. She worried that she was too close to him, that she hadn’t quite
lived up to her weaning responsibilities.

Dr. Kremer reappeared on the terrace and headed for their table. She’d shed
the hooded cape on the elevator, to reveal a trim figure in a standard gray unisuit.
She carried herself with a grace that spoke of diligent exercise.
 “Mom, is she an athlete?” Sasha asked. “Thirteen years on a starship and she
looks like she could run a marathon!”

Naomi laughed. “About seven years ship time—remember your physics—and
people have a lot of time for exercise on interstellar voyages. Sasha, don’t jump into
the personal stuff right away, okay?”

“Okay.”

Kremer held out a hand as she reached the table. “Naomi Abila! How good to
see you in person. And this must be Sasha!”

“Welcome to New Antarctica,” Sasha said, holding out his hand.