"Jody Lynn Nye - Medecine Show" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nye Jody Lynn)

time it did, the Taylors' scout ship was a small, bright dot, shrinking toward singularity.
When the Sibyl went into warp Shona and the others were once again pitched hard into the bulkhead.
She'd recognized the singing of power growing in the engines just moments before it happened. There
hadn't been time to cry out anything more than "Brace yourselves!" and then the air was squeezed out of
her lungs. The Sibyl vibrated, while the images on the screen whirled into an impossible moire of streaks
and colors, then went abruptly black. In faster-than-light warp, exterior visual pickups were useless.
Once they passed over the threshold of light speed, the harsh vibrations died away, and the ship's ride
was as smooth as if she were not moving at all. In the sudden silence Alex took a few experimental
gulps of breath and burst into furious tears. From where she sat, Shona cooed at him.
"Come on, sweetheart, it wasn't that bad, was it?"
"Yaaaaahh!" the baby wailed, nodding his head. Harry, always company whenever he heard misery,
burst out in empathetic cries. Lani gazed from one to the other, her eyes worried.
"It's just warping, honey," Shona said smoothly to Alex. "You've been in warp lots of times, right? This
time I didn't have a chance to warn you. You're always brave the other times. You want to be a big,
brave boy for Mama and Daddy, don't you?"
He gave forth a hiccuping sob, but reined in the quivering lip that thrust up toward a tear-reddened nose.
"Uh… uh-huh?" he managed uncertainly.
"Good, sweetie. I love you. You're my hero, do you know that?"


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 Jody Lynn Nye - Medicine Show


"Uh-huh. Mama?" He fastened his brown eyes on her.
"Yes, Alex?"
"Down?"
"Soon. I promise." Alex wasn't happy, but the stormy tears abated.
Gershom's solemn dark-eyed face appeared on the screen. "Are you all right back there? How are the
kids? How are you?"
"Happy to be alive, thank you," Shona said. "Good maneu-vering."
"Don't thank me yet. We'll be lucky if we don't hit anything when we come out of warp," Gershom said,
shaking his head. "Because of our visitor, I had to bounce without finishing the calculations. We may
have a surprise at the other end."
"Well, we made it into warp," Shona said firmly. "We will be all right. We always are." Gershom smiled
at her determined optimism, and Shona wished for his sake that she meant it. "How long will the jump
last?"
"About an hour. That should confuse our pursuers, who probably think we're going to take a long leap—
that would be logical, to put as much distance between us as possible. After we clear, we have to figure
out where we are, so it'll take me a while to coordinate the next jump. Why don't you plan to find the
nearest beacon and listen to your messages?"
"That's a wonderful idea," Shona said. She smiled, feeling a little of her usual good cheer come trickling
back. She unstrapped herself and set Chirwl down on the floor. The ottle shook himself, then described a
forward roll with his flat body tucked into a hollow tube. Shona stood up with her hands over her head,
stretching until every muscle in her back had unkinked.
The ottle shook himself all over, settling his short, plush fur. "How soon to Poxt?" he asked Gershom.
"I won't know how far off course we went until we come out," Gershom said apologetically. "I hope
you're not going to be jumping up and down with impatience."
"I will not jump, if you ask not," Chirwl replied, turning another somersault. "Though I will wishing to
be at home more than soon."