"Norman Spinrad - Riding the Torch" - читать интересную книгу автора (Spinrad Norman)

that of the viewpoint player, apparently Bandoora himself, was entirely
beside the point.
"Ready to scan and record system 997-Beta," the stunning creature
said. D'mahl walked closer to her, wanting to dive into those bottomless
voidsucker eyes. Instead, he found his lips saying, with Bandoora's voice:
"Display it, Sidi."
Sidi did something to the control panel before her (how archaic!) and
the holo of a yellow star about the diameter of a human head appeared in
the geometric center of the bridge. D'mahl exchanged tense glances with
his crew, somatically felt his expectation rise.
"The planets . . ." he said.
Five small round particles appeared, rotating in compressed time
around the yellow sun.
"The habitable zone . . ."
 A transparent green torus appeared around the holo of 997-Beta. The
second planet lay within its boundaries.
There was an audible intake of breath, and D'mahl felt his own body
tremble. "The second planet," Bandoora's voice ordered. "At max."
The holo of the star vanished, replaced by a pale, fuzzy holo of the
second planet, about four times its diameter. The planet seemed to be
mottled with areas of brown, green, blue, yellow, and purple, but the holo
was washed out and wavered as if seen through miles of heat-haze.
A neuter voice recited instrument readings. "Estimated gravity 1.2, gs
plus or minus ten percent . . . estimated mean temperature thirty-three
degrees centigrade plus or minus six degrees . . . estimated atmospheric
composition: helium, nitrogen, oxygen as major constituents . . .
percentages indeterminate from present data . . . traces of carbon dioxide,
argon, ammonia, water vapor . . . estimated ratio of liquid area to solid
surface 60-40 . . . composition of oceans indeterminate from present data.
. . ."
D'mahl felt the tension in his body release itself through his vocal cords
in a wordless shout that merged with the whoops of his companions. He
heard his lips say, with Bandoora's voice: "That's the best prospect any
scoutship's turned up within my lifetime."
D'mahl was seated in the amphitheater as Bandoora addressed the
Council. "A probe was immediately dispatched to 997-Beta-II. Bela-37 will
leave within twenty days to monitor the probe data wavefront. We
estimate that we will be able to bring back conclusive data within half a
standard year."
D'mahl was an abstract viewpoint in black space. A huge hazy holo of
997-Beta-II hovered before him like a ghostly forbidden fruit as the words
in his mind announced: "This concludes the bulletin from the Council of
Pilots."
Everyone in Jofe D'mahl's grand salon immediately began babbling,
gesticulating, milling about excitedly. Head after head turned in the
direction of D'mahl, Jiz, and Bandoora. D'mahl felt a slow burn rising,
knowing to whom the fascinated glances were directed.
"Well, what do you think of that, Jof?" Jiz said, with a sly knife edge in
her voice.
"Not badly done," D'mahl said coolly. "Hardly art, but effective