"Patrick Tilley - Amtrak 1 - Cloud Warrior" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tilley Patrick)

wasn't enough.

Brickman was intent on gaining the maximum possible points.

That was the difficult part. It meant his performance had to be
faultless. Not only on the Snake Pit but on all the other rigs and
flight simulators too. For Brickman was not only aiming to finish top
of his class; he wanted to rack up a perfect score. Something no
wingman had ever achieved in the hundred year history of the Academy.

Fate had ordained that the graduation date of Brickman's class
COincided with his seventeenth birthday and the one hundredth
anniversary of the Academy. The traditional passing out parade in
which the senior third-year cadets were awarded their wings was
scheduled to be part of the celebrations. When he had learned of this
providential conjunction upon his enrolment as a Freshman, Brickman had
determined to provide the Academy and his guardians with something
extra to celebrate.

Steven Roosevelt Brickman. The first double century wingman. Leader
of the class of 2989 with a ground-flight test score of two hundred and
winner of the COveted Minuteman Trophy - awarded on graduation for the
best all-round performance while under training.

Brickman paused as he reached the access door to the Snake Pit, took
several deep, calming breaths, checked the alignment of the creases in
his blue flight fatigues, then stepped through into the Rig
Supervisor's Office and logged his arrival by feeding his ID sensor
card into the checkpoint console at the door.

As soon as he was cleared to enter the flight area, Brickman ran at the
double towards the ramp where two Skyhawk microlites were. being
readied by six of the Academy's ground staff. Bob Carrol, the Chief
Flying Instructor, stood at the edge of the runway talking to another
of the ten Adjudicators who had been sent down from Grand Central to
conduct the flight tests and award the marks.

Brickman thudded to a halt with perfect timing, cocked his elbow into
line with his shoulder and saluted, his arm folding like a well-oiled
jack-knife, fingers, hand and wrist rigidly aligned, the tip of his
black glove exactly one inch from the bar and star badge on his forage
cap." Senior Cadet 8902 Brickman reporting for flight test, sir!" The
Adjudicator gave Brickman a dry, appraising glance then lifted the
cover of his video-pad and scanned the text displayed on the
centimetre-thick screen beneath ... He pursed his lips at whatever was
written there, then nodded at Carrol, 'Ah, yes - your star
performer."

Then to Brickman he said, 'Okay. Hear this. Take-off and landing will
be from this runway. Your first turn will be to the left. The rest of