Chapter 8 Chapter Seven "Money"

When Heywood Floyd's voice came from the loudspeaker, the two dolphins suddenly stopped playing and chasing around the pool. They swam to the edge of the pool, resting their big heads on the edge of the pool and staring intently at the sound origin of.Then they recognized Heywood's voice, Caroline thought with poignant pain.And Christopher was crawling around in his playpen, and when his father's voice came loud and clear from 500 million kilometers away in space, he didn't even stop to fiddle with the colorful paper on the picture book. Control keys. "... my dear, you shouldn't be surprised to hear my voice a month in advance; you should have known weeks ago that we have an extra friend here.

"It's still hard for me to believe that, in some ways, it doesn't make sense. There's no way they'll have enough fuel to get back to Earth safely, and we don't even know how they'll rendezvous with Discovery. "Of course we have never seen them. Even from the nearest angle, the 'Qian' spacecraft is five million kilometers away. They have enough time to respond to our signals if they want to, but they are completely Ignore it. Maybe they're too busy right now for a nice friendly chat. They'll be in Jupiter's atmosphere in a few hours - then we'll know if their air brakes are working. If it's working, then It's a boost to our morale. If it fails - oh, let's not talk about that.

"The Russians did well, of course, they were angry, they were disappointed - but I heard a lot of words of admiration. What a genius, to build a spaceship in full view and make everyone think it was a space station until They figured it out for themselves. "Well, now we can do nothing but watch. At our distance, their images are not much clearer than in the best telescopes on Earth. I can only bless them, though I hope they Stay away from Discovery. It's our property and I reckon the State Department reminds them every hour. "It's not normal - if our Chinese friends hadn't jumped out and pointed a gun at us, you wouldn't have heard me a month earlier. But since Dr. Ruden woke me up, I'll be in a few days Just talk to you once.

"The initial shock is over, and now I've calmed down—I'm getting to know the ship, the crew, and my space gait. Also brushing up on my terrible Russian, which I haven't had much use for— Everyone here insists on speaking English, what poor linguists we Americans are! I am really ashamed sometimes of our chauvinism - or rather our laziness. "The English skills of the people on this ship vary widely - Chief Engineer Sasha Kovalev could have been a BBC announcer - while some It's one of those 'as long as you speak fast enough, it doesn't matter if you make mistakes' type. Only Rania Mashenko is not skilled enough. She replaced Irina Yakunina at the last minute. I'm glad to hear Irina is doing well—what a disappointment she will be! I'm afraid she won't be able to fly again.

"Speaking of accidents, it's clear that Rania wasn't lucky. Although the doctors have done a good job, it's clear she's been badly burned. She's the ship's baby, and the others treat her—I'm going to say Compassion, but that might sound a little arrogant, let's say special concern. "Perhaps you're wondering how Captain Tanya and I get on. Well, I like her a lot—but I'd never want to make her angry. No one suspects who's in control of the ship. "And Doctor Commander Rudenko - you met two years ago at the Aerospace Conference in Honolulu, I'm sure you haven't forgotten that last gathering. You'll understand why we call her 'Queen Catherine' - — Of course, just behind her broad back.

"Enough gossip, if I run out of time, the line will be overloaded. By the way, these private calls are supposed to be completely confidential. But there are many ways to communicate with the communication network, so if you occasionally call from-- from another Don't be surprised to hear news online. "I'm waiting to hear your voice - tell the girls I'll be on the phone. I love you guys - I miss you and Chris so much. When I get back, I promise I'll never leave again." The sound cut off, and then came the voice of what was obviously a computer system: "432 bar seven communication terminated, from the Leonov." When Caroline Floyd turned off the loudspeaker , the two dolphins sank to the bottom of the pool and dived into the Pacific Ocean, leaving no ripples on the water surface.

When Christopher realized his friends were gone, he started crying.His mother took him in her arms and tried to comfort him, but it took him a long time to calm down.