Чужой
II
’Clearing,clearing..that’sgotit!’Hestudiedreadoutsandcontourlinesprovidedbytheship’simagingscanner.’Itwasmoltenonce,butnotanymore.Notforalongtime,accordingtotheanalytics.It’smostlybasalt,somerhyolite,withoccasionallavaoverlays.Everything’scoolandsolidnow.Nosignoftectonicactivity.’Heutilizedotherinstrumentstoprobedeeperintothesecretsofthetinyworld’sskin.
’Nofaultsofconsequencebelowusorintheimmediatevicinity.Shouldbeaniceplacetosetdown.’
Dallasthoughtbriefly.’You’repositiveaboutthesurfacecomposition?’
’It’stoooldtobeanythingelse.’Theexecutiveofficersoundedatouchpeeved.’Iknowenoughtocheckagedataalongwithcomposition.ThinkI’dtakeanychancesputtingusdowninsideavolcano?’
’Allright,allright.Sorry.Justchecking.Ihaven’tdonealandingwithoutchartsandbeaconsinceschooltraining.I’mabitnervous.’
’Ain’tweall?’admittedLambertreadily.
’Ifwe’resetthen?’Nooneobjected.’Let’stakeherdown.I’mgoingtospiralinasbestIcaninthiswind,trytogetusascloseaspossible.Butyoukeepatightsignalwatchon,Lambert.Idon’twantuscomingdownontopofthatcallingship.Warnmefordistanceifwegettooclose.’Histonewasintenseinthecrampedroom.
Adjustmentsweremade,commandsgivenandexecutedbyfaithfulelectronicservants.
