A Space Oddessey 2061 Book 3 Chapter 3: Re-entry PART I : THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN

A Space Oddessey 2061 Book 3 Chapter 3: Re-entry PART I : THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN

Even apart from that embarrassing accident, the return to Earth had not been easy. The first shock had come soon after revival, when Dr Rudenko had woken him from his long sleep. Walter Curnow was hovering beside her, and even in his semi-conscious state he could tell that something was wrong; their pleasure at seeing him awake was a little too exaggerated, and failed to conceal a sense of strain. Not until he was fully recovered did they let him know that Dr Chandra was no longer with them. Somewhere beyond Mars, so imperceptibly that the monitors could not pinpoint the time, he had simply ceased to live. His body, set adrift in space, had continued unchecked along Leonov's orbit, and had long since been consumed by the fires of the Sun. The cause of death was totally unknown, but Max Brailovsky expressed a view that, highly unscientific though it was, not even Surgeon-Commander Katerina Rudenko attempted to refute. 'He couldn't live without Hal.' Walter Curnow, of all people, a…