"Asprin, Robert- The Bug Wars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asprin Robert)

"Here she is now, Commander."
My eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness now. I could make out the shape of Kor's swooping silently down on us from the mouth of the cave.
I was burning with questions, but held them in check. You do not distract someone with questions while they're trying to crash-land a flyer.
Finally she touched it down, the flyer coming to a halt a few feet from the others. By this time we were all out of flyers and waiting for her.
"Kor! Explain your delay."
I was aware my head was sinking dangerously close to the flat position of extreme anger. Apparently she noticed it, for as she rose from her flyer, her head position denoted both anger and defense.
"I encountered the Enemy, Commander. There were three-"
"Did they see you?"
"Yes, but I destroyed all three of them and swept the immediate area for any others, that's why I was-"
"Zur!" I diverted my attention to my second-in-command, who had approached behind Kor as we spoke, his massive ten-foot height dwarfing her sixfoot stature.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Is there any evidence known of telepathic powers in the Enemy?"
"None known, but it is not beyond speculation. Many of the lower orders of insects are known to communicate telepathically."
I turned from them abruptly.
"Ssah! Check your indicators. Is the power-source still broadcasting?"
"Yes, Commander."
"Then you and Mahz pivot your flyers around and use the hot-beams to seal the cave."
I turned back to Kor, my tail lashing angrily despite my efforts to control it.
"Kor, I have a direct order for you. Even though you are without question the most efficient fighter on the team, I will not have the unit's safety jeopardized by independent action. In the future, if you contact the Enemy, you are to so inform the team immediately. If you do not, it will be considered a direct breach of orders."
There was a rumbling crash, and the meager light in the cavern disappeared. The cave was sealed. I turned and raised my voice in the darkness.
"Now use your narrow beams to open a tunnel to the surface. I want it to be just large enough to allow us passage one at a time on all fours."
There was a moment of silence.
"That will be impossible, Commander."
"Explain."
"The power-source has just stopped broadcasting."


CHAPTER FOUR

We were effectively buried alive. I considered the problem carefully.
"Did anyone bring a glow-bulb in their personal gear?"
"I did, Commander." Ahk's voice came out of the blackness.
"I feel it would be in the team's best interests if you lit it now."
"Agreed. It is still in my flyer, so if I could get a sound fix from either of the two who were at the flyers when the cave was sealed-"
"Ssah here. Your flyer is about four feet to my left. Would you like me to keep talking to serve as a beacon, or do you have the location?"
"I have it. I'll fetch the bulb now, Commander."
I heard a faint scratching as he moved past me. Even though nothing could be seen in this total absence of light, I knew clearly enough what he was doing to visualize it in my mind's eye. He was edging slowly sideways across the cavern, one hand sweeping the area in front of his head and shoulders, his tail probing for obstacles in the path of his feet and legs. It was not the first time Tzen had had to operate in a total absence of light. The probability of his stumbling was practically nonexistent.
"Ssah! When you scouted the cave, did you have an opportunity to give it a full scan with your sonic screen?"
"I did, Commander."
"Are there any other openings to the outside of any size?"
"None."
A pinpoint of light appeared, widening to disclose the entire small glowing ball as Ahk twisted the glow-bulb to its fullest setting. The light revealed the rest of the team standing around the cavern. They had remained motionless in the darkness to avoid blundering into Ahk's path, but now that a light source had been reestablished, they became animated again.
"Where would you like the light, Commander?"
"Just set it on top of your flyer for now."
My eyes were rapidly adapting to the dim light. Features of the cavern were becoming visible again. I was impressed with the glow-bulbs and made a mental note to include one in my personal gear in the future. Though the visibility was improving, I was pleased that Ssah had used her sonics to check the chamber. It would have taken a great deal of time to perform a close visual check for other openings, whereas the sonics had provided us with the same data in a matter of seconds. It was an efficient use of available equipment.
"My preliminary scouting also showed no other life, plant or animal, in the cavern."
This added bit of data from Ssah was needless. I had assumed that had there been other life, she would have told me in her initial report, particularly in Enemy-held terrain. I was not sure if this was another display of her tendency to overassert herself, or if it was a subtle implication that she felt my earlier question about the sonic scan was also needless. However, there were other, more pressing problems to be dealt with.
I surveyed the cavern again, gauging distances and performing a few mental calculations. No, oxygen supply should not be a problem. There would be no need to put the team in Deep Sleep while the work progressed.
I moved to my own flyer.
"Zur!"