"Baxter, Stephen - On The Orion Line" - читать интересную книгу автора (Baxter Stephen)

canТt catch that swarm of Ghosts this side of the cordon. And you all know the hazard of
crossing a cordon. But if weТre ever going to break this blockade of theirs we have to find a
way to bust open those forts. So weТre going in anyhow. Stand by your stations."

There was a half-hearted cheer.

I caught HalleТs eye. She grinned at me. She pointed at the captain, closed her fist and made a
pumping movement. I admired her sentiment but she wasnТt being too accurate, anatomically
speaking, so I raised my middle finger and jiggled it back and forth.

It took a slap on the back of the head from Jeru, the commissary, to put a stop to that. "Little
morons," she growled.

"Sorry, sirЦ"

I got another slap for the apology. Jeru was a tall, stocky woman, dressed in the bland
monastic robes said to date from the time of the founding of the Commission for Historical
Truth a thousand years ago. But rumor was sheТd seen plenty of combat action of her own
before joining the Commission, and such was her physical strength and speed of reflex I could
well believe it.

As we neared the cordon the Academician, Pael, started a gloomy countdown. The slow
geometry of Ghost cruiser and tinsel-wrapped fortress star swiveled across the crowded sky.

Everybody went quiet.

The darkest time is always just before the action starts. Even if you can see or hear what is
going on, all you do is think. What was going to happen to us when we crossed that intangible
border? Would a fleet of Ghost ships materialize all around us? Would some mysterious
weapon simply blast us out of the sky?

I caught the eye of First Officer Till. He was a veteran of twenty years; his scalp had been
burned away in some ancient close-run combat, long before I was born, and he wore a crown
of scar tissue with pride.

"LetТs do it, tar," he growled.

All the fear went away. I was overwhelmed by a feeling of togetherness, of us all being in this
crap together. I had no thought of dying. Just: letТs get through this.

"Yes, sir!"

Pael finished his countdown.

All the lights went out. Detonating stars wheeled.

And the ship exploded.

I was thrown into darkness. Air howled. Emergency bulkheads scythed past me, and I could
hear people scream.