"John Dalmas - The Regiment A Trilogy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dalmas John)

For they had seen marvels in their past, not only of vessels going among
the stars, but of the place they had come from. And from the seeing,
learned much.
And of even greater import, they had begun to perceive the T'sel.1

PART ONE
Introduction To Enigma

1
Feature Editor Gard Fendel's index finger, stout and hairy, touched refile,
and the personnel summary for Varlik 681 Lormagen disappeared from the
screen. Not that Fendel didn't know the young man personally and
professionally, but it had seemed wise to examine the background data.
Lormagen had been in athletics as a boy and youth, and ran and used a
health club as assignments permitted. At age thirty he looked physically
rather fit. More important, and Fendel hadn't known this, he'd served a
three-year enlistment in the military a decade earlier. No combat, but he'd
know his way around. The question left was how much stomach young
Lormagen had for discomfort and possible danger.
Fendel's finger moved to his intercom. "Derin," he said, "send Lormagen
in."
"Yes, sir."
The voice quality of the intercom system was excellent. The slightly
metallic timbre had been designed in deliberately, for warships and
privateers. It enabled a crewman or officer, intent on something else, to
know without looking that the speaker was not someone in the same
compartment, and should be acknowledged at once if possible. It also
made the words sharper and clearer, helping to ensure they'd be
understood.
That had been very long ago, very long forgotten. Now an intercom was
just an intercom, made the way intercoms had always been made. They
worked very well.
Varlik 681 Lormagen came in, the door sliding smoothly shut behind him.
Gard Fendel motioned him to a chair.
"Sit, please."
"Thank you, sir."
Leaning his forearms on the desk, Fendel waited until the younger man
was seated.
"You did a very professional, may I say very Standard, job in covering the
Carlad kidnapping."
Varlik darkened just slightly at the compliment. In the context of
journalism, to have one's work called Standard was highly complimentary,
if somewhat inappropriate. "Thank you, sir. You honor me."
"I'm considering giving you a new assignment that's even bigger. One that
can make your byline one of the majors among our subscribers."
Varlik's alertness level rose. He nodded.
"You're aware of the insurrection on Kettle, of course," Fendel went on,
"and that it's continuing. Beast of a place for a civilized man to fight a war,
but there it is. Well, it seems now that T'swa mercenaries are being sent
there to break its back. That tells me it's worth having someone there to