"Lee Edgar - Princess 04 - Checkmate for a Princess" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

her white Ford Cosworth and got in behind the wheel. She was not as friendly
as usual and seemed to be keeping something from him but he couldn't, for the
life of him, think what it could be.
The engine burst into life as the last door closed and Suzette turned onto the
track that led through the forest, up the side of Pic Neulos atop which the
tracking station sat, its main receptor dish focused on a tiny piece of
electronics wizardry 40,000 kilometres away. The Cosworth left behind a cloud
of dust as it roared up the forest trail, the sound of the Cosworth engine
echoing from the trees on the far side of the valley. Eventually, they were at
the top and turned down the road to the tracking station where Jim, Gillian
and Major Al Slazinski of the US Marines awaited their return.
~~~~~
WEDNESDAY 11th AUGUST - 1630 hrs.
Jim Marshal toyed with the main console as the other two watched. A picture
formed and then kept changing as the data came in from Princess and was sorted
and filed by the CADE (computer assisted data evaluation) software.
'Well?' asked Gillian as he punched at the keys. 'What have you found?'
'I don't know,' he said, looking puzzled. 'When Suzette returns, she will know
what it means.'
'Can't you even guess?' asked the concerned Major as he stared at the flashing
console.
Jim smiled. 'Not a chance. I was trained as an operator, not an evaluator.
Besides, much of this information is in French and only Suzette will
understand what it really means.'
The sound of the car drawing up outside made them look up.
'That will be Suzette,' said Marianne, running to open the door.
'Is this Blackman girl really that good?' asked the Major.
'Suzette is brilliant,' said Jim. 'She was trained by the French Agency when
Princess was first launched and only Suzette knows the code to break into the
programme to adjust the deviation angle.'
'Now you've got me real confused, boy.'
'Never mind. It just means that, without Suzette, the language might as well
be in Swahili. I can operate the equipment and catalogue the data but only she
can understand the full implications.'
'You mean she can read all those blips and things and tell exactly what they
mean?'
'Oh, yes. How do you think she knew your ships had entered the Mediterranean?
In fact, she even knew there was going to be a war before it started.'
'She did?' The cigar hit the floor.
'I did what?' asked Suzette as she walked in.
'I was just telling the Major how clever you are.'
'Oh, you were, were you?' she scolded playfully. 'And what have you found?'
Jim scratched his head. 'I don't know for certain. It's just that there is an
odd movement in EX zone.'
'EX? Under the sea?' She looked surprised. 'Let me look.'
Suzette leant over the console and punched a few keys and waited for the
printer to stop before tearing off the hard copy. She smiled. 'It seems that
the UN fleet is going to have visitors this evening.'
~~~~~
GAMBIT