"Clayton Emery - Descent FreeSpace - A Thousand Years" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emery Clayton)

"Shut up." Atsuko chewed her lip. A single Harbinger missile could evaporate an airbase or
a small city. If she touched off even one Harbinger, sheтАЩd need to skedaddle ten kilometers
before it exploded! So *that* was why the ship felt so fragging heavy --
"Incoming Shivan attack vessel at four oтАЩclock," chirped the computer.

"Mine!" Atsuko snaprolled to avoid a plunging silver arrow shot out of nowhere. Stamping
both rudders, she spiral-climbed after the bandit, watched white pulses like plasma flash by,
boosted the throttle and sideslipped, then strafed the arrowтАЩs underbelly with lasers. Burns
stitched the enemy craft laterally, then it backflipped away. By the time Atsuko had swung
around, it was gone, so she hurried to rejoin her wing. Plenty more Shivan fighters stippled
the sky, and every one seemed aimed at CHERRY BLOSSOM.

The comm whistled the flagshipтАЩs signal. "Warning. Countdown to Phoenix begins. 60. 59.
58..."
Dipping a wing, Atsuko located the two cruisers in the distance. Her wing flew well outside
the blast range, so she concentrated on keeping her place and potshotting bad guys.
"... 5. 4. 3. 2 --"

From far off, Atsuko saw one of the two cruisers suddenly flush yellow at every port and
gunbarrel. The great ship vomited fire like a volcano, burped again, and cracked its spine,
burning in air spilled from her ruptured guts. Atsuko tried not think of the poor GTA bastards
who took it in the neck, doublecrossed by two-timing politicians and rockheaded
commanders.
"Flagship, weтАЩve got a situation." A strange voice broke radio silence. Crackling and
sputtering caused by electromagnetic pulses masked her transmission, so she must be a
long-range scout. "RETRIBUTION is still cooking full-bore."
"What? How can that be?" Atsuko joggled the joystick to copy as her wing banked. One
cruiser was a flaming arrow being snuffed by vacuum. The other cruiser hung intact,
steaming a slow spiral with all guns firing. "What the hell went wrong?"
"Tigers, redeploy!" The AdmiralтАЩs voice, for once angry. "Assemble in two flights! Consult
your screens!"

Shaking her head to ward off fatigue, Atsuko watched her screen spell out two new flights:
Red and Blue. Green and Gold were history, she realized, because the Flying Tigers had
suffered forty-three percent casualties. Atsuko hissed, "This is crazy! Even if we win, we
lose! Every damn LaramiteтАЩll be dead! Whoa!"

Atsuko flinched as a snake-headed Medusa flashed up on her left, escorted by a trio of
lightning-quick Athenas. The fuselage was painted with a spotted horse and the name
LAKOTA NIGHTS. CHERRY BLOSSOMтАЩs computer intoned, "Left flank, flagship of Admiral
American Horse."
The comm crackled in AtsukoтАЩs ear. "American Horse to Toranaga. Do you read?"

"I read, maтАЩam." Atsuko didnтАЩt watch the admiralтАЩs ship, but rather watched the sky for
bandits.
"Change in plans. The jet-axes on RETRIBUTION failed to ignite. A scout reports Shivans --
not Terrans -- occupy the bridge. All we can guess is the Shivans sent their own sappers
aboard and pulled our fuses. WeтАЩve got to touch off that cruiser with hand-carried missiles."

"Hand -- carried?" Atsuko squeaked.