"Feintuch,.David.-.Seafort.06.-.Patriarchs.Hope.Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feintuch David)

PART IPART I

July, in the Year
of our Lord 2241

CHAPTER 1

"... and so we gather to commission UNS Galactic, the greatest ship ever built,
the pinnacle of human interstellar endeavor."

Surreptitiously, to avoid the attention of the pulsing hok>-cams focused on the
dais, I eased my aching leg, fixing a glazed stare at Admiral Dubrovik's broad
back and the crowded London auditorium beyond. At my left Derek Carr smiled in
sympathy.

Would old Dubrovik ever wind down? As SecGen and nominal Commander in Chief of
all U.N. forces I could have blocked his posting to Lunapolis Command, but I'd
interfered enough in U.N. Naval appointments over the years. These days, I tried
to limit myself to where it would do the most good. Amid the dignitaries and
officials patiently listening were a considerable number of officers Id advanced
because of competence rather than connections.

Yet also among the sober blue uniforms and starched dress whites were a few
disgruntled Earth First sympathizers, disgusted that I wouldn't support retaking
the few interstellar colonies that had achieved independence. There might even
have been a few enviro fanatics, although zealots of that stripe were rare in
the Navy. No doubt among the audience were quite a number who didn't give
Christ's damn, as long as no one tampered with their pay billet

**... not since Earth's first convulsive leap into space two hundred fifty years
ago have so many individuals, so many thousands of diverse corporations,
participated in a public project.

And with good reason; their profits were enormous. Galactic was an error of
judgment; I'd let myself be persuaded by Admiralty's unbounded enthusiasm and
Senator Robbie Roland's deal with the Territorial Party, our opposition in the
General Assembly, to give us a free hand on the Naval budget through the next
Secretarial electionЧif we shared the lucrative construction contracts with
their allies. What we needed were Alpha-class vessels like my first command, UNS
Hibernia, not the vast and expensive behemoth we'd constructed.

I grimaced past my wife, Arlene, to my old friend Admiral Jeff Thorne, with whom
I'd shared my misgivings.

Yes, Galactic, along with the nearly completed Olympiad and men1 two sister
ships on the drawing boards, would help seed new colonies, but home system had
been establishing colonies for nearly two centuries, and the existing colonies
needed servicing too. I doubted it would prove efficient to send a huge vessel
such as Galactic to supply Derek Carr's home colony of Hope Nation.