"William R. Forstchen - Wing Commander 06 - Action Stations" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forstchen William R)

Vakka nodded. "Yes, such it has always been, if they are not of the blood they are prey to be hunted.
Yet do you not see what I am saying here? As we hunt down and destroy a prey, two more spring up
behind them."

"So there is more to hunt," the Crown Prince replied with a growling laugh. "More honor, more glory,
more blood for our talons."

Vakka shook his head sadly.

"And what of the other direction? The darkness we know is coming up out of the galactic core? It is a
force that even we must admit might very well overwhelm us. You have seen the reports from our deep
remote probes, which have spanned the vast reaches in towards the heart of the galaxy. There is a power
there that is overwhelming all in its path. A power that is coming this way."

"Precisely why we must fight the Confederation nowтАФor are you afraid of them?" Ratha snarled, coming
back to his feet.

"I fear nothing," Vakka replied coolly, gaze fixed upon Ratha.

There was a moment of tense silence, finally broken when the Crown Prince clicked his talons together,
a signal for his son to back away. Reluctantly Ratha stepped back, gaze still fixed on Vakka.

"Precisely why we must fight the Confederation now," the Crown Prince said, staring at Vakka and
speaking as if explaining the simplest of things to a cub. "Each war sharpens our talons. Each war
requires us to improve our weapons and take as well the secrets of our enemies. Remember, it was the
foolish Shata who came to us peacefully, and revealed to us the secret of the jump points and how to use
them. And once we took that secret, we slaughtered the fools who bore it to us as we would slaughter
any prey."

A rumble of laughter echoed in the audience chamber. The Shata wererugalga , the equivalent of the
herds of semi-intelligent beasts which had once wandered the home world, unable to defend themselves,
the hunting of which was considered an exercise merely to fill the stomach, since there was no glory or
challenge. How any beings could be so stupid as to come to Kilrah making loud pleas of peace, offering
their secrets of interstellar travel and then be totally unable to defend themselves was a source of
wonderment and amusement even now, several hundred years later.

"My father, in his war against the Varni, went into the fight knowing their technology was superior. That
is exactly why we fought them then, to take their secrets. His father before him against the Wu, his
father's father against the Eyoka, and now we shall take this Confederation as is our right and destiny."

"What I caution is our lack of knowledge," Vakka replied. "It is as if we hear something on the far side
of the hill, and the hunting pride charges towards it with roars of blood lust, but know not what is upon
the far side of that hill."

"We know enough," the Crown Prince sneered. "This colony your clan captured. It was they who first
made us aware of this Confederation. You yourself said they were powerful and the issue of their
existence should be addressed."
 Vakka sighed. That point was indeed true and he cursed the luck of it all. Five years back all the clans
had been expanding outward, encountering systems devoid of any foe, and then he had stumbled upon a
world that aliens, humans of this Confederation, had arrived at only weeks before. Taken by surprise,