"SD Gottesman - Firepower" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gotlieb Phyllis)

In the super-sumptuous office of Fitzjames she thought at first that she was
alone, but a snaky individual who had a knack of blending in with the furniture,
as if he didn't want to be seen, coughed tentatively.
She eyed him up and down. "You," she said, "must be the Satanic Mr. Voss."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Indeed ? How so ?"
"It's no secret that you're the one who started the--the taking-over."
"I defy you to prove it," he snickered.
"You're a civilian. That's final and conclusive. There isn't one of these
certifiable fatheads in uniform that'd have the guts to do what they've all been
talking about for fifty years. You touched it off and you see victory in your
hands right this moment. Bartok is dead."
"No!" he spat. "Where?"
"Coming up here on a lighter. He rashly jumped the ensign who'd arrested us. He
got his face blown off."
"So," grunted Voss. "The end of organized resistance to our program. How did he
manage, by the way, to blow up our ships with their own ammunition, or whatever
really happened ?"
"I don't know the details," she replied wearily. "We used glorified
lantern-slides to project the simulacrum of a lineship; we could do that with
about fifty one-man craft. It's a kind of formation flying. We turned back your
shells by magnetic fields. Normally you could dodge them, because you keep ready
to move whenever you fire the Big guns. But we dubbed in a dummy shell-- like
the lantern-slide lineship--and you'd see that shell and there wouldn't be a
thought in your heads until you were blown up. But you're onto that trick now.
It only worked four times, I think. I was a lunatic to think that you could
fight guns with brainwork and hope to win. '
She collapsed limply into a chair and stared dully at the floor. "Bartok's dead.
The communication system's wrecked. You can have your taking-over, Mr. Voss;
we're licked."
CHAPTER V
"HELL!" said the Admiral. "Why can't I go out into the, street if I want to?"
"Because," said Voss patiently, "you'd be shot down like a dog. You're going to
speak from behind cover, and I'll post the best shots in the Navy all over just
in case."
"Right," said the Admiral. "Then it's decided. I guess the old brain's clicking
right along, eh?" He forced a laugh, and Voss responded with a meager smile.
Tapping on the door. Voss opened it on the young ensign who'd been boasting all
over the ship of shooting down the insidious Bartok. He was being avoided by his
friends now; he wouldn't let them get a word in about their own feats of
clubbing and mayhem.
"What do you want ?" thundered the Admiral. "I'm preparing my address to All
Earth and Colonies !"
"Beg pardon, sir," said the ensign. "But I was wondering if I could be assigned
to your guard of honor for the address. After all, sir, I did outwit Bartok."
"Since when," asked Voss coldly, "does outwitting consist of getting in a lucky
shot?"
Tut," grumbled the Admiral. "Let him have his way. Why not, Voss?"
"I was going to," said the secretary. "Report this evening."
"Thank you, sir. And--and--"
"Spit it out, kid. What do you want?" demanded Voss.