"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 01 - The Ivanhoe Gambit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

split, for better or for worse. If I were then to attempt to eradicate the parallel timeline by preventing the
split in the first place, a.тАФI would be risking causing a split myself and, b.тАФthe people coming from a
future affected by that split might never even have existed had not the split occurred. I would then be
threatening their history, not to say their very existence. Under such circumstances, I expect that they
would do their level best to kill me. Perhaps those would even be their orders, regardless of the problems
created by the split. They would want to preserve their status quo, no matter how chaotic it might be."
"Christ," whispered Hooker.
"Scary, isn't it?" said the referee.
"How are we supposed to stop it?" Hooker said.
'' I thought that was obvious,'' the ref said.
"We're a hit squad, son," Delaney told Hooker. "We're supposed to try and kill this Irving person."
"The rather archaic phrase is 'terminate with extreme prejudice,' " said the referee. "Should you
succeed in doing that, I will then become Richard the First and act accordingly, as per our history." He
grimaced. "I would prefer not to have to die in France in another five years, but I have no choice. So you
see, gentlemen, I may be sending you out on an extremely difficult assignment, but I don't think you'd
want to trade places with me."
"Sir?"
"Mr. Hooker?"
"Why only four of us, sir? Wouldn't we stand a better chance with more men?"
The ref smiled. "A good question. Yes, perhaps. Frankly, I wish I could have had an army at my
disposal. However, I am somewhat handicappedтАФas are youтАФby organizational paranoia. It has been
decided that the optimal number of men for this mission, in order to minimize the chances of temporal
contamination, is four. Plus a support team, the other people whom you've seen here. Why not five, you
ask, or six or seven or three, for that matter? Well, I argued that point, but. . . The situation calls for a
small, highly effective unit that could be infiltrated into key positions in this time period. There is such a
thing, the reasoning goes, as having too many spies. It was felt that a larger team would introduce a
greater element of risk into this operation."
"Chickenshit bastards," mumbled Delaney.
The ref smiled. "You're insubordinate, Mr. Delaney. However, I can't help but to concede the point.
Nevertheless, that's how it stands." He indicated the cryotanks. "We have here four people who are of
some significance in this scenario. These people are the ones whom you will be impersonating in this
operation, so play your parts well, gentlemen. Your lives depend on it."
He got up and motioned to the technicians, acknowledging their presence for the first time. One by
one, they swiveled the tanks into vertical positions.
"Mr. Delaney, you are now this man's twin," the ref said, pointing to the first tank. "His name is John
Little, but he is better known as Little John. Mr. Johnson, if you have a touch of the romantic in you, you
may be intrigued to learn that you will be assuming the role of the Baron of Locksley, otherwise known to
history as Robin Hood."
"Holy shit," said Bobby.
The ref chuckled, in spite of himself. "Do try to maintain a sense of perspective, Mr. Johnson.
Folklore notwithstanding, this man is only human, as are you. Mr. Hooker, you will notice that your
counterpart has a fresh scar upon his face. I'm afraid we shall have to give you a matching one before we
send you out. He gave us some difficulty. He proved highly resistant to drugs and we had to subdue him
forcibly. You will take his place as squire to Sergeant Major Priest. Your name, the only one you're
known by so far as we have been able to ascertain, is Poignard. Your not inconsiderable skill with knives
will no doubt serve you well. And now, Mr. Priest..."
The final cryogen.
"I understand that your assignment to this operation came about as a result of your exercising a code
choice option. You may be regretting that now. As it happened, rather ironically, you were ideally suited
for this mission, better qualified than the man you have displaced. The moment you punched in, some