"Frank Herbert - The Dragon In The Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

Dr. Oberhausen said, "To make a long story short, these devices have been leading the enemy to our
secret wells."



"The real trouble," said Belland, "is that we're shot through with sleepers -- people the EPs planted years
ago -- long before the war -- with orders to wait for the right moment. People in the damnedest places."
He scowled. "Why, my driver --" He fell silent, turned the scowl on Ramsey. "We're reasonably certain
you're not a sleeper."



"Reasonably certain?" asked Ramsey.
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"I am reasonably certain no one in this room is a sleeper," growled Belland. "But that's all I am." He
turned back to the wall map, pointed to a position in the Barents Sea. "This is the island of Novaya
Zemlya. Off the west coast is a narrow shelf. The edge is in about two hundred fathoms. It's steep.
We've a well into the flank of that shelf tapping one of the richest oil reservoirs we've ever encountered.
The EPs don't even know it's there -- yet."



Dr. Oberhausen put a bony hand on the table, tapped a finger once. "We must make certain Mr.
Ramsey understands the morale factor." He turned toward Ramsey. "You understand that it has been
impossible to keep our losses completely secret. As a result, morale in the subtugs has dropped off to
almost nothing. We need good news."



Belland said, "Turner, take it from there." The admiral returned to his chair, lowered himself into it like a
battlewagon settling into dry dock.



Turner focused watery blue eyes on Ramsey, said, "We've screened, screened and rescreened our
subtug crews. We've found one that looks good. They're at Garden Glen Rest Camp now and will be
coming out in five weeks. However, they do not have an electronics officer."



Ramsey thought: Great Grieving Freud! Am I going to be palmed off as a submariner?



As though he had read Ramsey's thought, Dr. Oberhausen said, "That's where you come in, Ramsey."