"Keith Laumer - Bolos 6 - Cold Steel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

Shipyards, far from the lines of the Deng conflict, and while Tilla M has seen intermittent raids
by well-armed pirates, any conflict would doubtless consisted of brief defense against space-
based hit-and-run attacks. This is the kind of conflict for which I was designed and constructed,
engaging a powerful enemy on a battlefield of planetary scope.
Our "hot" insertion and the limited intelligence available to us add to the challenge of the
assignment, but I am unconcerned. I am unit VCK, a Bolo of the Line, Mark XXV, bearer of the
proud tradition of the Dinochrome Brigade. I am proud be the first of our forces to land on
Thule. I am confident that I will do my duty, and do it well.
It has been four minutes and three seconds since ejection. Broken transmissions indicate that
any ship attempting to land may come under ground attack, therefore our individual assignment
is to deploy and clear a landing zone. My commander will monitor the situation from my assault
pod, which will wait in orbit, along with the other Bolos in their pods, and a trio of shuttles
loaded with emergency gear. Instead of my usual deployment, I am strapped to a sandwiched
pair of contra-grav cargo sleds and mats of ablative material forming a makeshift, but completely
expendable, landing craft.
I fire the guidance thrusters on the cargo sleds, to roll my makeshift heat shield to face the
atmosphere, and adjust the upper sleds contra-gravs to conserve power for the final braking. The
contra-gravs on the lower sled are set to full output, as there will be no opportunity to utilize
unused power later.
Five minutes and eighteen seconds since ejection. A faint vibration through my treads tells me
that I am encountering the edge of Thule's atmosphere. I take the opportunity to make a long-
range scan of the planet below me. I immediately detect the various colony installations in the
expected locations, but the central installation shows none of the energy output I would expect of
a functioning colony. Instead, I detect only the heat of residual fires, plus a chemical signature
consistent with large-scale combustion and the early decay stage of biological matter. The
damage is even worse than we had been led to believe. I also detect flames and weapons
signatures from the most northern colony. It too is under attack.
I adjust my trajectory to move my landing site as far north as possible. I maintain
communications silence, but there are distress calls coming from the Rustenberg Colony on
several bands, some live, some via automated beacon. I monitor, trying to get some sense of our
enemy, but other than descriptions of large humanoids, there is little else of strategic value,
intelligence about their mounted and airborne weapons platforms, descriptions of their armored
and mechanized divisions.
I am entering the planet's atmosphere now, and ionization is making my sensors unreliable. It
must be, as I can detect none of the signatures I would associate with the enemy. I find no bases
or roads, no radiation sources consistent with fusion power plants, no towns or bases, no
armored columns or spaceports. The situation is most puzzling. It is almost as though the enemy
does not exist.
The buffeting is quite heavy now. I am surrounded by an ionized curtain of superheated air,
and flaming chunks of ablative mat are breaking off and flying past like fireworks. I must be
putting on a spectacular show for anyone watching on the ground, but my signature will not be
consistent with a Bolo assault pod. The enemy will doubtless hesitate before firing on me,
consulting with their specialists to determine if I am an attack craft or a natural meteor. By the
time they come to a decision, I should be safely near the ground.
Or not. I am emerging from the ionization blackout, and I detect, threeтАФnow fiveтАФnow seven
missile traces arching up from diverse points across the continent. They seem to be light nuclear
interceptors, unlikely to do me serious damage, but they could destroy the contra-grav sled I need
to make my landing. My first duty, however, is to secure the landing zone. I begin cycling my
main Hellbores from launch point to launch point, targeting them with a multikiloton blast.
Though I can detect no fixed installation at any of these points, someone there will pay the price