"Jane Lindskold - Endpoint Insurance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lindskold Jane)

тАЬAnd you think,тАЭ I cut in eagerly, тАЬthat what I saw in those crates were the
AbsoluteтАЩs potions? Those, at least, we could get EndpointтАЩs authorities to seize.
The killer drug in particular has been outlawed universally-no one wants their local
troublemakers both hopped up and suggestible.тАЭ
Spike held up a hand. тАЬNo, Allie, I donтАЩt think itтАЩs killer drug-not exactly. I think
what you saw were the ingredients for the drug, smuggled in piecemeal so that no
one could trace them and suspect whatтАЩs going on. I think that the Absolute plans to
mix up a batch and get it to his troops.тАЭ
тАЬBut he wonтАЩt do it planetside,тАЭ I mused, тАЬbecause that would leave him open to
local law.тАЭ
тАЬRight.тАЭSpike gestured into the star-flecked darkness outside the MercuryтАЩs view
ports. тАЬSomewhere out there a factory is waiting-probably on a pirate ship since we
know theyтАЩre using this system and the Absolute mentioned allies. The Absolute will
go there, do his voodoo, and return home. His greatest weapon will go with him,
scattered among several ships so one or two lucky shots canтАЩt destroy it all.тАЭ
тАЬAnd with a new supply of the drug, the Absolutist fanatics will win,тАЭ I said,
тАЬbecause with the drug, the Absolute can convert even the most unwilling Loyalists
to his side.тАЭ
Spike nodded, then he grinned his goofy grin.
тАЬUnless, of course, you and I stop them.тАЭ
I stared at him and started to laugh.
The ships carrying the crates-and the Absolute-left the surface of Gilbert at
midmorning. In the meantime, IтАЩd gotten some sleep, as had Spike. In between naps,
IтАЩd scanned the Endpoint system, mapping out every blip and crackle so that we
could locate the factory ship when the time came. Every so often IтАЩd come across
something IтАЩd flag for myself, not bothering Spike with that particular detail.
Making this map should have been an impossible task- would have been except for
two things. One, the Mercury has some of the best communications and scanning
equipment money can buy. Two, Spike and I had an idea what we would be looking
for-and that there would be something out there for us to find.
We figured that the factory ship couldnтАЩt have been given an advance location where
it had to wait. Too much could go wrong with that sort of plan-someone else in the
area, a bit of unanticipated debris drifting through, a breakdown or delay.
Therefore, the factory ship would be sending out a signal of some sort to direct the
Absolute and his supply ships to where it waited. тАЬWould beтАЭ because it wouldnтАЩt
start emitting the signal until the Absolute sent it a query signal first. If the factory
ship had been delayed in getting to the rendezvous, there would be no response to
the query sig-nal. The supply ships would take a parking orbit and wait, signaling
occasionally and scanning the appropriate bands.
Spike and I were sure weтАЩd worked out the same chain of logic the pirates would
have used, but even so I nearly jumped from my seat when a broad band scan
announced a new signal. It came intermittently, but always from the same direction.
If we hadnтАЩt been looking for it, we would have dismissed it as background noise.
тАЬChecking Gilbert,тАЭ I said aloud, my hands moving across the scanner bands. тАЬYes!
A ship just left immediate orbit and is heading in the direction of the signal.тАЭ
тАЬWait until weтАЩre sure, Allie, before starting to follow,тАЭ Spike said. тАЬIf weтАЩre right,
we have time. They wonтАЩt be going anywhere for a while.тАЭ
I nodded, listening to my comm unitтАЩs report. тАЬAnother ship just left orbit. ItтАЩs going
out on the same general vector-probably they were filed as a convoy.тАЭ
тАЬA good safety measure,тАЭ Spike replied solemnly, тАЬin these pirate-plagued reaches