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

avoided?
So popular had this particular lurking spot become that the black ships checked it as
a matter of routine. Still, the Absolutists might not know that. Once I was fairly
certain where the convoy was headed, I took the Mercury out along a different route,
one that took advantage of intervening asteroids and other bits of space debris to
obscure our signal. I prided myself that the supply ship never knew we were closing
on them.
Meanwhile, I sent out tight-beam comm squirts to a couple dozen locations IтАЩd
marked earlier-places where a faint signal hinted that a ship with damped
identification beacon drifted, its power down-a typical smugglerтАЩs trick. My message
was scrambled, just in case the wrong ship intercepted it, and pretty terse. In a few
words it invited these outlaws of the solar lanes to join the Mercury in kicking some
pirate butt.
Responses came rapidly, crammed with the same ques-tions over and over: тАЬWhy
are you doing this?тАЭ
тАЬWhereтАЩs the pirate?тАЭ and, most often, тАЬWhatтАЩs in it for me?тАЭ
I sent out the answers, offering each ship that joined me and Spike a share of the
loot. Most of the outlaws agreed, tantalized by the promise of gain beyond a
smugglerтАЩs dreams-and enticed further by the chance to get even with hated pirates,
those big operators who made it almost impossible for a little ship to turn a slightly
dishonest profit and who ruined a good market just when the smugglers had opened
it up.
Not knowing how theyтАЩd respond to the political angle, I kept the news of the
AbsoluteтАЩs presence to myself for now. I figured if we took the pirate, I could act as
surprised as anybody, and if we didnтАЩt, it wouldnтАЩt matter.
We glided through the Endpoint system, our engines powered down as low as
possible. The fact that we were approaching a smugglerтАЩs rest most of us had used
at one time or another helped us to hide our presence. So did the fact that we were
coming toward our target and the mass of our ships masked our engine signatures.
As we approached, I used the MercuryтАЩs comm system to collect and relay
information. I got each ship to give me her strengths and weaknesses. I knew from
past experience-and a couple of devastating poker losses-that a couple of the other
shipsтАЩ captains were brilliant tacticians. They took the information I beamed to them
and transformed it into a possible plan. Despite their input, the Mercury remained in
command since only her comm system had the reach and power to blip out and
retrieve information so swiftly that the pirates would have no chance of detecting our
signals.
Even as we laid our plans, every ship in my outlaw fleet kept alert for the black
ships. At this moment, we were doing nothing precisely illegal-though some might
argue that we had turned pirate ourselves-but a delay would be bothersome and the
presence of a black ship or two cruising, these reaches might spook the pirates into
deeper cover.
However, there was no trace of the Silent Watch in this vicinity. Doubtless they were
being kept busy by the increased traffic in-system, but I did wonder if a Watcher or
two-perhaps the officer who set the duty rosters-had been paid to keep the black
ships out of this area. A solar system is vast beyond mortal comprehension; not
even the black ships could be expected to patrol every bit of it.
Eventually, the Mercury closed on our target. Signaling my approaching allies to
hold their various concealed positions, I set the MercuryтАЩs scanners to a broad
sweep that would be unlikely to trip even an alert comm tech. Thus, the picture that