"Julian May - Rampart Worlds 3 - Sagittarius Whorl" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

demanded as redress the maximum damages set by lawтАФnamely, all assets tangible and
intangible of Galapharma Amalgamated Concern, including their 5,345 booming
planetary colonies.
If we won, Gala belonged to us. If we lost, the best we could hope for was that
Commonwealth prosecutors could make an assortment of criminal charges against the big
Concern stick. The odds of that happening were slim. Important evidence had vanished,
and crucial witnesses were dead or had disappeared. The one man who might have
fingered Galapharma for its crimes was also the principal material . witness in Rampart's
civil suit; and Oliver Schneider had struck an immunity deal that precluded any
obligation to give testimony under the criminal statutes.
If Gala won, its lawyers would waste no time slapping Rampart with a colossal civil
countersuit, stunting the growth and profitability of its small rival for years to comeтАФif
not destroying it outright.
As Rampart's interim Chief Legal Officer, I had been in total charge of orchestrating
our case, always working behind the scenes. Not that I'd asked for the job! I'd fought like
a wildcat to avoid it. But my father, Simon Frost, and my big sister EveтАФRampart's
Chairman of the Board and CEO, respectivelyтАФhad leaned on me, inviting my scrutiny
of certain inescapable facts.
My older brother, Daniel, the former Rampart corporate counsel and secretary, could
hardly head up the litigation. An unindicted Galapharma coconspirator, Dan was kept
doped to the eyeballs and under heavy guard in a fishing lodge up in the Ontario North
Woods, where he stubbornly professed his complete innocence.
None of the subordinate officers in Rampart's legal department were deemed capable
of directing a complex, unprecedented civil action such as this one. To bring in an outside
team of litigators was not an option, either. There were aspects of the case that didn't bear
close scrutiny: for instance, the strong probability that Dan had engineered our mother's
death, acting under orders from Galapharma.
And there was also the secret Haluk connection, political dynamite now that the blue
buggers were legitimate trading partners of the Commonwealth ...
Simon and Eve maintained that only one candidate for Rampart legal battlemaster had
it allтАФbeing a major stakeholder in the Concern, a trusted member of the family, and a
highly trained lawyer (although nonpracticing) familiar with every aspect of the case.
Yours truly, Asahel Frost.
Trying to wriggle out of the fast-closing trap, I reminded them that I was not a
member of the Commonwealth bar and could not be quickly qualified by any string-
pulling finagle of theirs. Even though my citizenship had been restored through a
technicality, the felonies I'd been framed for were still on my record. In the eyes of the
law I was still a convict on probation. In the eyes of the media I was a misfitтАФa
charismatic one, though!тАФthe black sheep of a distinguished family, a notorious
loudmouth with eccentric political leanings. There was no way I could represent Rampart
before the Judicial Tribunal in person.
No problem, said Simon and Eve. What they needed was not Rumpole of the Bailey or
Perry Mason, but rather my expertise in rousting corporate outlaws, gained during my
aborted career as an enforcement officer with the Interstellar Commerce Secretariat. A
staff of talented associates would handle the actual pleading before the court. If
necessary, the underlings could be coached by me every step of the way through cerebral
chips.
I shifted into whine mode. Hadn't I already risked my life half a dozen times to obtain
crucial evidence supporting Rampart's case against Galapharma? Hadn't I rescued Eve
from kidnappers that would have demicloned her and seized control of Rampart? Hadn't I