"Michael McCollum - Gibraltar earth" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCollum Michael)

Dan Landon had been dividing his time between the view from Scout Three and several long-range views
of the battle fromMagellan тАЩs own telescopes, which showed only an occasional spark of violet against
the ebon backdrop of space. As it passed the scout, the warship fired another of its violet beams. The
beam reached out and momentarily bathed Scout Three in a violet corona of light. The signal from the
scout cut off abruptly.

тАЬScout Three!тАЭ Landon screamed. тАЬReport. Jani, how badly are you damaged?тАЭ

The answer was obvious on the screen. Where a moment earlier there had been a tiny human spacecraft
too small to be seen against the blackness of space, now there was a tiny speck of radiance, a glowing
cloud of plasma that cooled as it expanded.
Landon felt a sudden surge of rage. His vision was clouded by the memory of a laughing face framed in
wild red hair. Then, as quickly as it arrived, the rage was gone. He felt nothing as he watched the larger
ship again foreshorten until it was a half-lit circle of light expanding on the screen. It was the same as the
view from Scout ThreeтАЩs cameras, but with the difference that this time,Magellan was drawing the battle
to it.

тАЬPrepare message probe.тАЭ

тАЬCaptain, we canтАЩt do that,тАЭ Grandstaff said beside him. тАЬWe are too deep in the planetтАЩs gravity well.
The generators will never stand the strain.тАЭ

тАЬLoad message probe, damn you!тАЭ

A moment later, Grandstaff reported, тАЬMessage probe prepared for launch.тАЭ

Crammed with power reactors and a star drive generator, a message probe was a small, unmanned
starship.Magellan carried a dozen of the five-meter diameter spherical craft. They were used for sending
reports back to Earth. Not only did they obviate the need to return home after each system; they were
insurance against the loss of valuable data should the ship meet with an accident.

Landon watched the oncoming pair while monitoring a display that showed their speed, course, and
relative bearing. Since no one had ever expected to fight a space battle out among the stars,Magellan
was ill equipped to defend itself. The shipтАЩs entire armory consisted of rifles, machine guns, and a few
heavier weapons to take care of pesky carnivores. Still, they had one potential weapon onboard that
might prove useful in stopping an alien marauder.

The two craft came on, with the smaller continuing to chew away at the larger. The damage was
beginning to take its toll. Chunks of the prey were being shot off as a cloud of gas and vapor issued forth
from dozens of rips in the hull.

Dan Landon set up the probeтАЩs coordinates himself, not trusting anyone else to do it. As the warship
neared the distance from which it had destroyed Scout Three, Landon keyed the control that would send
the tiny unmanned starship racing for Earth. Except, its target was not Earth this time. Landon sent it
directly toward the alien warship.

Ensign Grandstaff was right. They were far too deep inside the planetтАЩs gravity well for a star drive
generator to remain stable. The message probe disappeared from its launching cradle and moved a
hundred kilometers at superlight velocity. Those few nanoseconds of operation were sufficient to
overload the probeтАЩs generators. They exploded, hurling the probe back into normal space. The excess