"The Clouds Of Saturn" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCollum Michael)

AsSparrowHawk came westward, it did not take long for New PhiladelphiaТs massive
flagship to materialize out of the blue haze of distance.Delphi was an
anachronism, a machine from out of another time and place. It was a dirigible, a
giant gasbag half-a-kilometer in length whose whale shape traced its ancestry
back to the earliest flying machines. Large stabilizers sprouted from the
airshipТs stern, while the bow was a blunt curve that sliced the wind with
minimum resistance. Behind the great dirigible roiled a long streamer of
disturbed air that marked the flagshipТs exhaust. Where cargo hatches had once
been, there were now weapons locks, long-range sensors, and sally ports.
Heavier than hydrogen craft likeSparrowHawk had their uses, but eventually, they
had to land. The giant lighter-than-hydrogen dirigibles likeDelphi provided them
with a place to set down. Like the ancient aircraft carriers of Earth, they were
the roving bases from which the smaller craft launched their attacks. However,
like those earlier behemoths, the flagship was a fragile construct. It depended
on its squadrons for protection.
УAttention, All Ships! Enemy craft sighted. Fifteen hundred kilometers at ninety
degrees. All craft form up onAvadon. Prepare to attack!Ф
Lars glanced once at Halley. The voice was that of Commodore Kraken, the Delphi
commander. A flurry of orders came over the command circuit from Dane as the
battle center of the flagship came alive. Lars loopedSparrowHawk well
behindDelphi in order to take his place in the defensive line. There were
twenty-one New Philadelphia craft in all. Eighteen of these were assigned to
intercept the intruders and to drive them back.
УEveryone tied down?Ф he asked over his intercom.
SparrowHawkТs four crewmen checked in. Ross Crandall was attending the shipТs
fire control computer. Brent Garvich and Hume Bailey were at weapons stations,
while Kelvor Reese monitored the shipТs auxiliary systems.
When the squadron defendingDelphi had formed up, they accelerated to two
thousand kilometers per hour. Even at that speed, they had not exceeded sonic
velocity in SaturnТs hydrogen-helium atmosphere.
The two fleets closed to maximum range and began their first cautious probings
of one anotherТs formations. In the thick atmosphere, lasers were limited to
short range. Thus, the sky was filled with missiles as ships launched at their
distant adversaries. Within seconds, individual sparks of light began to appear
as enemy missiles came within laser range and were blotted from the sky.
The two dozen Alliance ships bored in to engage the mixed privateer/Delphi
force. The two fleets interpenetrated. Within seconds, the sky was filled with
twisting, turning ships that stabbed at one another in a deadly dance.
The Alliance drew first blood as they blasted the wing off one of the Delphi
customs craft. Sands watched as the small vessel healed over and began its long
dive toward the invisible hydrogen sea two thousand kilometers below. There was
no fire because there is no oxygen in SaturnТs atmosphere to support combustion.
While he watched, a small object separated from the single seat fighter and grew
into a silver balloon with a tiny figure suspended beneath it.
Assured that the pilot had gotten out, Lars went back to the battle. The next
two craft to take hits belonged to the Alliance. One of their prowlers was
struck amidships by a missile that exploded it. The rain of parts was such that
Sands doubted anyone had survived. The second ship, a larger destroyer, took a
missile in its reactor spaces. The results were less spectacular, but sufficient
to cause it to withdraw.