"02 - Battle Cry" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinney Jack)

"You looked good up there, Rick. Keep it up."
Rick grunted, removed his helmet, and kept walking, increasing his pace.
Roy caught up with him again. "You can't let it get you down, kid. We sent them home, didn't we?"
Rick turned and confronted his friend. "If you believe that, you're a bigger idiot than I am, Roy."
Roy draped his arm around Rick's shoulders and leaned in. "Listen to me. You're beat. We all are. Get yourself into town after the debriefing. I'm sure Minmei would like to see you."
"That would be a surprise," Rick said, and stormed off.

Monorail lines now ran from the Prometheus and Daedalus arms into Macross. A central monorail line ran through the body of the fortress, through enormous interior holds originally meant for creatures ten times human scale-a vast forbidden zone only a portion of which was understood by Dr. Lang's teams of scientists-and through that area where Rick and Minmei had passed two weeks together deep beneath the present streets of the city.
Each passing day brought changes here. There was even talk of using EVE, enhanced video emulation, to bring sunrise and sunset, blue skies and clouds, to the place. Already there was a grid of streets, carefully arranged according to the dictates of the modular transformation schematic, multiple-storied dwellings, shops and restaurants, a central marketplace, even a few banks and a post office.
The city went on living through the war, almost oblivious to it except when energy drains through diversion led to power shortages or when the enemy fighters and Battlepods scored direct hits. Even the ubiquitous uniforms didn't signal war-uniforms were worn by everyone to denote job and detail, a carryover from the island where most of these same people had been connected in one way or another to the reconstruction of the SDF-1. A public address system kept the residents of the city informed about the ship's course through the solar system but was seldom used to report accurate battle results. In fact, it was speaking to the population now, as Rick meandered in vague fashion toward the Chinese restaurant, hoping for an accidental encounter with Minmei. Passersby paid the message little mind, but it caught him off guard.
"News from the bridge: We have been attacked by one hundred twenty enemy pods, but our first, fourth, and seventh fighter squadrons have succeeded in completely destroying them. Our casualties have been light, and our astrogational system has not been affected. That is all."
Incredible! Rick thought. He was looking around for someone to talk to, someone he could grab by the lapels and awaken with the truth, when an arm caught hold of his. He turned and found himself looking into Minmei's blue eyes.
"Hello, stranger," she said. "I've been worried about you."
She embraced him like a brother.
He had rehearsed how he was going to play this, but standing here with her now, the half-truths from the bridge echoing inside him, he just wanted to hold and protect her. But he managed to keep some distance, and she caught his mood.
He explained about the announcement. "It wasn't true, Minmei. They're misleading everyone. We didn't hit half of them, and our losses were-"
She put a finger to his lips and looked around. "I don't think it's a good idea to talk about this here, Rick."
He broke from her hold. "Listen, Minmei-"
"Besides, everyone's doing all they can for the war effort, and I don't think you'll accomplish anything by getting them-or me-depressed. Especially with my birthday right around the corner."
He could only stare at her and wonder where her mind was, but she was way ahead of him already. She smiled and took hold of his arm.
"Come on, Rick. Let's get something to eat. Please?"
He gave in. How could he make her understand how it was out there? In here she was doing what they all were: going on with life as if nothing had happened, as if this were home, as if there were a wonderfully blue ocean just over that rise. As if there were no war out there.

On the bridge of the SDF-1 there was little else but war to talk or think about.
Captain Gloval removed his cap and ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. What were the aliens planning now? Obviously their constant attacks were not meant to turn the tide but to wear him down, perhaps in the hope that the SDF-1 would be surrendered. The attacks were like sparring matches; it was as if the enemy was feeling him out, trying to gain some insight into his tactics. Psychological warfare conducted with an inexhaustible supply of ships and no regard for the pilots who flew them. Gloval wondered what his counterpart might look like, what kind of being he was. He recalled the video warning the fortress had broadcast to his small band of explorers some ten years ago...One thing was becoming clear: The aliens did not want to damage the SDF-1. They hoped to recapture it intact.
The attacks had thrown them drastically off course, and although closing in on Earth's orbit, they had months of travel ahead of them.
Gloval asked for information about the aliens' retreat. The only thing Claudia and Lisa could be certain of was that there were no longer any traces of enemy pods on the radar screens. Gloval was pondering this when Kim Young announced that incoming data was being received on one of the open frequencies.
Gloval stepped down from his chair and walked over to take a look at the transmissions.
"...`If mice could swim,"' he read, " `they would float with the tide and play with the fish. Down by the seaside, the cats on the shore would quickly agree...' What is this nonsense? Where is it coming from?"
Vanessa Leeds tapped in a set of requests and swiveled in her seat to study a secondary monitor. In a moment she had the answer. "A transmitter located sixteen degrees off our current course."
"That would put it at Sara Base on Mars!" said Claudia.
Lisa Hayes turned from her post in a start. "What?! That's impossible! Are you certain of those readings?"
"Sara Base is deserted," said Gloval. "All life there was wiped out during the war. It just can't be."
Lisa and Claudia exchanged a conspiratorial look.
"No, Lisa," said Claudia. "Don't get your hopes up."
"Why couldn't there be survivors?" Lisa said excitedly. She turned to Gloval. "Isn't it possible, sir?"
Gloval crossed his arms, "I don't see how, but it was a pretty big base, and I suppose anything is possible. We've all seen enough lately to convince me of that."
"We have secondary confirmation on the origin of the transmissions, sir. The origin is definitely Sara."
Claudia said, "Perhaps we should check it out, Captain. It would only mean a minor deviation in our course." Again she and Lisa exchanged looks.
Gloval returned to his chair. He thought it unlikely that there were survivors on the base. And the possibility of an enemy trap had to be considered. But there were no radar indications of activity in the area, and the risk presented by a landing would certainly be justified if they could manage to replenish their rapidly diminishing supplies. It would be the last chance until Earthspace, and who knew when that might be. If that would be...
Gloval turned to his crew.
"How badly hurt are we?"
Vanessa responded, "Astrogation and engineering sections report limited damage only, sir."
"All right," said Gloval. "Change course and head for Mars."


CHAPTER FIVE
The destruction of Sara Base on Mars was in some ways typical of the setbacks experienced by the newly formed World Unification Alliance, the unfortunate result of suspicion, misinformation, and manipulation by an unnamed collective of separatist factions. That the Northeast Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere could be so easily duped into believing the base a military installation was all the more cause for concern. But more than that, the attack upon the base marked the first instance that humankind had taken warfare off the planet and brought it to the stars.
Malachi Cain, Prelude to Doomsday: A History of the Global Civil War