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

among those now rushing by him. He recognized Commander Hayes's voice coming through the PA
system.

"All Veritechs report for roll call at Prometheus...All Veritechs report immediately for
roll call at Prometheus...Orange, Blue, and Red squadrons will commence flight preparations on
second-level afterdeck...All remaining squadrons prepare for takeoff from preassigned
locations...Reactor control, bridge requests status report on first and third plasma shields..."

Suddenly Fokker had him by the arm and was propelling him through the hangar, filling his
ears with last-minute instructions and words of advice. He gave Rick a quick embrace when they
were alongside Skull Team's twenty-three and was soon swallowed up in the crowds again.

Rick was assisted into the pilot's crane sling by two techs, who also issued him boots,
gloves, and a "thinking cap"-a sensor-studded helmet that was in some ways an outgrowth of the
Global Civil War "virtual cockpits" and essential for rapport with the mecha.

Rick regarded the plane as he was being lowered into the cockpit module. In Fighter mode,
the mecha was similar in appearance to the supersonic jets of the late twentieth century. But in
actuality, the Veritechs were as different from those as cars were to horse-drawn wagons. The
aliens who had engineered the super dimensional fortress had found a way to animate technological
creations, and working from examples found onboard the SDF-1, Dr. Lang and his Robotechnicians had
been able to fabricate the Veritechs in much the same way-"chips off the old block," as the
scientist called the VTs.

Once inside the cockpit, Rick strapped in and donned the helmet; from this point on he was
mind-linked to the fighter. There were still plenty of manual tasks to perform, but the central
defense capabilities that set the planes apart from their predecessors were directly tied in to
the pilots' mecha-will.

The Veritech was fired up now, reflex engines humming, and cat officers were motioning
Rick forward. He adjusted the helmet and seat straps and goosed the throttle to position the
fighter onto one of the carrier elevators. A second Skull Team VT joined him there.

As the two crafts were lifted to the flight deck, Rick could see the disc of the sun far
off to his left. At the end of the hurricane bow was Saturn, impossibly huge. Commander Hayes was
once again on the PA and tac net.

"This operation will be directed toward the Cassini Quadrant. All squadrons will wait in
the ice fields of the rings for further instructions."

The ice fields of Saturn's rings, Rick repeated to himself.

And he had thought yesterday was bad.




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