"Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - Reflex UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

"Yes. We are doing so now." Colvin said.What the hell else could they be doing? But of course Gerry was asking for the recorders.
"What is the enemy ship?"
"The hyperspace wake's just coming into detection range now, Mister Gerry." Colvin studied the screens. Instead of space with the enemy ship black and invisible against the stars, they showed a series of curves and figures, probability estimates, tables whose entries changed even as he watched. "I believe it's a cruiser, same class as ours," Colvin said.
"Even match?" -
"Not exactly," Colvin said. "He'll be carrying interstellar engines. That'll take up room we use for hydrogen. He'll have more mass for his engines to move, and we'll have more fuel. He won't have a lot better armament than we do, either." He studied the probability curves and nodded. "Yeah, that looks about right. \~Jhat they call a 'Planet Class' cruiser."
"How soon before we fight?" Gerry gasped. The acceleration made each word an effort.
"Few minutes to an hour. He's just getting under way after coming out of hyperdrive. Too damn bad he's so far away, we'd have him right if we were a little closer."
"Why weren't we?" Gerry demandecL
"Because the tramline hasn't been plotted," Colvin said. And I'm speaking for the record. Better get it right, and get the sarcasm out of my voice. "I requested survey equipment, but none was available. We were therefore required to plot the Alderson entry point using optics alone. I would be much surprised if -anyone could have made a better estimate using our equipment."
"I see," Gerry said. With an effort he touched the switch that gave him a general intcom circuit. "Spacers of the Republic, your comrades salute you! Freedom!"
"Freedom!" came the response. Colvin didn~t think more -than half the crew had spoken, but it was difficult to tell.
"You all know the importance of this battle," Gerry said. "We defend the back door of the Republic, and we are alone. Many believed we need not be here, that the
Imperials would never find this path to our homes. That ship shows the wisdom of the government."
Had to get that in, didn't you? Colvin chuckled to himself. -Gerry expected to run for office, if he lived through the coming battles.
"The Imperials will never make us slaves! Our cause is just, for we seek only the freedom to be left alone. The Empire will not permit this. They wish to rule the entire universe, forever. Spacers, we fight for liberty!"
Colvin looked across the bridge to the watch officer and lifted an eyebrow. He got a shrug for an answer. Herb nodded. It was hard to tell the effect of a speech. Gerry was said to be good at speaking. He'd talked his way into a junior membership on the Committee of Public Safety that governed the Republic.
A tiny buzz sounded in Colvin's ear. The Executive Officer's station was aft, in an auxiliary control room, where he could take over the ship if something happened to the main bridge. - -
By Republic orders Gerry was to hear everything said by and to the captain during combat, but Gerry didn't know much about ships. Commander Gregory Halleck, Colvin's exe~, had modified the intercom system. Now his voice~c~ш through; the flat nasal twang of New Chicago's outback. "Skipper, why don't he shut up and let us fight?"
"Speech was recorded, Greg," Colvin said. - --
"Ah. He'll play it for the cityworkers," Halleck said. "Tell me, skipper, just what chance have we got?"
"In this battle? Pretty good."
"Yeah. Wish I was so sure about the war."
- "Scared, Greg?" -"A little. How can we win?"
"We can't beat the Empire," Colvin said. "Not if they bring- their whole fleet in here. But if we can win a couple of battles, the Empire'll have to pull back. They can't strip all their ships out of other areas. Too many enemies. Time's on our side, if we can buy some."
"Yeah. Way I see it, too. Guess it's worth it. Back to work."
It had to be worth it, Colvin thought. It just didn't make sense to put the whole human race under one government.
Some day they'd get a really bad Emperor. Or three Emperors all claiming the throne at once. Better to put a stop to this now, rather than leave the problem to their grandchildren.
The phones buzzed again. "Better take a good look, skipper," Halleck said. "I think we got problems."
The screens flashed as new information flowed. Colvin touched рther buttons in his chair arm. Lt. Susack's face swam onto one screen. "Make a signal to the fleet," Colvin said. "That thing's bigger than we thought. This could be one hell of a battle."
"Aye aye," Susack said. "But we can handle it."
"Sure," Colvin said. He stared at the updated information and frowned.
"What is out there, Captain?" Gerry asked. "Is there reason for concern?"
"There could be," Colvin said. "Mister Gerry, that is an Imperial battle cruiser. 'General' class, I'd say." As he told the political officer, Colvin felt a cold pit in his guts.
"And what does that mean?"
"It's one of their best," Colvin said. "About as fast as we are. More armor, more weapons, more fuel. We've got a fight on our hands."


"Launch observation boats. Prepare to engage," Colvin ordered. Although he couldn't see it, the Imperial ship was prObably doing the same thing. Qbservation boats didn't carry much for weapons, but their observations could be invaluable when the engagement
began. - --
"You don't sound confident," Gerry said.
Colvin checked- his intercom switches. No one could
hear him but Gerry. "I'm not," he said. "Look, however
you cut it, if there's an advantage that ship's got it. Their
crew's had a chance to recover from their hyperspace -
trip, too." If we'd had the right equipment-No use -
thinking about that. - -
"What if it gets past us?"
"Enough ships might knock it out, especially if we can damage it, but there's no single ship in our fleet -that can fight that thing one-on-one and expect to win."
He-paused to let that sink in.
"Including us." -