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

"Including us. I didn't know there was a battle cruiser anywhere in the trans-Coalsack region." -
"Interesting implications," Gerry said. -
"Yeah. They've brought one of their best ships. Not
only that, they took the trouble to find a back way. Two -
new Alderson tramlines. From the red dwarf to us, and a
way into the red dwarf." -
"Seems they're determined." Gerry paused a moment. "The Committee was constructing planetary defenses when we lifted out."
"They may need them. Excuse me. - ." Colvin cut the circuit and concentrated on his battle screens.
The master computer flashed a -series of maneuver strategies, each with the odds for success if adopted. The probabilities were only a computer's judgment,
---however. Over there in the Imperial ship was an experienced human captain who'd do his best to thwart those odds while Colvin did the same. Game theory and computers rarely consider all the possibilities a human brain can conceive.
The cqrr~puter recommended full retreat and sacrifice of the observation boats-and at that gave only an even chance for Defiant. Colvin studied the board. "ENGAGE CLOSELY," he said.
The computer wiped the other alternatives and flashed a series of new choices. Colvin chose. Again and again this happened until the ship's brain knew exactly what her human master wanted, but long before the dialogue was completed the ship - accelerated to action, spewing torpedoes from her ports to send H-bombs on random evasion courses toward the enemy. Tiny lasers reached out toward enemy torpedoes, filling space with softly glowing threads of bright color.
Defiant leaped toward her enemy, her photon cannons pouring out energy to wash over the Imperial ship. "Keep it up, keep it up," Colvin chanted to himself. If the enemy could be blinded, her antennas destroyed so that her crew couldn't see out through her Langston Field to locate Defiant, the battle would be Over.
- Halleck's outback twang came through the earphones. "Looking good, boss."
"Yeah." The very savagery of unexpected attack by a smaller vessel had taken the enemy by surprise. Just maybe- A blaze of white struck Defiant to send her screens up into the orange, tottering towards yellow for an instant. In that second Defiant was as blind as the enemy, every sensor outside the Field vaporized. Her boats were still there, though, still sending data on the enemy's position,
still guiding torpedoes. - -
"Bridge, this is damage control." -
"Yeah, Greg."
"Hulled in main memory bank area. I'm getting replacement elements in, but you better go to secondary
computer for a while." - -
"Already done."
"Good. Got a couple other problems, but I can handle them."
"Have at it." Screens were coming back on line. More sensor clusters were being poked through the Langston Field on~stalks. Colvin touched buttons in his chair arm. "Communications. Get number three boat in closer."
"Ackrfowledged."
The Imperial ship took evasive action. She would cut acceleration for a moment, turn slightly, then accelerate again, with constantly changing drive power. Colvin shook his head. "He's got an iron crew," he muttered to Halleck. "They must be getting the guts shook out- of them."
Another blast rocked Defiant. A torpedo had penetrated her defensive fire to explode somewhere near the hull. The Langston Field, opaque to radiant energy, was able to absorb and redistribute the energy evenly throughout the Field; but at cost. There had been an overload at the place nearest the bomb: energy flaring inward. The Langston Field was a spaceship's true hull. Its skin was only metal, designed only to hold pressure. Breech it and- -
"Hulled again aft of number two torpedo room," Halleck reported. "Spare parts, and the messroom brain. We'll eat basic prqtocarb for a while."
"If we eat at all." Why the hell weren't they getting more hits on the enemy? He could see the Imperial ship on his screens, in the view from number two boat. Her
field glowed orange, wavering to yellow, and there were two deep purple spots, probably burnthroughs. No way to tell what lay under those areas. Colvin hoped it was something vital. - -
His own Field was yellow tinged with green. Pastel lines jumped between the two ships. After this was over, there would be time to remember just how pretty a space battle was. The screens flared, and his odds for success dropped again, but he couldn't trust the computer anyway. He'd lost number three boat, and number one had ceased reporting.
The enemy ship flared again as Defiant scored a hit, then
-another. The Imperial's screens turned yellow, then green; as they cooled back toward red another hit sent them through green to blue. "Torps!" Colvin shouted, but the master cdmputer had already done it. A stream of tiny shapes flashed toward the blinded enemy.
"Pour it on!" Colvin screamed. "Everything we've got!" If they could keep the enemy blind, keep him from finding Defiant while they poured energy into his Field, they could keep his screens hot enough until torpedoes could get through. Enough torpedoes would finish the
job. "Poui, it~on!" - - -
The -Imperiat ship was almost beyond the blue, creeping tow~~ ~ard the violet. "By God we may have him!" Colvin shouted.
The enemy maneuvered again, but the bright rays of Defiant's lasers followed, pinning the glowing ship against the star background. Then the screens went blank.
Colvin frantically pounded- buttons. Nothing happened. Defiant was blind. "Eyes! How'd he hit us?" he demanded.
"Don't know." Susack's voice was edged -with fear. "Skipper, we've got problems with the detectors. I sent a party out but they haven't reported-"
Halleck came on. "Imperial boat got close and hit us with torps." -
Blind. Colvin watched his screen color indicators. Bright orange and yellow, with a green tint already visible. Acceleration warnings hooted through the ship as Colvin ordered random evasive action. The enemy would be blind too. Now it was a question of who could
see first. "Get me some eyes." he said. He was surprised at how calm his voice was.
"Working on it," Halleck said. "I've got minimal sight back here. Maybe I can locate him."
"Take over gun direction," Colvin said. "What's with the computer?"
"I'm not getting damage reports from that area," Halleck said. "I have men out trying to restore internal communications, and another party's putting out antennas-only nobody really wants to go out to the hull edge and work, you know."
"Wants!" Colvin controlled blind rage. Who cared what the crew wanted? His ship was in danger!
Acceleration and jolt warnings sounded continuously as Defiant continued evasive maneuvers. Jolt, acceleration, stop, turn, jolt- "He's hitting us again~" Susack sounded scared. "Greg?" Colvin demanded. "I'm losing him. Take over, skipper." Defiant writhed like a beetle on a pin as the deadly fire followed her through maneuvers. The damage reports came as ~ deadly litany. "Partial collapse, after auxiliary engine room destroyed. Hulled in three places in number five tankage area, hydrogen leaking to space. Hulled in the after recreation room."
The screens were electric blue when the computer cut the drives. Defiant was dead in space. She was moving at more than a hundred kilometers per second, but she couldn't accelerate.
"See anything yet?" Colvin asked. -
"In a second," Halleck replied. "There. Wups. Antenna didn't last half a second. He's yellow. Out there on our port quarter and pouring it on. Want me to swing the main drive in that direction? We might hit him with that."
Colvin examined his screens. "No. We can't spare the power." He watched a moment more, then swept his hand across a line of buttons.