"Christopher Pike - The Immortal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pike Christopher)

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CHRISTOPHER PIKE

the war. This is the setting when we meet our main character.

"His name is David Herrick. He's an ace pilot for the System--the name I have given to the collection of
human-inhabited planets. Much of the fighting in this war is carried out in small one-man spaceships. I am
going on the theory that in the future our offensive weapons will be stronger than our defensive abilities.
To give an example: I don't think we'll be able to 'raise shields' against the weapons that will be
developed. I believe a small vehicle will be able to deliver almost as much damage to a planet as a larger
one, and there will be little protection against attack. Therefore, I have thousands of one-man fighters up
against the aliens rather than a few huge starships. Do you follow?"

"Yes," I said. "It's logical. Go on."

"David Herrick is one of the best pilots the System has. Although young--in his early thirties--he's been
on many successful raids against the aliens. He is cunning, resourceful, and brave--all the best qualities
you'd want in a hero. But one thing about these pilots--they are all marked men. Inevitably they will--if
they continue to be pilots--be killed. The System trains thousands of them, and thousands of them die
each year. David has lived longer than most.

"The movie starts with David being called in by his superiors. The System has captured, for the first time,
an alien ship. Better than that, they have captured the two aliens who were commanding the vehicle.
Through an intensive process of torture and brain-

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THE IMMORTAL

washing, they have broken one of the aliens--the female. The other one died in captivity. From the alien
female, they have learned where the alien home planet is located. The world is heavily guarded, of
course, but the military intelligence of the System believes that they can use the alien ship, and the alien
herself, to sneak into the alien solar system, set a bomb on the home world, and escape. They feel that if
they can destroy the alien home world, they will break the backbone of the enemy, and the war will be
over.

"The System has chosen David to lead this expedition. It is extremely dangerous. The chance that he will
be found out before he can reach the home world of the aliens is high. There is even a possibility he will
be captured and tortured. But David doesn't think it's likely. He'd die before he'd allow himself to be
taken prisoner. In many ways David is well suited for the mission. You see, Josie, he has recently learned
his wife is leaving him for another man.

"David's wife is named Jessica. We meet her in a series of flashbacks as the movie progresses. At first
the flashbacks are pleasant. We see David and Jessica going for long walks along wine-colored canals,
beneath brilliant starry skies. But then we see how their marriage suffers under the strain of David's
career. Each time David leaves on a mission, Jessica has to accept the fact he may not return. Jessica
knows it is only a matter of time before he is killed. So her love is intense, but also painful.

"But at the start we don't know all this. We only know that David is eager to go on the mission, that he
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