"Smith, E E Doc - d'Alembert 8 - Eclipsing Binaries" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

imposters, but it wouldn't make your job very easy. If we gave you new codenames,
there's no guarantee the conspiracy wouldn't learn them and pull the same trick over
again.

"Or we could take a middle tack by saying that orders from Wombat and Periwinkle need
not be obeyed unquestioningly. We could either circulate your description or make the
local branches more reluctant to give you assistance-but that would hamper your
activities. Any of these choices would end up restricting your effectiveness in some way
that could only benefit the conspiracy."

"There's another solution," Yvette said. "You could send us out to get them. We're the
only agents who wouldn't be fooled because we know who the real Wombat and
Periwinkle are."

The Head sighed. "Yes, that thought occurred to me, too. But that's exactly what Lady A
wants. Just look at the pattern. Each of the three systems hit so far is about ten parsecs
away from the previous one along a straight line. The events are spaced exactly
twenty-six days apart, and the method is the same in each case. It's ridiculously easy to
predict where, when, and how they will strike next. They might as well put up a gigantic
sign advertising themselves. And they know that only the real Wombat and Periwinkle
could challenge their impostors without hesitation. They'll be waiting for you."

"In a way," Jules said, "it's flattering to think they'd go to so much trouble just for us."

"I could do very nicely without such flattery," his sister commented. "Particularly when I
think we're indirectly responsible for the deaths of fifty-three of our fellow agents. If it
weren't for the system established to help us, they'd still be alive today."

"There you have it," von Wilmenhorst said. "I admit to being in a bit of a quandary. I know
what I'd like to do-but I hate playing into that woman's hands. I'd like your opinions on
this matter; it could affect either your jobs or your lives."

"In large measure," Yvette said, "our jobs are our lives. I can't speak for Jules, but I don't
want to give in to sneaky blackmail like this."

"You can speak for me, and very well," Jules said. "I agree completely. We have to
prove to Lady A and her mokoes that they can't laugh in our faces. They manipulated us
badly on our last encounter, we can't let them do that again."

"But isn't that exactly what they are doing?" Pias pointed out. "Don't you think they're
counting on our pride to make us come straight to them?"

"Pias is right," the Head said. "I think that's exactly what they're banking on. They know
our reactions entirely too well and they're setting us up."

"Still," Yvette said, "as you yourself admitted, what other choice do we have? If we give
in here, they'll only put pressure on us somewhere else. They'll push us back and back
until we have no farther to go. If the line is going to be drawn at all, we might as well
draw it now. "Besides," she added, "they may force the direction we're going in, but they
can't always guess how fast or how far we'll go. Lady A has miscalculated before,