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

remember. "

"So have we," Pias muttered, but the others pretended not to hear him.

The Head talked to them for a little while longer, giving them the pertinent details of the
case. He signed off with the Service toast, "Here's to tomorrow, fellows and friends. May
we all live to see it!" He acted as though this were just an ordinary assignment, even
though no case the d'Alemberts and Bavols worked on could be called ordinary.

But this one was special, and all four knew it. For the first time they would be walking
into a trap designed specifically for them; they would need courage, strength, and not a
little luck to escape this particular menace.
Chapter 3
The Trail To C

Captain Paul Fortier of Naval Intelligence hadn't allowed himself the luxury of a six-month
vacation after the attack against Earth on Coronation Day. He'd been offered a long
vacation and an important assignment at Luna Base, but he'd asked that they be
postponed. He'd been in the middle of a long-standing assignment, to destroy the pirate
network, when the emergency to the Empire occurred. Even though he'd dealt
spectacularly with the invasion, he considered his work incomplete. The pirates had been
dispersed and their major operations disbanded, but there were still loose ends to be
wrapped up. He was the person with the most intimate knowledge of the pirates' opera-

tions, having worked undercover in their organization for several years, and so he was
the logical choice to supervise the mopping up. The Imperial Navy, proud of his dedica-

tion, agreed to give him the opportunity.

Under the name "Rocheville," Fortier had worked his way up to being one of pirate leader
Shen Tzu's chief lieutenants. As such, he had detailed information about many of the
people the pirates dealt with on the local level, planet to planet; and much of what he
didn't know was supplied by the pirates' own records when their base was captured.
Now he was set on tracking down those intermediaries, making sure they'd be put away
where they couldn't hurt society again.

The pirate network had been widespread, and Fortier's job was vast. He could not do it
all himself. Instead, he was put in charge of a task force, with five other officers of Naval
Intelligence working under him. The group worked in cooperation with planetary police
forces, and Fortier coordinated the joint effort. He chafed at this; he had joined Naval
Intelligence because he enjoyed the adventure of work in the field, and he hated being
stuck behind a desk. He therefore took every opportunity to get out and do some of the
actual work himself.

When the pirates had been smashed, their contacts, realizing that they would now be
wanted by the law, tried to vanish into the regular criminal underground that existed on
nearly every civilized planet. Some were more successful at this than others. Many of
them had been legitimate businessmen except for their dealings with the pirates, and
weren't familiar with the criminal networks. They were picked up almost immediately. The
tougher ones were those with previous criminal records, with long experience at hiding