"Marc Stiegler - David's Sling" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stiegler Marc)

DAVID'S SUNG 9

Nell spoke with dry, scientific precision. "They hit the
Bradley with a shaped charge. The penetrating explosion
hit the ammunition magazine. The brightness of the explo-
sion severely damaged our gun camera; the rest of this
tape has been computer enhanced."

The whiteout of the screen faded; a ghostly soft image
replaced it. Men scurried into the jungle as the second
Bradley disgorged its troops. The computer enhancement
kept the soldiers visible to Mayfield's untrained eye, though
he suspected that without the computer's intervention,
they would have disappeared in the heavy foliage. They all
looked like Honduran troops.

One Caucasian stood out by virtue of his uniform and
his pale blue eyes. He took off with astonishing speed,
loping over the fallen trees, hurrying away from the oth-
ers. Tie camera lurched as another explosion sounded,
muted, but somehow closer. A sound he had not noticed
before stoppedтАФthe sound of an engine thrumming. He
could not see it, but Mayfield realized that the Bradley
from which they watched the scene had been hit, though
the camera continued to roll.

The focus shifted to another ragged cluster of men with
machine guns, beyond the burning Bradley. Their seem-
ingly random pattern proved quite methodical. They en-
gaged the scattered Honduran troops one handful at a
time, overwhelming them piecemeal.

Something seemed wrong with this battle. Mayfield asked,
"Where's our air cover?"

"Our helicopters are old and tired, Jim. They're too
dangerous to use in battle."

"What about artillery support?"

"We were using our newest radios for communication.
They're very delicate, it turns outтАФoh, the boxes are
mil-spec and indestructible, but their frequencies wobble
and they get out of tune all the time. So nobody heard
about the ambush until it was over." She paused, then
ended. "I asked Kurt about it at the reception. He didn't
exactly answer me; I suspect he couldn't say what he
wanted to in civilized company. Instead he very po-
litely told me that he was getting out of the armyтАФthat he
intended to get as far away from it as he could go."