"Robert Thurston - Falcon Guard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Thurston Robert)

while trapped in the cockpit of her 'Mech, which was exactly where she was at
this moment. The Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere had been going on for nine
months now, and Joanna had just been assigned as a replacement to the Falcon
Guards. Almost immediately after she had reported to the Cluster commander,
Star Colonel Adler Malthus, the Cluster had been ordered to defend against an
Inner Sphere counterattack on theplanet Twycross.

The Falcon Guards had been traversing a pass called the Great Gash, when a
single, battered Inner Sphere Hatchetman crested the ridge line. The
BattleMech pilot identified himself as Kai Allard-Liao and issued a clumsy
batchall for the pass. The enemy's bravery was admirable, but Star Colonel
Adler Malthus went too far. Instead of simply refusing to grant Clan-warrior
status to an Inner Sphere MechWarrior, he halted the Cluster's advance, and
went out to finish off the Inner Sphere warrior alone. Star Colonel Malthus
advanced and raised the arms of his Summoner to smash the Gash's defender into
rubble, but before the blow could land, the Hatchetman exploded.

As though in sympathy, the Great Gash itself blew apart, sending rocks and
dirt spouting and flying, boulders bouncing off the surface of Joanna's
Hellbringer with a horrible clanging that nearly deafened her. Then another
nearby *Mech exploded, and before Joanna knew what had happened, she was
staring through her viewport at a wall of geological debris. With enough air
trapped in the Hell-bringer's cockpit to keep her going for awhile, she kept
her panic at bay, using the 'Mech's still-functional computer to calculate the
compartment's volume plus the amount of air that might still remain in the
circulation system. It looked like it might be enough to survive for at least
fifteen minutes, perhaps more. Who could be sure?

FALCON GUARD 9

When it came to survival, the human organism sometimes went beyond its own
limitations. Perhaps she had even more precious moments than she estimated.

Joanna briefly considered using some of the deep' concentration techniques she
had learned during warrior training so long ago. By slowing her breathing
profoundly, she might be able to remain alive even longer. Then she decided to
hell with it. She needed her wits about her and did not particularly want to
sink into some deep meditative funk. What she needed now was to keep her mind
busy enough to figure a way out of here.

With so much of her Hellbringer apparently still operational, Joanna thought
that perhaps she might still accomplish some miracle. Was she not a warrior,
the product of a scientific program that engineered the production of superior
humans by mating only the most superior genes? Add to that the abilities of
the massive piece of fighting machinery called a BattleMechтАФand who knew what
might be possible? Joanna had neither much faith nor liking for humanity in
general, but she had confidence to spare in herself. As for 'MechsтАФshe
respected them to the point of reverence.

She tried her communications system, which produced plenty of crackle and