"Robert E. Vardeman - Battletech - Mechwarrior - Dark Age 03 - The Ruins Of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vardeman Robert E)

тАЩMech and come to the reality of the simulator cockpit. He unfastened the cooling unit and pushed back,
swinging his legs off the command couch to get circulation back in them after being tensed for so long.

тАЬI knew youтАЩd go with theCenturion , thatтАЩs why. I figured anEnforcer would end the fight fast. I hadnтАЩt
counted on the terrain. Is it for real?тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt know,тАЭ Austin said. тАЬThat was a surprise for me, too.тАЭ He bent over and brought up a
debriefing report on the simulator control screen. тАЬItтАЩs a real place, all right, and weтАЩve practiced on that
template once before, which is why it struck me as familiar. But the computer sim added the open pit
mines and mounds of slag. We need to study our own geography more.тАЭ

тАЬYou can do the studying, little brother,тАЭ Dale said airily. тАЬIтАЩll concentrate on the fun.тАЭ
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тАЬWas it more fun when I got first blood?тАЭ Austin felt a small glow of triumph at this. He usually played it
too conservatively, even in the simulator, and took the first hit.

тАЬYouтАЩre learning from me,тАЭ Dale said. His face lit up, gray eyes sparkling and even teeth showing
through his broad, cheerful grin. A well-trimmed black mustache twitched just a little. It was impossible
for Austin to grow a mustache that looked half as dashing. He had tried. But then, his brother was the
one with the good looks and bright, open manner that drew attention.

Both of them had broken their noses in hand-to-hand training a year ago. DaleтАЩs had mended perfectly
straight while AustinтАЩs had kept a small lump to remind him of the encounter. It had always been that way
between him and his older brother.

тАЬI wish the sim wouldnтАЩt give me so many equipment failures, even before battle. My forward laser went
out.тАЭ Austin regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. He sounded as if he were whining. The
simulation computer randomly chose which equipment to damage and fail, just as it sometimes altered the
terrain. It only seemed that Dale came out ahead on this score each time. Austin reluctantly admitted to
himself Dale won more often because he had better combat instincts.

тАЬDonтАЩt pick such a clunker next time,тАЭ Dale said. тАЬAll my armament worked fine, though the computer
tried to give me an intermittent power surge. I fiddled with it and got the fusion plant settling down into
the black. Easy as . . . taking you down!тАЭ DaleтАЩs pale gray eyes glowed with amusement, taunting Austin.
Austin refused to rise to the fight. тАЬLetтАЩs get out of here. WeтАЩve got places to go and things to do.тАЭ

With an agile twist, Dale ducked out the hatch at the rear of the simulator and went to stow his gear in a
bank of lockers.

Austin powered down the simulator equipment and stretched his long legs. He stood 180 centimeters
but was still 15 centimeters shorter than his older brother. Both had close-cropped black hair, but DaleтАЩs
was thicker, hinting that Austin would eventually end up balding like their father. He left the sim and put
his gear into his storage locker.

He and Dale faced off in computer simulators at least once a week, sometimes more, in spite of their
fatherтАЩs scorn for such practice. Baron Sergio Ortega was Governor of Mirach and had been since the