"Ben Weaver - Brothers in Arms 03 - Patriots in Arms" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weaver Ben)

routine flight. They call this news?тАЭ

тАЬAs long as they stay out of our zone, they have a right to be out there,тАЭ I said. тАЬAnd Bren, are you all
right?тАЭ

тАЬFine, sir.тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt believe you.тАЭ My tablet beeped. I withdrew the small computer from my seat pocket, keyed it
on.

My executive assistant, Davyd Marke, gaped breathlessly at me from his desk in the capitol building.
тАЬSir, IтАЩm, uh, IтАЩm afraid I have some bad news.тАЭ

Bren and the others leaned in, trying to catch a glimpse of my screen. I gave Bren a look, then activated
my communications tac to take the call privately. Once my head was enveloped in the skinтАЩs energy and
the image of Davyd appeared in the Heads Up, I asked, тАЬWhatтАЩs going on?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs justтАжI canтАЩt believe itтАжitтАЩs insaneтАжтАЭ

Davyd, fifty-two, a man who had spent his entire adult life working in colonial politics, had been with me
for two years, and during all of that time I had never seen him as agitated.

тАЬReport!тАЭ I boomed.

тАЬSir, less than a minute ago, thirty-nine capital cruisers from Earth tawted into orbit. TheyтАЩre setting up a
blockade.тАЭ

I sat there a moment, playing out every reason I could conjure why the alliances would do such a thing. I
was en route to Rexicity to put an end to the their treaty violations by suggesting four strategic
compromises. For nearly six months, Terran corporations like Inte-Micro and Exxo-Tally had been
holding the colonial tech market hostage by jacking up prices on tawt drive systems and navigational
equipment vital to space travel. Many of the Sol colonies like Mars and those on the moons of Jupiter
refused to charge the higher prices, and the Alliances had threatened their own people with military
action, the same way they had threatened the extrasolar colonies when we had expressed our desire to
break away to form our own alliance. Because it was in our best interest to do business with Mars and
Jupiter, we saw their fight as our own, and had even offered them membership in the Colonial Alliance.

тАЬSir, did you hear what I said?тАЭ Davyd asked.

I blinked hard. тАЬYes, I did. I assume the president has been contacted?тАЭ

тАЬSheтАЩs on the line.тАЭ

тАЬPut her through.тАЭ

Although my primary duty as security chief was to serve as liaison between the joint chiefs of the
Colonial Alliance, the president, and the colonial congress, President Armalda Vinnery had asked me to
deal directly with the Eastern and Western alliance security chiefs. In years past, President Vinnery would
have met personally with them and with the presidents of both alliances, but given the many recent
attempts on her lifeтАФthree in just the past yearтАФshe chose to negotiate via satnet from her mobile