"David Weber & Linda Evans - Bolos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

Neither Lewis Liffey nor Kelly McTavish spoke for long moments.
Lewis finally said, тАЬThe longer we go without communications, the
deeper we plunge into what is going to be Enemy territory. If we wait
too long, a communications blackout may be a blessing. That thing that
hit us couldтАЩve killed us. Instead it knocked out key systems and left us
to blunder on our way, crippled. If we continue to play dead . . .тАЭ
Tillie drew a shuddering breath. тАЬYes. Hognose,тАЭ she nodded.
 Lewis LiffeyтАЩs faceplate swung sharply toward the video pickup.
тАЬWhat?тАЭ
Tillie wondered why her face hurt, until she realized she was smiling.
тАЬHognose snakes. Old Earth reptiles. TheyтАЩd play dead. You know, roll
belly up even if you flipped тАЩem right side over. It was a fairly decent
survival trait.тАЭ
Lewis LiffeyтАЩs short, bitter laugh startled her. тАЬHognose. ThatтАЩs good.
IтАЩll remember that. Okay, we collar Saros, stat. Kelly, IтАЩm getting the
hell out of here.тАЭ
TheyтАЩd had to rig a lifeline out an airlock so Lewis could spacewalk
forward to the blown Command Module to try fixing the SWIFT
transmitter/receiver assembly. Lewis pulled himself back along it now,
hand over hand, climbing through a gaping hole in the hull and
disappearing beyond the video lensтАЩ range. Tillie gripped her hands
tightly until he reached the airlock and safety. When she knew he was
back aboard, she called Saros on the intership link and asked him to
please join the crew in the wardroom.

I am occupied repairing a split irrigation pipe when I detect a scan of
my position from orbit. I monitor orbital activity. At the extreme range of
my sensors, I am able to detect seventeen ships of Concordiat battle
cruiser size, but of unknown configuration. Sixteen vanish into FTL
mode, destination unknown. A single ship enters geo-sync above the
colony and sends a transmission I am unable to decipher.
Sensors track the arrival of small, mechanized ships streaking into
atmosphere from the vessel in geo-sync. These ships land inside the
colony perimeter. My Battle Reflex Alert circuitry triggers Enemy
Proximity Alarms. I abandon work on the irrigation system and move
toward the colonyтАЩs administrative complex.
I follow the access road through the test plots of sweet and field corn.
Sensors indicate six vessels of unknown configuration. They ring the
Administrative Complex. As I monitor activity, an unknown life form
emerges. I scan my data banks for comparative species. My data files
contain physiological profiles of all known Terrestrial and alien
agricultural pest species. The invader does not fit the physiological
profile of known nematodes. It is not a member of phylum arthropoda,
therefore it cannot be an unknown form of beetle, weevil, leaf miner,
grasshopper, or termite. It is not a larval predator. It is not a bird
species. It possesses no mammalian hair, although its physiological
characteristics cause me to pause momentarily over all entries of rodent
species.
It is larger than the Terran hamster, which is known to strip
grainfields in the Asian region of Old Terra. It shares a number of