"David Weber & Steve White - Starfire 4 - Shiva Option" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

appearance, for she was tall and slender, her hair held a reddish glint in its midnight depths,
and her eyes, despite a perceptible epicanthic fold, were hazel-green. But any ambivalence in
her background was unimportant. What mattered was her professional competence, and as to
that there was no uncertainty at all.
тАЬThatтАЩs true, Sir,тАЭ she replied to Kabilovic. тАЬIтАЩm firmly convinced that the Bug force that
attacked us entered one of the star systems through which weтАЩd already passedтАФor, to be
precise, one of the warp nexi, with or without a star systemтАФrather than the one in which
they attacked us. We werenтАЩt aware of their entry because of our lack of coverage of those
nexi, even with nav buoys.тАЭ
It could have been interpreted as a veiled criticism of SommersтАЩ decision not to emplace
such buoys, since their absence meant it was impossible for any courier drone to find its way
home with word of the flotillaтАЩs fate. But emplacing them would also have been a tell-tale trail
of bread crumbs for any Arachnid picket or survey force which had chanced upon them, and
the lieutenantтАЩs odd eyes met the admiralтАЩs squarely. Looking into them, Sommers detected
nothing behind the words except a junior officer gutsy enough to say what she thought even
at the risk of misinterpretation. What she did detect was a desire on MurakumaтАЩs part to say
more, to go beyond the expert opinion Kabilovic had solicited.
тАЬDo you care to theorize any further, Lieutenant?тАЭ she inquired, clearing the way for
Murakuma to speak up in the presence of her superiors.
тАЬWell, Sir . . . May I?тАЭ Murakuma indicated the holographic display projector at the center
of the conference table. Sommers nodded, and the lieutenant manipulated controls. A series
of colored balls connected by sticks, rather like a very simplified representation of a molecule,
appeared in midair: warp nexi and the warp lines that connected them. There were nine of
the immaterial spheres, and everyone present recognized the display as SF 19тАЩs route. It had,
of course, no relation whatsoever to those various starsтАЩ relative positions and distances in
real-space. Nobody except astronomers thought in such terms when the warp points allowed
interstellar transits without crossing the intervening light-years.
тАЬWe began here,тАЭ Murakuma began, using a light-pencil to indicate the ball representing
the Anderson One system. Then she flashed the immaterial pointer four balls further along
the string. тАЬAnd hereтАЩs where they attacked us. When they appeared, they didnтАЩt give the
impression of a force that had just piled into the system and was still in the process of getting
itself organized. ThatтАЩs why I believe they entered a closed warp point in one of the
intervening warp nexi.тАЭ She created the broken strings that denoted warp lines leading to
closed warp points, indicating hypothetical routes into the three nexi theyтАЩd transited before
the Bugs had overtaken them.
тАЬPrecisely,тАЭ Kabilovic said with a satisfied nod, but Murakuma wasnтАЩt finished.
тАЬBut the question then becomes,тАЭ she went on, тАЬwhy did they wait so long to attack us?тАЭ
тАЬWell,тАЭ Hafezi ruminated, running his fingers through his beard in a nervous gesture heтАЩd
only recently acquired, тАЬwe were operating in cloak. Even if they were aware of our presence
in a general way, maybe they took a long time to locate us precisely.тАЭ
тАЬBut, Sir,тАЭ Murakuma persisted, тАЬit wouldnтАЩt have taken them long to do that if theyтАЩd come
out of cloak themselves to hunt aggressively for us. Maybe they were unwilling to do so.тАЭ
тАЬWhy?тАЭ Sommers demanded.
тАЬWell, Admiral, if weтАЩd become aware that there were Bugs in this warp chain, wouldnтАЩt
our first order of business have been to get at least one ship back with the warning? And with
them out of cloak, we might have detected them soon enough to do just that. So it could
make perfectly good sense to them to stay cloaked to keep us from doing that. But,тАЭ
Murakuma continued relentlessly into what had become a profound silence, тАЬwhy did they
suddenly stop worrying about it?тАЭ
She made further adjustments, expanding her display to include the warp line of the far