"David Weber - Fifth Imperium 02 - The Armageddon Inheritance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

Tsien waited deliberately for his "hosts" to find seats first, then sat and laid his briefcase nearly on the
table. Hatcher knew Frederick and Vassily were right in insisting that he, as the sole charter member of
Earth's new Supreme Chiefs of Staff with no prior connection to the Imperials, must serve as their chief,
but he wished he could disagree. This hard-faced, silent man was the most powerful single serving
military officer on the planet, critical to their success, and he did notтАФto say the leastтАФlook cheerful.

"Marshal," Hatcher said finally, "we asked you to meet us so that we could speak without theтАж pressure
of a civilian presenceтАФyours or ours. We wont ask you to strike any'deals' behind your leaders' backs,
but there are certain pragmatic realities we must all race. In that regard, we appreciate the difficulties of
your position. We hopeтАФ" he looked levelly into the dark, unreadable eyes "тАФthat you appreciate ours,
as well."

"I appreciate," Tsien said, "that my government and others which it is pledged to defend have been issued
an ultimatum."

Hatcher hid a wince. The marshals precise, accentless English made his almost toneless words even more
unpromising, but they also showed him one possible approach, and he reached for it before prudence
could change his mind.

"Very well, Marshal Tsien, I'll accept your terminology. In fact, I agree with your interpretation.'' He
thought he saw a flicker of surprise and continued evenly. "But we're military men. We know what can
happen if that ultimatum is rejected, and, I hope, we're also all realists enough to accept the truth,
however unpalatable, and do our best to live with it."

"Your pardon, General Hatcher," Tsien said, "but your countries' truth seems somewhat more palatable
than that which you offer mine or our allies. Our Asian allies. I see here an American, a ConEuropean, a
RussianтАФI do not see a Chinese, a Korean, an Indian, a Thai, a Cambodian, a Malaysian. I do not even
see one of your own Japanese." He shrugged eloquently.

"No, you don'tтАФyet," Hatcher said quietly, and Tsien's eyes sharpened. "However, General Tama, Chief
of the Imperial Japanese Staff, will be joining us as soon as he can hand over his present duties. So will
Vice Admiral Hawter of the Royal Australian Navy. It is our hope that you, too, will join us, and that you
will nominate three additional members of this body."

"Three?" Tsien frowned slightly. This was more than he had expected. It would mean four members from
the Alliance against only five from the Western powers. But was it enough? He rubbed the tabletop with
a thoughtful finger. That is scarcely an equitable distribution in light of the populations involved, and
yetтАФтАФ"

His voice trailed off, and Hatcher edged into the possible opening.
"If you will consider the nations the men I mentioned represent, I believe you'll be forced to admit that the
representation is not inequitable in light of the actual balance of military power." He met Tsien's eyes
again, hoping the other could see the sincerity in his own. The marshal didn't agree, but neither did he
disagree, and Hatcher went on deliberately.

I might also remind you, Marshal Tsien, that you do not and will not see any representative of the
extreme Islamic blocs here, nor any First World hard-liners. You say we represent Western Powers, and
so, by birth, we do. But we sit here as representatives of Fleet Captain Horus in his capacity as the
Lieutenant Governor of Earth, and of the five men I've named, only Marshal Chernikov and General