"David Weber - Worlds of Honor 4 - Service of the Sword" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

sweepingly grand, but when it came down to facts, before the acquisition of the Basilisk System,
the Star Kingdom had only been one tidy little binary solar system.
True, the Manticore System had been blessed with three habitable planets. True, it
commanded a wormhole terminus that was the envy of its neighbors and the heart of a profitable
trade empire. But the fact remained that one home system, now supplemented by a second much
poorer system, was a very small empire in the face of all the habitable worlds within the vast
region commanded by the People's Republic of Haven.
Beth now placed two bishopsтАФone white, one black, Michael noticed in amusementтАФon the
board so that they occupied a space between the two spheres of influence.
"Between us and the Peeps," she continued, "are a variety of neutral entities. Right now
Manticoran diplomatic focus is on two of themтАФthe only inhabited worlds in a volume twenty
light years across and rather conveniently placed between us and the Peeps. One of these," she
touched the black bishop, "occupies the Yeltsin's Star System. The other occupies the Endicott
System."
"The Graysons," Michael said, showing off just a little, "and the Masadans."
Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly impressed.
"Pretty good. I guess you did learn something at the Academy."
"Luck," Michael said modestly. "I just happened to do a paper on that region for a history
class. Did you know that both those systems were settled long before Manticore?"
Elizabeth nodded, a sly grin spreading across her face.
" 'Just happened to do a paper,' " she mused aloud. "Gee, anyone with a sneaky turn of mind
would think you were anticipating what the Star Kingdom might need to do if the Peeps kept
pressing our borders. Dad would be impressed."
Michael was pleased despite himselfтАФas well as glad, not for the first time, that his dark skin
hid his blush. Lest Beth realize his embarrassment, he kept talking.
"I even know," he said, "why you chose bishops to mark these systems on your tac board.
Both Masada and Grayson are ruled by theocracies, one almost as crazy as the other."
"Almost?"
Michael shrugged.
"The Faithful of Masada are a splinter group off the original Grayson colony. If I had to pick
between them, I'd pick the original Graysons. They're remarkably backward in some of their
social customs, but they're marginally more tolerant than the Masadans. They have a higher tech
base than the Masadans, too."
Elizabeth nodded.
"I agree with you. However, not all of my advisors are so certain that an alliance with
Grayson is preferable to one with Masada. They point out that Masada is a far more habitable
planet than Grayson. They also see the Masadans' technological weaknesses as our potential
strengths. Not only wouldn't we need to worry about our ally getting uppity, but the Masadans
should jump through hoops to have a shot at the technological jump-start we can offer."
Michael shook his head.
"I wish I believed that," he said, "but from what I recall from my research, the Masadans were
willing to destroy the Graysons when they couldn't conquer them. Even after the Masadans were
exiled from the Yeltsin System, they kept coming back and trying to take Grayson. Those don't
sound like people who would be willing to jump through anyone's hoop."
Beth nodded.
"Again, I agree with you. However, not all my advisors are so reasonable and, despite what
many of my subjects think, my whim is not what governs the Star Kingdom. To complicate
matters, we're probably years away from having to pick one group over the other. Hell, not
everyone is even convinced that war against the People's Republic is inevitable. So for now,
we're collecting information, learning everything we can about the Masadans and Graysons while