"Timothy Zahn - Angelmass" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

Angelmass



And if they did so immediately, young Kosta might as well not have bothered coming aboard.

"Message, Commodore," the comm officer announced. "They remind us the Empyrean has closed its
borders to ships of the Pax, and request that we state our business here."

Lleshi smiled tightly. So the first part of the gamble had succeeded: the Komitadji's sheer size had
caught the Empyreals off guard. Even now they were scrambling to recalibrate their catapult as they
tried to make the invaders waste time with useless conversation. He threw a glance in Telthorst's
direction, saw only the back of the Adjutor's head. "No return message," he said quietly. "Attack
pattern Alpha."

The Komitadji's lights dimmed slightly as, on the tactical, four lines of blue light lanced out, one
focused on each of the distant catapult ships. Behind the laser beams four yellow plasma jets boiled
out; following right on their heels the red lines of a dozen Spearhawk missiles shot similarly
outward. Lleshi was pushed back into his chair as the Komitadji's engines roared to life, driving the
ship away from the center of the pyramid. The Empyreal ships moved to stay with them, the
Spearhawk missiles shifting vectors in turn to match the movement. The Komitadji's computers
refocused the lasers, launched new plasma cloudsтАФ

And a second later, almost in unison and at least thirty kilometers out from their targets, all twelve
Spearhawks exploded.

"Premature detonation; all missiles," Campbell reported. "Plasma and lasers having no discernible
effect; catapult ships still tracking us. Second Spearhawks away."

"Data pulse retrieval complete," the comm officer called as another set of twelve Spearhawks
appeared on the tactical, arcing toward the defenders. "Copy dumped to cocoon."

Behind the four beleaguered catapult ships eight similar spacecraft had now appeared on the tactical,
emerging from cover behind various asteroids. Back-ups, already starting to configure themselves
into catapult arrangement. "Cocoon launch on my command," Lleshi ordered, frowning with
concentration as he watched the second group of Spearhawks climb toward their targets. With the
detonation codes already computed by the Empyreals, this set ought to go considerably closer to the
Komitadji than the previous ones hadтАФ

In twelve simultaneous flashes, they did... and surrounded by light and fire and expanding clouds of
debris, the Komitadji was momentarily hidden from enemy view. "Cocoon: launch!" he snapped.

The Komitadji didn't lurchтАФit was far too big for thatтАФbut Lleshi imagined he could feel the dull
thud of the explosive springs as their cargo was blown clear of the Number Six hold. "Third
Spearhawks away," Campbell called.

"Fire Harpies," Lleshi ordered. "Random minus one pattern."

"Acknowledged. First Harpies away."