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

Telthorst looked at the dim star on the viewscreen. "I suppose they expect us to be impressed by


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that."

Lleshi shrugged. "I'm impressed. Aren't you?"

The Adjutor looked back at him, his lip twisted in contempt. "Impressed, Commodore? Impressed
by a people who've become so sheep-like that they won't kill even in their own defense? You're too
easy to please."

"Am I?" Lleshi countered, the slow unprofessional burn starting again. "Those Empyreals were
risking their lives, AdjutorтАФmake no mistake about that. If those Spearhawks had hit them they'd
have died, with or without those fancy sandwich-metal hulls of theirs. In my experience, sheep
seldom come equipped with that degree of courage."

Telthorst's expression didn't change... but abruptly Lleshi felt a chill in the air. "Admiration of one's
opponents is said to be a useful trait in diplomats," the Adjutor said softly. "The same doesn't apply
to soldiers. Bear in mind, Commodore, that we're not dealing with men here. We're dealing with men
under alien control. There's a considerable difference."

"I'm aware of what we're up against," Lleshi said, keeping a firm grip on his temper. "But then, that's
why we're here, isn't it? To rescue our fellow human beings from these dangerous angels?"

The lines around Telthorst's mouth deepened. "Don't mock me, Commodore," he warned. "I may not
profess admiration for their soldiers the way you do. But I wasn't the one who set up a dry scorch
run, complete with a full complement of fighters and Hellfire missiles ready in their launch tubes."

Lleshi swallowed a curse. He'd hoped that in all the excitement Telthorst would have forgotten about
the Beta simulation. Not only hadn't he forgotten, he'd obviously even taken the time to monitor that
part of the exercise. "My orders are to subdue the Empyrean and bring it under the Pax umbrella," he
said stiffly. "I intend for my crew to be ready for any contingency that may arise in the act of
carrying out those orders."

"I applaud your foresight," Telthorst said. "Just remember that the operative word is 'subdue.' Not
'destroy'; 'subdue.' "

"Understood," Lleshi growled. No, of course the operative word wasn't "destroy." You could put an
Adjutor into a cold sweat simply by suggesting something with cash value or money-making
potential might be damaged. "Let me remind you in turn that that was the main reason we chose the
Kosta feint over the other scenarios Spec Ops suggested. If he isn't caught, he may be able to provide
us with valuable information on the angels."

Telthorst snorted. "Of course he'll be caught. Isn't that the whole purpose of a feint? To get caught?"

Lleshi nodded reluctantly, feeling a twinge of discomfort. Dangerous situations were hardly
anything new to him, and he'd had his fair share of ordering men onto what were little more than