"Timothy Zahn - Blackcollar 2 - The Backlash Mission" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

to know, you weren't told. And you didn't ask twice.

A minute later the older man sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Damn them all back to hell," he
muttered.

"Trouble?" Caine asked.

"Yes, but so far only at the annoyance level." Lepkowski gestured at his screen. "The Karachi's last
intelligence sweep through the TDE indicates the war front with the Chryselli has shifted again, and
the damn Ryqril convoy routes have changed accordingly. Means we're going to have to detour
around Navarre and maybe New Morocco if we don't want to run into anything big."

Caine grimaced. The huge Ryqril war machine which had overrun the TDE thirty years earlier was
currently locked in combat with the Chryselli Homelands, and the legged furballs were giving the
Ryqril a distinct run for their money. It was the only reason Lepkowski's three Novas were being
allowed to wander around loose, in factтАФthe Ryqril simply couldn't afford the front-line ships and
time it would take to chase them down. But that didn't mean a ship that just happened to bump into
one of the Novas wouldn't take a shot at it. "You going to have any trouble hitting Earth?"

Lepkowski shook his head. "None at allтАФEarth's way off the convoy routes. I understand your
team's riding with me."

"News travels fast," Caine said. Of course, Lathe would have given Lepkowski advance notice of the
team's graduation. "Tell me, General, do you have any ideas about where military secrets on Earth
might still be preserved?"

Lepkowski's eyebrows rose slightly. "Any particular secrets you had in mind?"

Caine took a deep breath, suddenly afraid this was going to sound either stupid or boastful or both.
"As a matter of fact, yes," he said between stiff lips. "I want to find the formula for Backlash. The
blackcollar drug."

тАФ
If Lepkowski thought the goal ludicrous, it wasn't immediately evident. For a long moment the
general eyed Caine in silence, his face giving away nothing. Then he twitched a shrug. "Nothing like
starting at the very top of the list. I suppose it's occurred to you that other people have undoubtedly
gone on the same treasure hunt over the past thirty years, and that there's no evidence anyone's

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Blackcollar: The Backlash Mission

succeeded yet."

The thought had crossed Caine's mind. Frequently. "True. But maybe they were looking in the
wrong place."

"And you expect me to know the right places?"

"I know you were in charge of this sector before the Ryqril took it. Surely you knew most of the
military safe drops on Earth and elsewhere."