"Timothy Zahn - Conquerors 3 - Conquerors' Legacy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

"Acknowledged," Gusto said from the Corvine, his voice sounding a little strained. "Shouldn't we go
to X?"

"Standing Order Three, Gusto," Crossfire said from the other Catbird, flying a dozen meters off
Taoka's wing. "We don't go to X until bogies are actually on scope."

"This isn't a drill, Crossfire," Gusto said, a touch of asperity cracking through his voice. "This is
real."

"Yes, we know," Crossfire said patiently. "Just stay cool. We're doing fine."

"Yes, sir," Gusto muttered. "Staying cool, sir."

"Doesn't sound happy, does he?" Juggler commented from the aft cockpit seat behind Taoka.

"Can't say I blame him," Taoka growled back. It was a stupid rule, St/Ord 3 was, and everyone from
the Peacekeeper Triad on down knew it. Level X, the full Mindlink integration between the pilot,
tail, and fighter craft itself, was the whole point of the Copperheads in the first place. The Level A
linkage they were using right now really wasn't much better than the baseline heads-ups the poppers
who flew Axeheads or Dragonflies got.

But, then, St/Ord 3 hadn't been set up by military men. It was a political order, forced on the
Copperheads by the NorCoord Parliament a few years back. Their ill-considered reaction to that
oversensationalized flap over Copperhead burnout. A flap led and fed by the ambitions of then-
Parlimin Lord Stewart Cavanagh.

One expected idiotic and shortsighted ideas from politicians. What had twisted in Taoka's gut like
splintered glass was the fact that Cavanagh's crusade had been aided and abetted by a former
Copperhead. Worse, a Copperhead who had once held near-legendary status. Adam Quinn: Maestro.
Or, as Taoka thought of him now, Adam Quinn: Traitor. It had been a hurtful and humiliating time,
and Taoka had privately resolved never to forget that pain. But maybe all that bad blood had finally
circled back to where it belonged. The last skitter message that had reached the Trafalgar task force
before they left Commonwealth space had included a notice that Quinn had been arrested and
charged with theft of Peacekeeper property. With a little luck maybe Lord Cavanagh could get
dragged into it, too; Taoka had heard that Quinn was working for Cavanagh these days. Get the two
of them thrown into cold storage for the next twenty years, and he might be willing to call it even.

Beneath the three fighters a group of Conqueror buildings shot past, built in the same linked-
hexagon style the aliens used for their warships. He caught a glimpse of a courtyard area between
two of the buildingsтАФthe heat signature of a single Conqueror standing out in the open, no doubt
looking goggle-eyed up at themтАФand then they were over a vast landing field with a scattering of
small air- or spacecraft clustered at one end.

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Conquerors' Legacy



"Got some heat signatures," Juggler reported from behind him. "Some of those craft down there are