"Timothy Zahn - Hero of Cartao 2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

finally had a new weapon on the plotting board. About time. "You think they've
come here to begin production?"
"That's what our Intelligence people believe," Palpatine said.
"Personally, I suspect there are still some system flaws and that they hope to
use Spaarti to test and finalize the design. What's the current military
situation?" "For the moment, basically stalemated," Doriana told him.
"Commander Roshton and his clone troopers have gone to ground, some of them
here on Lord Binalie's estate, the rest dispersed elsewhere. They've been
harassing the droids wherever possible, but the Separatists have mostly been
staying inside where we can't get at them without risking damage to the plant.
"
"Which neither we nor they want," Palpatine said. "What about the techs?"
"Binalie has a secret safe room-basically a shielded sub-sub-basement-


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that connects with the tunnel to the plant," Doriana said. "The techs are
hidden down there." "Communications?"
"The Separatists are still blocking the local comm system and the HoloNet
node," Doriana told him. "But Roshton's reconfigured their comlinks somehow to
get around it. They'll be able to move quickly if they get the chance."
"Then they shall have it," Palpatine said. "A Republic light cruiser is
on its way with the necessary firepower to destroy the control ship orbiting
above you. Once the droid army is helpless, I trust Commander Roshton won't
have any trouble with the Neimoidian overseers and their techs."
"I'm sure he won't," Doriana agreed. "When can we expect this ship?"
"Possibly as early as tonight," Palpatine said. "Possibly not for another
three days. It depends on how much resistance they run into along the way."
"Understood," Doriana assured him. "Thank you, Chancellor. We'll look
forward to their arrival."
Palpatine gave him a tired smile. The war, Doriana knew, was weighing
heavily on him. "Keep me informed."
The image vanished. Doriana broke the connection from his end and looked
back at the lifters. They had the blackened hulk of the last ruined war
machine in the air now and were towing it back toward the plant.
Planning to dump it elsewhere on the extensive Spaarti grounds, no doubt.
Why the alien Cranscoc insisted that this particular stretch of land-and only
this particular stretch-be kept unsullied not even Lord Binalie knew. Doriana
watched until the lifters and their burden had vanished behind the jutting
roof of the Spaarti plant, then keyed a different code into his holoprojector.
He'd done his official job, reporting the situation to the man whose office
paid him.
Now it was time to do the same for the man who gave him his orders. As
usual, it took longer for the holoprojector to make this connection. Doriana
cultivated his patience, gazing idly at the sky as he wondered what the
Neimoidians were doing inside the plant. Now that the south lawn was clear,
they would certainly try tonight to get the Cranscoc twillers to retool the
plant. The only question was, which direction would that retooling take? To