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

"Assistance on Plinry," Jayne Gibbs murmured.

"Oh, yes. Allen, we haven't had any contact with Plinry since it was captured thirty-five years ago,
so we don't know what you're going to be walking into. We expect a political structure like
Earth'sтАФa group of Ryqril ruling through a loyalty-conditioned human governmentтАФbut we have
no way of confirming that. If you have any problems you should try to contact whatever
underground has been put together there and enlist their aid."

"Assuming there is one," Caine pointed out.

"True," Kratochvil admitted. "Still, I have hopes that General Avril Lepkowski survived the planet's
capture. Mark that name, Allen; if Plinry has an underground, Lepkowski will probably be the man
in charge of it. There were also nearly three hundred blackcollars there at the endтАФsome of them
may also still be alive."

Blackcollars. Caine straightened a bit at the word. He'd never met any of those superbly trained
guerrilla warriors, but their wartime exploits were legendary. Only a few still existed on Earth, and
most of those had destroyed their uniforms and disappeared into the general population. The handful
who remained in active service were reportedly harassing the hell out of the Ryqril in North
America.

Kratochvil was still speaking. "I'll try to get a few more names of people who may be on Plinry
before tonight. I'll also make up a micro-letter of introduction for you in case you find General
Lepkowski. It'll be a bit risky to carry, I'm afraid, but I think it'll be worth having. Of course, that
decision's up to you." He stood up, Caine and the others following suit. "I think that's all we can do
right now. Be here at six tonight for the rest of your papers and any final instructions we can think
up. You might as well keep the beard until then; it's unlikely you'll run into any of Rienzi's
acquaintances out here but there's no point in taking chances. Also, starting at noon today we'll be on
a two-hour security cycle in the bookstore upstairs. Watch for that."

"I understand."

"Good." The general reached over the table and grasped Caine's hand. "I may not be here tonight
when you arrive, so I'll say my farewells now. You're very valuable to us, Allen, and of course we
want you to be careful and protect yourself. But at the same time, this is probably the most important
mission we've undertaken in twenty years, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that any chances for
a free Earth depend on you. We may never again be able to send a person off-planet on this kind of
quiet probe, and you know the impossibility of getting the information by force. Don't let us down."

Caine looked the general straight in the eye as he shook the other's hand. Kratochvil's brown eyes

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The Blackcollar


were clear, alert, andтАФthanks to IdunineтАФrelatively young. But there was something else there, too,
something no youth drug could touch. Ninety-two years of life, thirteen of them spent in a losing war
and another twenty-nine endured under enemy rule, had aged those eyes in a way that suddenly
made Caine feel like a child again, and the confident statement he'd been about to make evaporated
from his lips. "I'll do my best, sir," he murmured instead.