"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автора

been served in the Outer Rim-I know of worlds and systems that you could never
find. Seek out the Avarice, and you will leave yourself vulnerable to enemies
who can destroy you."
The image faded to gray static, then evaporated, leaving Isard staring back
toward Vorru. "You once told me he had a mistress, this Captain Yonka."
Vorru nodded. "On Elshandruu Pica."
"Have her killed." Isard spoke softly, surprising Vorru
with her ability to keep her anger from coloring her words. "And any children
she has, any siblings, any family."
"And not his family?"
Isard snorted harshly. "I got this hologram three hours ago. Extermination of
the crew's families began then. Do re-call, as Director of Imperial
Intelligence, I have been through this routine before. I happened to notice the
information on Yonka's mistress was not in his file. You were not collecting it
for your own purposes, were you, Minister Vorru?"
The small man half-lidded his eyes. "Merely awaiting confirmation before I
committed anything to bytes, Madam Director." He opened his hands innocently. "I
just wonder at your desire to go after his mistress. You don't imagine she
influenced him in this decision, do you?"
"No, of course not." Isard folded her hands together. "She dies to cause him
pain. Have her death holographed-I will play it for Yonka as I work on him."
"As you wish, Madam Director." Vorru bowed as he replied to her, but inside he
felt only contempt for her. Aellyn Jandi will be far away and out of your grasp
because it will frustrate you, Iceheart. "The Avarice's departure puts us in a
curious position. Our ability to guard our convoys has been halved, unless you
plan to take the Lusankya out of orbit and press it into that duty."
An eyebrow arched over her red eye. "And leave Thy-ferra vulnerable to an attack
by Antilles or an uprising by the Ashern? You think me more mad than Yonka did."
"Hardly that, Madam Director, just a person faced with difficult decisions."
"This is why I have you to advise me, Vorru." Isard glared at him, her gaze
burning a blush onto his face. "You are correct-we cannot guard our bacta
convoys and prevent an uprising here. Moreover, if we do nothing, Antilles will
get bolder and might convince a number of worlds to throw in with him so they
can take by force what we are afraid to ship out. That would destroy us. In the
face of this I see only one clear choice."
Vorru half-closed his eyes. She won't surrender, so there must be some new
atrocity she is planning.
Isard slowly smiled. "I believe it was you, Minister Vorru, who noted that we
could not destroy Antilles until we determined where his base was. Your reports
in regards to the search for that base, I have been told by you, have been
fruit-less because Antilles and his people are very cautious in how they accept
goods from outsiders-only the people he trusts are allowed to come all the way
into his base."
Vorru nodded. "That is the problem, Madam Director."
"No longer. Antilles could operate without taking chances because we gave him
time to do so. I intend to de-prive him of that time. The Rebels always worked
best when no pressure was placed on them and they were allowed to operate on
their own time scale."
"You have found a way to make him act faster?" Erisi's questioning tone
underscored Vorru's own thoughts. "Threatening an innocent world might do it,