"Doohan, James & Stirling, S M - Flight Engineer 02 - The Privateer 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doohan James)

Scaragoglu shook his head.

"We have every sophisticated spy device known to man deployed in that
block of Mollie space. They're extremely efficient and damn near
undetectable. There's nothing that could be learned from this base that
they wouldn't find out just as well as a human operator. Less, actually,
since this field is in proximity to a spinning neutron star. It's far
enough away from the hutch that hard radiation shouldn't be a significant
problem, but close enough that it will play merry hell with sensors. Ours
as well as the enemy's." His lips quirked in a smile. "Think bigger."

Bigger, Raeder thought. Rescue mission? His mind went to the missing WACCI
crews and maybe even some of the Speed officers from the Dauntless. Naw,
we're looking at a permanent base. In Mollie space. The hutch was too
small for a ship like the Invincible. So it must be for . . .

"You mean to harry the enemy. You need a base for a small squadron to
launch on hit-and-run missions." Raeder looked away from the holo to meet
Scaragoglu's approving eyes.

"Not unlike the privateers in the ancient Caribbean," the general
confirmed. "You'd harry their shipping. Interrupt their supply lines and
in general wreak havoc on their morale. These are damned suspicious
people, Commander. Not knowing how ships that lack interstellar capability
are showing up to destroy their supply lines is going to make them even
more paranoid. You'll make it look like their pirate allies. I'd just love
to drive a wedge between the evil and the insane."

Raeder grinned. It was an appealing thought. Then his face sobered.

"And my place in this mission, sir?"

"You'd be in command." The Marine general's eyes sparked, but his dark
face was unreadable.

"Why me, sir?" Raeder asked. The obvious and unattractive answer was that
he was exceedingly expendable. He didn't particularly relish the idea of
being a human sacrifice. They hadn't yet talked about how he and his
people would be evacuated. Maybe after the Dauntless thing he thinks I'm
too gung ho to even ask sensible questions and won't notice we're as
likely to be recalled as a plasma beam once it's fired.

"Because you're the only hero I happen to have on tap at the moment,"
Scaragoglu said dryly. "You've proven you can think fast in a tough
situation. That you're willing to take risks without being overly
concerned with intangibles like, 'Will the admiral approve?' " He smiled
thinly. "But I don't think you're going to throw your life away. Or anyone
else's for that matter. And I need a cool, clear-headed leader who can
think on his feet, not a berserker. I think that makes you my man."