"William R. Forstchen & Ben Ohlander - Wing Commander 05 - The Price of Freedom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forstchen William R)

Taggart suspected that Tolwyn's star had fallen enough after his pet project had failed for the admiral to
feel he had to resort to such theatrics to make his point. In Taggart's assessment, he believed that Tolwyn
had rebounded nicely, and was again ascendant, but apparently the admiral was taking no chances.

Taggart watched the admiral step up to the podium and look out onto the ranks of assembled notables.
Tolwyn's gaze seemed coolly appraising, as though taking the Senators' measure. His expression grew
grave as he pulled a thin sheaf of papers out of his tunic and spread them out on the lectern.

It occurred to Taggart, as he watched Tolwyn, that the admiral was the best politician of all of them.
How else could the man—who'd nearly been cashiered after the Behemoth debacle—bounce back to
run the Strategic Readiness Agency as his personal fiefdom? The man was a survivor, with more lives
than a cat.

Admiral Tolwyn cleared his throat and began. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly: as the
Commander of the SRA, I am charged with many duties. Foremost among these is the protection of the
frontiers of our galaxy."

He looked down briefly. Taggart noticed that while Tolwyn had notes, he hardly referred to them. It was
also clear that Tolwyn had mastered political speech-making, using the slightly stiff, overblown rhetoric
that was all the rage with the log-rolling set. The Tolwyn of old would neither have been so polite to those
he considered mealy-mouthed civilians, nor would he have stooped to talk to them in their own language.

"Unfortunately," the admiral continued, "I don't have any answers. The attacks have left no survivors and
precious little evidence. Gonfed Intel has given it their best shot, and to date has come up empty."

Taggart knew the last to be a subtle dig athimself . His own service was Intel, and semi-independent of
the Fleet. Paladin had kept it that way, in spite of Tolwyn's attempts to absorb the uniformed element of
the intelligence community.

"We have," Tolwyn continued, spreading his palms humbly, "absolutely no proof of who is doing this."

The Senate erupted in chaos. Many senators had constituents who were affected, owned ship lines, or
wanted to put in a plug for "law and order" on general principles. Some blamed pirates while others
accused the Border Worlds militia of treachery. Other, darker theories, of conspiracies and secret
Kilrathi attacks, were bandied about. Taggart banged his gavel.

Tolwyn raised his hand—and the room quieted, much to Taggart's concealed irritation. He wished he
commanded as much respect from the legislators. He recalled, to his sour amusement, that he had until he
became one of them.

Tolwyn gave Taggart a wintery sidelong look. "Well, I'm sure we all have our theories…" He rolled his
eyes slightly, allowing Taggart to see that his contempt for civilians was intact. "But let me tell you," he
said, raising one index finger for emphasis, "that while it is a mystery now, it will not be one for long."
Taggart wondered if Tolwyn was going to give some inkling of his plan.
The admiral instead humbly lowered his eyes, a gesture Taggart knew to be pure artifice. "As most of
you know, I've spent a lot of time on the frontier, both fighting the Kilrathi, and in building the peace. The
Border Worlds are a wild lot—full of rogues, privateers, and the Border Worlders themselves." His
voice took on disapproving tones. 'Their loose society encourages irresponsibility and indiscriminate
growth rather than cooperative and controlled development of resources for the benefit ofall humans."