"George R. R. Martin - A Peripheral Affair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

right,” he said finally. “It's something, but it doesn't provide any answers. And there
are an awful lot of questions.”

He began to tick off questions on his fingers. “Number one,” he said, “—if the scout
was attacked, why didn't the crew report it? The computer would have detected an
attacker. Number two—why didn't they, or he, or whatever, run away? A scout is
faster than any warship. Number three—why would anyone attack a single scoutship
anyway? To save a war fleet from detection? But they'd have to knock out more than
one ship for that. Number four—if it was an attack, who did it? The KwanDellan? But
why? That doesn't make sense. Number five—if it wasn't an attack, why did the ship
stop signaling? What else could possibly destroy an armed and shielded starship in
deep space? Number six—”

“Enough,” Richey interrupted, scowling. “I see what you mean. A lot doesn't fit
together.”

Garris nodded. “Admiral Mandel has a theory,” he said, but his expression made it
perfectly clear what he thought of the admiral's theory. “He thinks the KwanDellan
hailed our ship openly, acted friendly, and then crept up into range and attacked. That
answers some questions—like why the crew didn't run or call. But it doesn't explain
the motivation for the attack. And theories that explain that don't explain the other
things.” He frowned.

After a pause, the captain leaned forward again, and flipped through the papers until
he found the crew roster. “Which one of these men was aboard?” he asked.

“Hollander,” Richey replied. “Craig Hollander, junior crewman.”

“Request a facsimile of the file on the man,” Garris ordered. “Maybe that will tell us
something. And have someone locate his next of kin and inform them that he's
missing.”

The first officer nodded, rose, and saluted briskly. After he had left, Garris continued
to turn the puzzle over in his mind.

The captain knew full well what Mandel expected him to find—evidence of a
KwanDellan attack. Nothing would please the admiral more. It was common
knowledge around the fleet that Mandel was an aging incompetent who had been sent
to the Periphery to keep him out of the way. But a war—with him in the front lines—
might wipe out some of the admiral's past mistakes and catapult him back into Earth's
good graces.

Garris, on the other hand, didn't need a war. He was already indecently young to be
wearing a captain's star clusters. And the Mjolnir , although a battle-scarred relic, was
still a dreadnought, with awesome firepower and a crew of more than a hundred.
Every captain in the fleet who didn't command a dreadnought wanted to—and Garris
already had one. The Periphery wasn't exile for him. It was another step on the way
up.

But there were still things in his way. Like Mandel, who despised him for his youth