"Michael McCollum - Antares 03 - Antares victory" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCollum Michael)

the sharp end of the spear can be a thankless job, especially when you have to deal with REMFs.”
“REMFs, sir?”
“Old terrestrial navy expression,Drake. Its roots are obscene. It refers to the assholes back at basewho
won’t give the man in combat what he needs unless he asks in triplicate. You can rest assured, by the way,
that so long as I am on the job, there will be a minimum of that sort of bullshit.”
“I know that, sir. I also know how many senior officers were passed over for this assignment,and how
much your opinion counted in the decision.”
Belton lowered his voice until onlyDrakecould hear him against the background noise. “Then you also
know, Admiral, that there will be a thousand pairs of eyes watching your every move, waiting for you to screw
up.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you interested to know what tilted the decision in your favor?”
“If you would care to tell me, sir.”
“Because this invasion was your doing,Drake. You Altans arrived on Earth with a map of enemy
foldspace, something no one else had managed to obtain in more than a century of war. Yet, even though
you presented us with the key to victory on a silver platter, not one of us saw the implications until you forced
us to see them. That shows an independence of thought that will be sorely needed in the coming campaign.”
Belton spoke standard with an odd, but understandable, accent. He was a native of the legendary city
of Rome, a fabled place that Altan children studied in school, but one that no Altan (toDrake’s knowledge)
had ever seen with his own eyes. Their first brief visit to Earth had been too hectic to visit the Eternal City,
and his two trips sincewere consumed with planning for the invasion.
“I still appreciate the chance you are giving me, Admiral. I won’t let you down.”
“Appreciation noted,” Belton said gruffly before raising his voice to his normal subdued bellow. It was a
voice that projected an image at odds with Belton’s short stature and thinning hair. “Now then, AdmiralDrake,
are you ready to get on with the war?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let us give the engineers five minutes to put some spin on this old bucket and then we start the
briefing. I will keep my remarks short to give you more time for your spiel.”
“That will be fine, sir.”
WhileDrakeled the bulk of humanity’s offensive fleet into the heart of enemy space,Grand Admiral Belton
would establish the bases and infrastructure needed to keep the fleet supplied. As Bethany,Drake’s historian
wife,had remarked when he told her of his appointment to operational command, Belton was to be General
George C. Marshall toDrake’s George Patton. Richardknew who General Patton had been, of course. One of
the ships in the fleet was namedPatton .
He had never heard of George C. Marshall.
#
“Officers of the Allied Forces of Humanity, welcome!” Admiral Belton roared when a few tenths-gee
returned to the ship. As he spoke, the terrestrial admiral let his gaze sweep over his audience. His listeners
worethe black-and-silveruniforms of the terrestrial navy, the ornate black-and-green of the Sandarians, the
subdued, slightly quaint uniforms worn by the Altans, and a dozen more.
“You have all been briefed extensively as to your jobs during the coming mission, so I won’t bore you by
being repetitive. Rather, AdmiralDrakeand I have invited you here today because this will be our last chance
to gather in person. We will not likely find ourselves within a few million kilometers of one another again any
time soon. Indeed, even if things go as well as we have planned them, many of us will not be returning to
human space for several years… and let us be honest, some of us will not be coming back at all. That is the
way of war, a necessity we warriors accept as the price of service to our race.
“Events will move very quickly once we enter the nebula and there will be little time for consultation.
Therefore, it is important that every fleet and subfleet commander, every ship captain, every first officer, every
ordinary spacer, understand our grand strategy. So, let me give it to you without the usual diplomatic
niceties.