"Blaine Lee Pardoe - BattleTech - MechWarrior - Dark Age 14 - Target of Opportunity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pardoe Blaine Lee)

Buhl waved his hand in the space between them dismissively. “This isn’t just about the Exarch. The
Paladin that he assigned to this, Kelson Sorenson, likes to champion causes others would give up as
lost-not that our situation falls into that category, of course. He considers himself a man of the people, so
I suppose the theory is that he tries harder. I’ve met with him twice and so has the primus. He’s bound
and determined to get the HPG network back up, and up now.” His eyes widened slightly with his
words, as if he were mimicking the expression of the Paladin.
“Has anyone explained to them that willing it to happen isn’t the same as making it happen? If we could
get the system up, we would. ComStar’s a corporation; we make our money transmitting data. It’s in our
own best interest to get the network back up as soon as possible. But whoever sabotaged it did a damn
good job.”
“Almost as if it were an inside job, eh?” Buhl said coyly.
“You’d better watch your words,” Svetlana replied coldly.
“I’m as tired of the empty accusations as you. It’s almost hard to believe that a few generations ago,
ComStar all but controlled the Inner Sphere from behind the scenes.”
“Don’t tell me you’re pining for the old days?” she asked sarcastically. “You have to reread your history.
We may have controlled thousands of worlds and dictated policies, but we also prayed every time we
threw a switch or pressed a button. Dressing like monks-”
“Yes, there was a price to pay for the power we controlled,” Buhl cut in. “But back then we were
respected. My grandfather used to tell me that being part of ComStar was a high honor. In the last few
years, we’ve been treated like outcasts. People think we downed our own network. They think we
sabotaged The Republic.”
Svetlana shifted. “With good reason, in some respects. Remember, the Word of Blake was ComStar at
one time. Now when most people outside of the organization look at us, they remember the horror of the
Jihad.”
The mere mention of the Jihad seemed to layer silence over the office. It was the Word of Blake, the
religious zealots of the old ComStar, who had savaged the Inner Sphere, plunged it into chaos, war,
death, and suffering.
“I know my history,” Buhl said testily. “I’m sixth-generation ComStar. Tucker Harwell, he’s seventh gen.
That was one of the reasons I chose him. His family has seen the light and dark of ComStar. Eventually,
he’ll come over to our way of thinking.” Buhl nodded decisively.
“Are you sure?” Precentor Kerr asked.
Buhl grinned, perhaps for the first time that day. “I’m positive. I set up the DeBurke Institute to overcome
this network issue. We’ve spent the last three years trying to repair technology that we’ve barely
improved on in centuries, rumors of some kind of super HPG aside. Most of the HPG network hardware
is more than two hundred years old. Tucker Harwell knows more about HPG and interstellar
communications theory than anyone working in the organization in the last century. He represents the
future.”
“Still,” Kerr returned, laying her noteputer on the desktop, “the odds are against him. That HPG on
Wyatt already burned out one billion-C-bill core. And Paladin Sorenson, he’s sending a Knight Errant to
baby-sit us when we install the new one. That’s a lot of pressure on an untested kid.”
“I agree, but, Svetlana, you are making me feel bad. I had hoped that you’d have more faith in me. I’ve
already sent some insurance to Wyatt to make sure matters are well in hand: you know that, since that
asset reports to you. And that ‘kid,’ as you refer to him, he’s tougher than he looks. Yes, he’s a prodigy
of sorts. But when he was ten, he was hit by a hovercar. They put him in one of our sponsored hospitals.
The best medical minds we had said he’d never walk again. It took him two years, but he not only
overcame his injuries-he graduated ahead of his peers.”
Kerr frowned. “I didn’t see that in his record.”
“And you won’t. You see, Svetlana, I don’t always put all of my cards on the table. You don’t rise far in
this organization without knowing how to hold back some information.”
“I’ve read the reports. The indigs on Wyatt aren’t too pleased with our lack of progress. He’s not going