"E. E. Doc Smith - D' Alembert 9 - The Omicron Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

work together with her on this effort. Unless you think you'd have major problems carrying out your end
of things, I intend to tell her yes."

"We'll be smooth," Yvette grumbled in agreement with her brother. "If it's for the good of the
Empire, I can put up with nearly anything. But how far does our cooperation extend? If she doublecrosses
us, I don't want to be hung out there like an idiot."

The Head nodded. "Perfectly understandable. You know I always give you discretionary powers.
At the first clear sign of betrayal, the truce is off and you're free to take any actions you deem necessary.
You're being sent along as her partners, not her lackeys: she'll have to accept that and not sell you out at
some inconvenient moment."

"That's all I needed to know," Yvette said and, after getting a nod from her brother, she added,
"We're in."

The Head called them back a few hours later with the rendezvous instructions he'd received from
Lady A. The entire party was to gather on the planet Nereid, one of the closest worlds to Omicron. Lady A
would supply the ship that would take them to Omicron; the SOTE agents would be responsible for the
clothing, equipment, and weapons they brought along with them. The instant the team obtained what they
considered sufficient information on Omicron, they were to leave immediately and proceed at top speed to
Luna Base, where the Navy's military experts would examine the evidence they'd collected and make
appropriate decisions from there.

The scheduled rendezvous was slightly more than three days from now; with Nereid being so far
from DesPlaines, that barely gave them any time at all to prepare.

Since they didn't know what possible challenges they'd be facing, they had to make their selection
as general as possible. For clothing they chose knee-high dark leather crepe-soled boots and a variety of
dark colored jumpsuits; they were comfortable and fit close to the body so they were less likely to snag on
anything in crucial moments, and they made little if any noise even during active movement. With the
jumpsuits, they each carried a utility belt with a variety of compartments filled with handy tools,
explosives, some small grenades, and a few all-purpose sensors.

For weapons, they ruled out stun-guns; if they really were dealing with alien beings, the creatures
might have a different sort of nervous system that would make them impervious to stunners. That left
blasters as the main powered weapons of choice: There was very little that would stand up to a Mark
Twenty-Nine Service blaster. For added insurance, the agents carried a throwing knife strapped to the
inside of each wrist and each boot top and, in a special pocket, seventy-five centimeters of piano wire.
Thus accoutred they felt reasonably prepared to deal with any menace they might face. There were a lot
more devices they could have taken, but anything else would simply have weighed them down. They
preferred quickness to a slight additional firepower. The parting from their respective spouses and children
was painful, especially when they knew how dangerous this assignment might be; if the alien enemy didn't
do them in, their "allies" might. All four had hoped that, whatever the next job would be, they could all
work on it together—but Lady A's insistence on picking the team ruined that hope.

"I'd feel a lot better about this if you didn't have to depend on that coldblooded murderess as part
of your team," Vonnie d'Alembert said. "She'd just as soon let you die as lift a finger to help you when you
get in trouble."

"It works two ways," Jules said philosophically. "She has to depend on us, too, knowing how we