"Smith, E E Doc - D'alembert 09 - Omicron Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

As team leader, Jules needed to know what resources and talents he could draw on in an emergency. From questioning Ivanov, he found the man had a varied background-professional athlete, bouncer in a number of bars, burglar, assassin and, most recently, a factotum for Lady A's criminal conspiracy. The man was hardly a model of virtue, but Lady A had picked well; he'd have the requisite skills to perform on a delicate mission like this. They could depend on him to hold up his end.
Aimйe Amorat, of course, could be considered an asset to the team as long as she could be trusted. Physically, her body would be far more durable than anyone else's; mentally, she had a quick and cunning mind. She'd been an actress in her youth, and had no doubt drawn on those abilities many times in the past half century to keep herself alive and free. She had eluded the greatest manhunt SOTE had ever staged at a time when she was merely flesh and blood like everyone else. As long as her interests were the same as those of the team, her contributions would be outstanding-but Jules would have to keep on his toes for the slightest signs of betrayal. She'd made a fool of him on Gastonia, and he was not going to let that happen again.
He and his sister, of course, worked together like the muscles in his hand. Having performed as acrobats in the Circus of the Galaxy, they were quite used to having their lives depend on each other's movements and reactions. Although Jules had never met Fortier before this mission, the officer had been a superb undercover agent in Naval Intelligence's war against the pirate menace, and Jules knew he could stake his life on Fortier's training and dedication.
That left Tatiana as the big question mark. Despite acknowledging that her talents would be needed, Jules was not happy to have her along. He learned from questioning her that she was an academician, having never been in a fight more serious-or more recently-than a schoolyard brawl. Although she seemed intelligent and widely read, she was totally unfamiliar with weaponry or the martial arts. She had an amateur's courage that might loosely be called "pluck"-but even that could be a liability. Courage at the wrong time could be as disastrous as cowardice; only experience could give someone the discretion an under-cover agent needed so desperately.
Jules asked his sister to take Tatiana aside and give her at least a rudimentary education. Yvette gave the young woman some basic advice on how to fall without hurting herself, how to hold a knife in a fight, and how to handle a blaster. In the closed confines of the ship, though, there was no place they could use for target practice; there'd be no way to tell until they were actually in the middle of trouble just how good Tatiana's aim would be.
In the meantime, Jules conferred with Lady A and Fortier on possible strategies. The trouble was, too much was still unknown to formulate any definite plans. Lady A's reports had said that the major cities were all but wiped out, but there was no indication of where, if anyplace, the invaders had established a base of their own. There was no way of knowing how well the enemy had fortified their position in the days immediately following the takeover, and how alert they'd be at spotting the incoming ship. The best approach would be to come in fast and as low as possible, just skimming the atmosphere and keeping an eye out for two things: possible attack from sentry ships, and groupings of enemy structures on the ground that might indicate a main base of some sort. They would have to improvise from there on-but Jules was used to that.
All too quickly came the warning from the ship's computer that they had reached the Omicron solar system and it was time for the ship to leave subspace. The crew of the H-16 strapped themselves into their acceleration couches and Jules, Yvette, and Ivanov took up gunnery controls on the ship's weaponry. Once they were back in normal space almost anything could happen, and they had to be prepared for it.
The ship slipped out of subspace in one of the smoothest transitions Jules had ever experienced. Much against his will he had to admit Lady A was a superb pilot; she had done the astrogation for them all the way from Nereid and brought them out barely a million kilometers from Omicron itself-an achievement of accuracy that made a hole-in-one at golf seem trivial by comparison.
The H-16 sped through space toward Omicron at top speed. Paul Fortier kept a sharp eye on the sensor screens, alert for the slightest sign that their entry into Omicron's space had been detected. Lady A, too, was watching those screens, ready to react the instant any enemy blips appeared.
They flew on silently for several minutes, and the tension on the bridge became almost tangible. It would be too much to hope for that they could approach and land unscathed. It would make their job easier, of course, if the enemy didn't suspect there were infiltrators on the planet, but at this stage of the game the assault team could count on nothing.
Gauges measuring the ship's hull began showing a climb in temperature, indicating they'd reached the outer fringes of Omicron's atmosphere. The H-16 was not really designed for rapid atmospheric maneuvering, so Lady A made fine adjustments to put their vessel into a tight polar orbit around the planet. They were high enough that they had a wide field of view beneath them, and yet low enough that their screens could search for and detect any large agglomeration of buildings that would represent either a human town or a possible enemy base. By comparing the landscape below with the maps of Omicron already in the ship's computer, they could find any new settlements that might be alien in origin. It was unlikely the aliens would have built any large bases in the week since they'd taken over, but if even a large part of their fleet had landed in one given area it would be noticeable to the orbiting observers.
Tatiana was given the sensitive task of checking the monitors and comparing everything to the original maps. At this altitude, and with the wide angle field of view, it would take about twenty hours to fly over all the land areas at least once. They considered it most unlikely they'd be given twenty hours before the enemy spotted them and gave chase, but there was also a chance they might get lucky and spot the enemy base more quickly. At least this aerial reconnaissance was worth a try.
The landscape below, as shown on the screen, left a depressing effect on all of them. Several times they passed over large cities, and even from this altitude it was clear they'd been reduced to rubble. Imagining the thousands, if not millions, of people who must have died in that attack, it was all too obvious that this enemy threat must be stopped, or else this devastation would be repeated on planet after planet throughout the Empire as the enemy made its advance. Jules and Yvette could see now why Lady A was as eager to stop this menace as the Empire was-her own interest was very much at stake.
"Unknowns approaching." Fortier's level voice broke the heavy silence of the bridge. He read off their course coordinates from his computer screen, then added, "They're bearing in fast; we'd best assume they're hostile."
Even before he'd finished speaking, Lady A had set the ship into accelerated motion once again. Her hands fairly flew over the control panel in front of her, so fast they were little more than a blur. Although Jules had most of his attention focused on his artillery controls, he was able to watch her out of the corner of his eye, and had to admit he was impressed. Even with his DesPlainian reflexes he would not have been able to react so quickly to the situation at hand. Much as he hated to admit it, she'd been indeed the perfect choice to pilot this vessel.
The H-16 blasted out of its stable orbit and began an elaborate series of evasive maneuvers, and the crew inside felt the pull of acceleration from different directions and different magnitudes. They were all strapped tightly into their couches, so the changes did not send them flying about the cabin; even so, the continual jolting made it difficult for them all to concentrate on their respective tasks, particularly the three team members working the gun controls.
Without taking her eyes from her own console, Lady A gave the order, "Fire at will." At the gunnery controls, Jules, Yvette, and Ivanov all acknowledged the command. That had been assumed all along. Their only chance of landing safely would be to shoot the instant anything came within their scopes. An enemy who bombed defenseless cities neither gave nor deserved quarter.
The enemy fighters came on fast and hard. Unlike the H-16, these were built for speed and maneuverability, and they came zipping in with one goal in mind-the destruction of the offending vessel. By comparison, the H-16 was a behemoth-slow to turn, slow to change course, but also possessed of heavier weaponry. As the enemy fighters closed in, the H-16 got its chance to show what it could do.
Gunnery in space was a particularly exacting skill mastered by very few. Imagine: You have a target capable of moving swiftly through three dimensions, and of accelerating or decelerating from moment to moment. This target is likely to take evasive action to avoid being shot by you. At the same time, your own craft is undergoing other directional and accelerational changes of its own. The same effect could roughly be achieved by letting the air out of a balloon and then trying to shoot at it from the back of a bucking horse. The results were generally more frustrating than gratifying.
It was hardly surprising that the majority of shots in any space battle missed their marks completely. On those occasions when an enemy target lined up precisely in the sights, the gunner's own ship was just as likely to make some maneuver of its own just as the shot was fired, ruining the aim. Being an accurate space gunner required not only superhuman skill and superhuman reflexes, but superhuman patience as well. A fluent knowledge of off-color language was considered optional, but handy.
Jules, Yvette, and Ivanov sat with their attention riveted on their individual screens, waiting for the precise instant a target offered itself. There might be only a fraction of a second that one of the enemy ships slid within range; they would have to spot it, direct the computer aiming module, and fire all within that split instant. They could not be concerned with piloting their own craft; they had to put complete faith in Lady A to handle that chore successfully. The sharp motions of the H-16 were unavoidable distractions, but their concentration was strictly on the field of view covered by their detectors.
As the enemy craft came within range, the H-16 let off a few shots just to let the attackers know they meant business. Undeterred, the enemy fighters kept coming. Jules had one of the ships directly in his sights and fired quickly, but Lady A chose that second to veer from her course and Jules's shot went wide. That same maneuver, however, brought the other ship into Yvette's screen, and her shot was perfect. A beam of intense energy burned its way from the H-16 through empty space until it hit the enemy ship's hull. The defensive screens were no match for the power of the H-16's blast; they blew out on contact, and the beam pierced the hull. The two vessels were moving at such great relative speed that even the fraction of a second that the beam existed was enough to rip a long gash in the side of the other craft. There was the strange silent explosion that was an eerie hallmark of space battles, and this one enemy ship was no longer a threat to anyone.
Yvette did not see the damage her shot caused; the ship was out of her viewer again by the time it exploded and she was watching for any sign of the other vessel. It was not until Fortier cried, "Hit!" from his own viewscreen that she felt the satisfaction of knowing she'd done her job well.
That feeling was replaced by dismay just a moment later, however, as Fortier called out, "Three more coming in."
In short order the fighting became fast and furious. The enemy craft were laying down a fire pattern of their own, and it took all the speed of Lady A's computer reflexes to steer a course safely through the barrage. Deciding the low orbit region above Omicron was temporarily dangerous territory she pulled out and headed on a course that would loop around Omicron's single large moon and back again. The attacking craft naturally followed. Yvette and Ivanov knocked out two more of them along the way, and no new ones were immediately dispatched. That left the large H-16 against two smaller fighters as they disappeared from the planet's view behind the moon-just about an even fight.
As soon as they'd been eclipsed by the moon, so the enemy base on Omicron couldn't know what was going on, the H-16 swung around. No longer was it merely a vessel running for its life, it was actively on the attack for the first time. It bore straight in at one of the attackers, giving all three gunners in turn a clear shot at the enemy's flank. Three consecutive beams lashed out from the H-16's blaster turrets and one of them-no one was ever quite sure which-hit its mark. Out of control, the damaged enemy vessel plunged down onto the surface of the airless moon, creating a spectacular new crater on the already pockmarked surface.
Keeping to a straight course for that long a time, though, meant the H-16 was a more predictable target, and it paid a penalty for that. The remaining ship sent out a beam that caught them a glancing blow along the nose. The H-16's shields were stronger than would ordinarily be expected in a ship this size, but even they could not withstand the strong input of high energy coming from the enemy vessel. The shields blazed gloriously for a moment, then flared out completely. The ship shook with the impact of an explosion, fortunately minor, as the beam destroyed the H-16's attitude maneuvering jets.
In just that instant the Empire team lost half their ability to dodge successfully, making them that much more vulnerable to attack. Lady A knew several tricks to compensate for the loss, but given the speed on the other fighter it might not be enough. The enemy seemed to have detected this damage, because the craft came twisting in at a steep dive in an all-out bombing run at its disabled foe.
Disabled it may have been, but the H-16 was still far from helpless. As the fighter homed in along its path, its course took it in and out of Jules's screen at irregular intervals. He could take the chance on firing discrete shots, as was standard in warfare; with his quick reflexes, there was a reasonable chance he'd hit the vessel. But if he didn't there was a better than even chance it would destroy the H-16.
Instead he chose to be unconventional. Disconnecting the timer cutoff, he fired a continuous beam into a point in space along the other ship's path, and held it for a full fifteen seconds.
The drain on the ship's energy was considerable. To channel that much power into one blaster beam meant diverting it from elsewhere. The ship's damage assessment computer, realizing that the attitude controls were nearly gone, took all the power from that system, but it wasn't nearly enough. Lights went out, sensor screens blanked, even the main drive faltered as energy was diverted into the single ray issuing from Jules's turret. At the control panel, Lady A swore as the ship responded but sluggishly to her commands. Jules's own screen was flickering badly, and for a while it was difficult to tell whether his gamble had any effect.
Then the beam hit the enemy ship, and there was no doubt at all. The bright explosion registered on all the screens with a flash that made everyone shield their eyes. Jules stopped firing and connected the timer once more. Even so, it took several seconds before the ship's computers were able to readjust the power load and bring conditions on the bridge back to normal.
Lady A swiveled her acceleration couch, glaring at Jules. "That was a damned reckless thing to do!" she shouted at him across the cabin.
"Yes," Jules said, unruffled, "but it worked."
The agreement was that I controlled the ship while we're in flight."
"Exactly. You said fire at will, and I did."
Unwilling to spend further time in pointless argument, Lady A turned to Fortier. "Any further opposition?"
"None on the screens," the officer answered. "Who knows what'll be waiting for us when we get around to the front side of this moon again. If we stay on this course unaltered, that'll be in about seven minutes."
While listening to him, Lady A had continued to test her instrument panel and asked for a quick computer assessment of the damage to their ship. "Khorosho, time for a quick decision. Our maneuverability is severely impaired, which will hinder us in any fight. We could leave and get another ship, but that delay is unacceptable to me. The alternative is to make it down in this one. That's what I choose to do.
"The enemy may have more ships waiting just on the other side of the moon, in case we emerge victorious. They may be waiting to hear from the ships they've already sent out before dispatching more. We can count on nothing but our own speed to get us through."
She called up on her screen a quick scan of the Omicron maps again, watching the scenery flash past until she found a spot she liked. She entered its location into the computer and almost instantly the ship returned the course she would need to reach that point.
"Since we don't know precisely where their base is, if indeed there is one, we'll have to land somewhere and find out more details on the ground. I've chosen a spot near a conflux of smaller towns and not too far from Barswell City. The city was probably decimated but the villages may be intact. At the least, there may be other transportation to take us where we need to go."
"What about this ship?" Yvette asked.
"If it gets us to Omicron, it will have served its primary function. I intend to crash it."
***
There was a silence in the cabin as she made that announcement. It was up to Fortier to state what was on everyone else's mind. "That'll leave us stranded on Omicron. How will we get back to the Empire to make our report?"
"There will undoubtedly be means available," Lady A said calmly. "If we're at all successful at finding the critical information, it means we'll have penetrated the enemy base. They'll have ships there we can use."
"Assuming, of course, we know how to work their controls," Jules said, adding his objections to Fortier's.
"That's why we have Tatiana with us, to decipher these things," the woman replied. "Or there may be small private ships on hand somewhere that haven't been destroyed. If we can't escape physically, perhaps we can find a way to send out a subcom message past the enemy interference. There are alternatives open to us. The alternative we no longer have is to play more games of hide-and-seek with this ship.
"Even more to the point," she went on, "the enemy currently knows we're here. Until they know we've been dealt with one way or another, they will continue to search for us. A ship that crashes with sufficient violence to leave no wreckage and no bodies may satisfy their curiosity about us, at least temporarily. In these circumstances, we'll need every advantage we can get."