James White Cykl Szpital kosmiczny (02) Gwiezdny chirurg
James Lee Burke Robicheaux 12 Jolie_Blon's_Bounce
James Alan Gardner [League Of Peoples 06] Trapped
James Alan Gardner [League Of Peoples 04] Hunted
James Axler Outlander 26 Sea of Plague
Fae Sutherland & Chelsea James His Every Breath (pdf)
James Axler Outlander 10 Outer Darkness
James Axler Deathlands 049 Shadow World
James Axler Deathlands 043 Dark Emblem
Curwood James Oliver Szara wilczyca
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
watched, processing and evaluating the incoming data, three things happened
simultaneously.
A communications processor forwarded a message received via the probe
positioned to provide a signal path around the Moon. It was an acknowledgment
from the Lambian embassy in Osserbruk, the Cerian capital. This was ZORAC's
latest try at getting through to the Cerian President's Office, after its
attempt via the National Aerospace Directorate hadn't worked.
Vic Hunt reappeared, after a long delay, on the channel to the shuttle that
had landed in Melthis.
And the Jevlenese leader, Broghuilio, initiated contact over the link that
Garuth had told ZORAC to keep open to the Jevlenese flagship. "I am calling
the Shapieron."
"Shapieron. I hear you," ZORAC replied.
"Am I talking to the ship's controlling AI?"
"You are."
"We are about to come aboard, as was previously advised."
"I understand."
"Confirm that the vessel had been evacuated of all occupants."
"Confirmed." They were now in the surface lander that had withdrawn far
outside the screen of Jevlenese ships. Garuth had yielded to the threat of
violence against those down on the surface. ZORAC concluded that bioforms had
their built-in operating directives too.
Broghuilio appeared less sure of the fact, however. ZORAC read the expression,
pattern of muscles tensions, and intonations of voice that it had learned to
associate with human uncertainty and apprehension. "I just wish to remind you
of the fate of the Thurien devices that appeared here immediately before the
Shapieron," Broghuilio said. "The weapons responsible are trained on your
ship, and also on the lander that is standing off outside the limit. We expect
to be received aboard the Shapieron without interference or any clever
surprises. I hope the implications are clear. Do I make myself understood?"
"Perfectly."
ZORAC had no surprises waiting. Even if it had conceived any, with the
Ganymeans and their human friends in jeopardy it would have been unable to act
on it.
* * *
Frenda Vesni sat listening to Negrikof bellowing in the next room. She had
just put a call through from a secretary at the Lambian embassy in Osserbruk,
saying that a message purporting to be from an alien spacecraft in the
vicinity of Minerva had warned that President Harzin's plane was going to be
shot down. Ironically, the Lambian had ended up being routed through to the
same desk as the alert from NAD earlier.
"Look, what is this? Doesn't anyone have any sense of discrimination left
anymore? . . . No, I don't take it seriously. . . . Because we've had it going
on all day. There's some hackers loose who are having what they think is fun,
and that people like you and me have got nothing better to do. . . . No,
because if I did that every time . . ."
Another indicator flashed on Vesni's desk. The head and shoulders appeared of
a man in Army uniform. "This is Frenda Vesni."
"Is that Intel Dir? I was told I need to speak with Zumo Negrikof. It's very
urgent."
"He's on a call to the Lambian embassy right at this minute. I'm his second.
Can I help you?"
"I'm not sure it can wait. I really need to talk to someone in the President's
Office, but I was told we have to go through you. Can you interrupt him,
please?"
"What's it about?
"I'm with Chief of Staff Headquarters. We've received a warning through one of
our locations that has contacts in Lambia that the plane that's on its way
here with the President and the Lambian King aboard is in imminent danger. The
President's Office has direct contact with the plane and also with ground
control. They need to know."
Vesni turned her head for a moment. Negrikof was still yelling. If this had
come through on its own, she would have let Negrikof deal with it. But there
had been three warnings now. And this one wasn't claiming to be a talking
starship. Her terms of office authorized her to act on her own initiative if
her chief were unavailable and it was a matter of national security or an
emergency. Well, this certainly qualified. She thought about the probable
reaction from Negrikof if it turned out to be a hoax or a misunderstanding of
something. Then she weighed that against the consequences if the warning was
genuine. She took a deep breath. There were times in life when you just had to
hope you were right.
"Taking all the details would just lose more time," she said. "I'll connect
you through to the President's Office directly."
* * *
In the Lambian communications room, the views being sent back by ZORAC of the
five Jevlenese ships positioned around the Shapieron were distributed across
several screens. A daughter craft of some kind was detaching from one of them.
It was obvious to Hunt now. The Jevlenese had to have been on the Moon
somewhere. His spirits sagged as he watched. Even at this early stage, the
alliance between Broghuilio and Freskel-Gar had proved itself durable enough
and flexible enough to seize a new opportunity when it presented itself,
virtually without even faltering in their stride. Now they had a functioning
starship as well as Jevlenese weaponry. So much for the mission and its hope
of averting a planetary war. About the only consolation Hunt could see was
that at least this way, the advantage would be so devastatingly to one side
that it might be over sooner, without spreading to dimensions that would
engulf the whole of Minerva. So the mission might have created a new reality
after all that was at least an improvement, if not the ideal they had hoped
for. And that was something, for with the beacons gone and the Shapieron now
taken over by Broghuilio, it was beginning to look very much as if they might
be stuck in it.
He stared at the images of the Jevlenese craft seen from the Shapieron,
hanging seemingly motionless in the void against the background of stars.
Different stars not a pattern that would have been visible from the Solar
System of the time that he belonged to in a different universe. How many ships
and constructions against a backdrop of space had he seen since that first
trip from Earth to take part in the investigation after the discovery of
"Charlie" on the Moon? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
