[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Ha! he cried, and would have said more if not for Xmary s hard glare,
directed first at him, and then at Bascal.
Majesty, can I ask you to cut that out? This may be the time, but it
certainly isn t the place.
The tone in her voice set off a cascade of memories in Conrad. Years ago,
onboard the pirate shipViridity, he had been the voice of reason. Not because
he d wanted to, or was particularly good at it, but because there d been no
one else. People were too afraid, too angry, too wrapped up in their own
affairs to think about any bigger picture. But here, now, the opposite seemed
to be true.
Okay, messing around with confetti was fun, but it didn t fundamentally
change the fact that they were doing as they were told: meekly exiting the
Queendom of Sol. It seemed a strange answer to their years of rebellion. They
had lost their revolution they d always known they would but the fact that
they d fought at all, taken on such hopeless odds, was a kind of victory all
by itself. It had won them a star of their own, and a starship to carry them
Page 22
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
there. But did they have to be so obedient about it?
Information, he asked, are there any isolated sensor platforms within one
hundred kilometers of our current position?
There are three holding steady in our forward arc, Agnes answered crisply,
with matched velocity. They re leading the way, essentially. Then added:
Um, sir.
Hmm. How about the aft arc?
She frowned. May I send out a wideband ping? I get forward readings from
Navigation, but the aft data is much sparser.
Conrad looked to Xmary, who nodded uncertainly.
Wideband ping, please, Information, Conrad said to Agnes.
Aye, sir. Pinging now, all frequencies.
Conrad was impatient. After only about five seconds, he asked, Well?
Eleven targets in our aft hemisphere, sir. Seven of them running silent, in
addition to the three pingers. They all look like news cameras to me, but it s
hard to be sure. They re the right size anyway, half a meter or less, with a
wellstone reflection signature. Most of the targets are clustered just aft of
our equator, probably hoping for a cinematic angle on the motors and sail.
Posterity wants a good view, Robert said.
Let s give them one, Conrad suggested, feeling suddenly, wickedly playful.
Robert, how difficult would it be to fry one of those bastards?
Beg your pardon, sir?
Fry it. With the fusion exhaust. It s a stream of monochromatic helium,
right?
And protons, I think. Ask Engineering. Let me see if I understand you
correctly, sir: you want to orient the main motor not at our navigational
optimum, but at a piece of private property? A reportant device, a news
camera? For the purpose of destroying it?
Conrad cleared his throat. Too many damn voices of reason onboard this ship.
Yes, Astrogation, that is exactly what I m asking you. It might be nice to
leave this system in style. Give them something to remember us by. And the
question stands: how difficult would it be? We needn t use the main motor; we
have the four nav exhaust ports as well, right? I just want to point something
hot at the nearest target of opportunity. I am asking you correction, I
amordering you to plot a solution.
All right, Robert said unhappily. Solution plotted. It s, uh, not
difficult. About 12.6 degrees off optimal, if we use the portside nav motor. A
three-second toot ought to do it. Sir.
King Bascal burst out laughing. The old gleam was back in his eyes, and he
said, It was wanton vandalism that got us in this fix in the first place. I
like it. What are they going to do, punish us? Fine us? Add an extra year to
our sentence? Make no mistake: my parents have spy devices all over this ship.
Our wellstone s programming must be lousy with them microscopic sensors that
Page 23
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
move and shift and disappear when examined so as long as we remain in comm
range, maybe five AU for low-gain transmissions, they ll be watching our every
move. And that by itself is a good enough reason for me: because they ll see
us do it. But I can t give the order myself. Captain?
Xmary frowned at the king, and then even harder at Conrad. It was they, more
than anyone, who d led her to a life of crime. Well, Yinebeb Fecre as well.
Feck the Facilitator. But that whole August Riot thing was small-time mischief
against the larger backdrop of piracy and plunder. Bascal s crew had been
gearing up to destroy a neutronium barge, cargo and all, when the Navy finally
caught them.
The captain s gaze wandered over to the astrogation niche. Robert, confirm
your solution, please, and forward it to the steering program. We ll give that
camera six seconds in the fusion stream, and then reorient to our departure
vector. There s no sense telling a joke and then leaving out the punchline.
Now, ma am?
Yes, please.
The motor had been fired at low power when they departed from Mars orbit, and
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]