JК
World Of Ptavvs :: Нивен Ларри
Страница: 75 из 127Operator? Get me a maser to Achilles, fast."
Of course, the whole ploy could be a red herring, he thought, waiting for the operator to call back. A distraction for something going on right here in the Belt. Well, they won't get away with that either. Every ship that leaves Earth or the Moon is going to be questioned. We'll board some of them, and follow the ones that won't allow it. Earth will get its share too. I'll make our espionage system think the end of the world is coming.
Four and a half days later neither Kzanol nor Kzanol/Greenberg had turned ship. It seemed they really were going to Neptune. If so they would be turning in eighteen hours.
It was already time for Anderson to turn ship. He did.
"We'll get there six hours ahead of them," he told Garner.
"Good."
"Of course, they could be headed for outer space. It could be a coincidence that they're going in that direction. Then we'll lose them."
"In those ships? Besides, I never doubted they were going to Neptune. I just didn't want to take chances."
"Uh huh. I'm just hypothesizing. How about some lunch?"
"Good." It was high noon. The life-support system didn't include enough room to walk around in, but it did have a mechanized kitchen; and one thing the space conquerors had learned early was that caviar is cheaper than corn flakes. Caviar has far more food value per payload ounce. So Garner and Anderson ate prefrozen crepes Veronique and wondered how long it would be before they could exercise off the extra pounds.
While they were feeding the plates back into the food slot, Garner found something else to worry about. "Can we turn our telescope around?"
"Sure. Why?"
"To follow the other ships. They're still ahead of us, and we're moving ass-backwards."
"We can't see them now because the glare of our exhaust blocks our view. But we'll be passing them in six hours, and we can watch them from then on."
"We'll never catch them," said the man in the lead ship. He was a tall, spindly Negro with prematurely white hair and an habitual poker face. "They'll be three days ahead of us all the way. Poachers!"
Somebody, Smoky from his accent, said, "It'd be four if we hadn't started from Achilles."
"Something on the scope," said one of the other ships. All five were singleships, hurriedly converted to war potential from their mining duties in the lead cluster of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
"Like what?"
"Specks of hydrogen light. Moving almost as fast as the Arm, judging by the red shift. Way ahead of him.
Of course, the whole ploy could be a red herring, he thought, waiting for the operator to call back. A distraction for something going on right here in the Belt. Well, they won't get away with that either. Every ship that leaves Earth or the Moon is going to be questioned. We'll board some of them, and follow the ones that won't allow it. Earth will get its share too. I'll make our espionage system think the end of the world is coming.
Four and a half days later neither Kzanol nor Kzanol/Greenberg had turned ship. It seemed they really were going to Neptune. If so they would be turning in eighteen hours.
It was already time for Anderson to turn ship. He did.
"We'll get there six hours ahead of them," he told Garner.
"Good."
"Of course, they could be headed for outer space. It could be a coincidence that they're going in that direction. Then we'll lose them."
"In those ships? Besides, I never doubted they were going to Neptune. I just didn't want to take chances."
"Uh huh. I'm just hypothesizing. How about some lunch?"
"Good." It was high noon. The life-support system didn't include enough room to walk around in, but it did have a mechanized kitchen; and one thing the space conquerors had learned early was that caviar is cheaper than corn flakes. Caviar has far more food value per payload ounce. So Garner and Anderson ate prefrozen crepes Veronique and wondered how long it would be before they could exercise off the extra pounds.
While they were feeding the plates back into the food slot, Garner found something else to worry about. "Can we turn our telescope around?"
"Sure. Why?"
"To follow the other ships. They're still ahead of us, and we're moving ass-backwards."
"We can't see them now because the glare of our exhaust blocks our view. But we'll be passing them in six hours, and we can watch them from then on."
"We'll never catch them," said the man in the lead ship. He was a tall, spindly Negro with prematurely white hair and an habitual poker face. "They'll be three days ahead of us all the way. Poachers!"
Somebody, Smoky from his accent, said, "It'd be four if we hadn't started from Achilles."
"Something on the scope," said one of the other ships. All five were singleships, hurriedly converted to war potential from their mining duties in the lead cluster of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
"Like what?"
"Specks of hydrogen light. Moving almost as fast as the Arm, judging by the red shift. Way ahead of him.