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World Of Ptavvs :: Нивен Ларри
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"Is it too late to call Ceres?"
"Direct, yes. She'll be behind the Trojans for a while."
"Tartov! Call Phoebe and say that there are three ships past Uranus, all en route to Neptune, all moving at approx the same speed. I want ETAs for each of them."
"I hear you, Lew."
The fleet of five ships looked like a small swarm of fireflies. They were only thousands of miles apart; they stayed that close to avoid irritating message delays. The distance would still have hidden them from each other if they had been using chemical fuels or ion jets, but the searing light of the fusion drives showed brighter than any of the surrounding stars.
"Here."
"I'm sure one of them is a honeymoon special. It's got a strong oxygen line in its spectrum."
"Yeah? The Arms are thorough, you've got to give them credit."
Tartov said, "They must be after something big. Something tremendous."
None of the others spoke. Perhaps they were reserving judgment. Behind the swarm, falling further behind with each second, a lone firefly struggled in pursuit.
Something went by like a falling comet, if there were such a thing. "There goes Greenberg," said Anderson, grinning. The blue-white light faded slowly into the background of stars.
"The Golden Circle should be by in a few minutes," he added. "Greenberg's ship is just a touch faster."
Garner didn't answer.
Anderson turned to look at him. "Something bugging you?" he asked kindly.
Garner nodded. "I've been thinking about it for days. I just now realized that there isn't any good answer. It's like trying to keep a teleport in jail."
"What is?"
"Trying to keep either of those birds from picking up the amplifier."
He slapped his chair absently for the cigarette button, caught himself and scowled. "Look. We can't get to it first. We don't know how they plan to find it themselves. Probably they just remember where they put it. We don't even know how big it is! We can't arrest them; at least we can't arrest the ET because he'd just turn us into spare butlers, and we'll have trouble with Greenberg because he's got an armed ship and Masney can use the guns. He may be better than you, son." Garner looked horribly like a Greek tragic mask, but his voice was the voice of a very worried man. "It seems to me that the only thing we can do is shoot on sight."
"You can't do that!" Anderson protested. "You'll kill Greenberg and Masney both!"
"I don't want to kill anyone.
"Is it too late to call Ceres?"
"Direct, yes. She'll be behind the Trojans for a while."
"Tartov! Call Phoebe and say that there are three ships past Uranus, all en route to Neptune, all moving at approx the same speed. I want ETAs for each of them."
"I hear you, Lew."
The fleet of five ships looked like a small swarm of fireflies. They were only thousands of miles apart; they stayed that close to avoid irritating message delays. The distance would still have hidden them from each other if they had been using chemical fuels or ion jets, but the searing light of the fusion drives showed brighter than any of the surrounding stars.
"Here."
"I'm sure one of them is a honeymoon special. It's got a strong oxygen line in its spectrum."
"Yeah? The Arms are thorough, you've got to give them credit."
Tartov said, "They must be after something big. Something tremendous."
None of the others spoke. Perhaps they were reserving judgment. Behind the swarm, falling further behind with each second, a lone firefly struggled in pursuit.
Something went by like a falling comet, if there were such a thing. "There goes Greenberg," said Anderson, grinning. The blue-white light faded slowly into the background of stars.
"The Golden Circle should be by in a few minutes," he added. "Greenberg's ship is just a touch faster."
Garner didn't answer.
Anderson turned to look at him. "Something bugging you?" he asked kindly.
Garner nodded. "I've been thinking about it for days. I just now realized that there isn't any good answer. It's like trying to keep a teleport in jail."
"What is?"
"Trying to keep either of those birds from picking up the amplifier."
He slapped his chair absently for the cigarette button, caught himself and scowled. "Look. We can't get to it first. We don't know how they plan to find it themselves. Probably they just remember where they put it. We don't even know how big it is! We can't arrest them; at least we can't arrest the ET because he'd just turn us into spare butlers, and we'll have trouble with Greenberg because he's got an armed ship and Masney can use the guns. He may be better than you, son." Garner looked horribly like a Greek tragic mask, but his voice was the voice of a very worried man. "It seems to me that the only thing we can do is shoot on sight."
"You can't do that!" Anderson protested. "You'll kill Greenberg and Masney both!"
"I don't want to kill anyone.