[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
the office, the star itself in outline to the left. Pointing, Donal read off
the planets in their order, moving off to the right. Mara Kultis Ste.
Marie-Coby. As close a group of habitable planets as we re likely to discover
in the next ten generations. And simply because they are habitable and close,
therefore we have this escaped moon, Zombri, in its own eccentric orbit lying
largely between Coby and St. Marie
Are you lecturing me? interrupted Bright s harsh voice.
I am, said Donal. It s been my experience that the things people tend to
overlook are those they learned earliest and believe they know best. Zombri is
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not habitable and too small for terraforming. Yet it exists like the Trojan
horse, lacking only its complement of latter-day Acheans to threaten the
Procyon peace
We ve discussed this before, broke in Bright.
And we ll continue to discuss it, continued Donal, pleasantly, whenever
you wish to ask for the reason behind any individual order of mine. As I was
saying Zombri is the Trojan horse of the Procyon city. Unfortunately, in this
day and age, we can hardly smuggle men onto it. We can, however, make a sudden
landing in force and attempt to set up defenses before the Exotics are
alerted. Our effort, then, must be to make our landing as quickly and
effectively as possible. To do that best is to land virtually unopposed in
spite of the fact that the Exotics will undoubtedly have a regular force
keeping its eye on Zombri. The best way to achieve that is to appear in
overwhelming strength, so that the local commanders will realize it is foolish
to attempt to interfere with our landing. And the best way to put on a show of
strength is to appear to have three times the ships of the first class that we
do have. Therefore the sheathing.
Donal stopped talking, walked back across to the desk, and pressed the keys.
The schematic disappeared.
Very well, said Bright. The tone of his voice showed no trace of defeat or
loss of arrogance. I will authorize the order.
Perhaps, said Donal, you ll also authorize another order to remove the
Conscience Guardians from my ships and units.
Heretics began Bright.
Are no concern of mine, said Donal. My job is to get these people ready to
mount an assault. But I ve got over sixty per cent native troops of yours
under me; and their morale is hardly being improved, on an average of three
trials for heresy a week.
This is a church matter, said Bright. Is there anything else you wished to
ask me, War Chief?
Yes, said Donal. I ordered mining equipment. It hasn t arrived.
The order was excessive, said Bright. There should be no need to dig in
anything but the command posts, on Zombri.
Donal looked at the black-clad man for a long moment. His white face and
white hands the only uncovered part of him seemed rather the false part than
the real, as if they were mask and gloves attached to some black and alien
creature.
Let s understand each other, said Donal. Aside from the fact that I don t
order men into exposed positions where they ll be killed whether they re
mercenaries or your own suicide-happy troops, just what do you want to
accomplish by this move against the Exotics?
They threaten us, answered Bright. They are worse than the heretics. They
are Satan s own legion the deniers of God. The man s eyes glittered like ice
in the sunlight. We must establish a watchtower over them that they may not
threaten us without warning; and we may live in safety.
All right, said Donal. That s settled then. I ll get you your watchtower.
Page 83
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
And you get me the men and equipment I order without question and without
delay. Already, these hesitations of your government mean I ll be going into
Zombri ten to fifteen per cent understrength.
What? Bright s dark brows drew together. You ve got two months yet until
Target Date.
Target Dates, said Donal, are for the benefit of enemy intelligence. We ll
be jumping off in two weeks.
Two weeks! Bright stared at him. You can t be ready in two weeks.
I earnestly hope Colmain and his General Staff for Mara and Kultis agrees
with you, replied Donal. They ve the best land and space forces between the
stars.
How? Bright s face paled with anger. You dare to say that our own
organization s inferior?
Facing facts is definitely preferable to facing defeat, said Donal, a
little tiredly. Yes, Eldest, our forces are definitely inferior. Which is why
I m depending on surprise rather than preparation.
The Soldiers of the Church are the bravest in the universe! cried Bright.
They wear the armor of righteousness and never retreat.
Which explains their high casualty rate, regular necessity for green
replacements, and general lower level of training, Donal reminded him. A
willingness to die in battle is not necessarily the best trait in a soldier.
Your mercenary units, where you ve kept them free of native replacements, are
decidedly more combat-ready at the moment. Do I have your backing from now on,
for anything I feel I need?
Bright hesitated. The tension of fanaticism relaxed out of his face, to be
replaced by one of thoughtfulness. When he spoke again his voice was cold and
businesslike.
On everything but the Conscience Guardians, he answered. They have
authority, after all, only over our own Members of the Churches. He turned
and walked around once more behind his desk. Also, he said, a trifle grimly,
you may have noticed that there are sometimes small differences of opinion
concerning dogma between members of differing Churches. The presence of the
Conscience Guardians among them makes them less prone to dispute, one with the
other and this you ll grant, I m sure, is an aid to military discipline.
It s effective, said Donal, shortly. He turned himself to go. Oh, by the
way, Eldest, he said. That true Target Date of two weeks from today. It s
essential it remain secret; so I ve made sure it s known only to two men and
will remain their knowledge exclusively until an hour or so before jump-off.
Bright s head came up.
Who s the other? he demanded sharply.
You, sir, said Donal. I just made my decision about the true date a minute
ago.
They locked eyes for a long minute.
May God be with you, said Bright, in cold, even tones.
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Donal went out.
War Chief II
Geneve bar-Colmain was, as Donal had said, commander of the best
land-and-space forces between the stars. This because the Exotics of Mara and
Kultis, though they would do no violence in their own proper persons, were
wise enough to hire the best available in the way of military strength.
Colmain, himself, was one of the top military minds of his time, along with
Galt on Freiland, Kamal on the Dorsai, Isaac on Venus, and that occasional
worker of military miracles Dom Yen, Supreme Commander on the single world of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl ocenkijessi.opx.pl
the office, the star itself in outline to the left. Pointing, Donal read off
the planets in their order, moving off to the right. Mara Kultis Ste.
Marie-Coby. As close a group of habitable planets as we re likely to discover
in the next ten generations. And simply because they are habitable and close,
therefore we have this escaped moon, Zombri, in its own eccentric orbit lying
largely between Coby and St. Marie
Are you lecturing me? interrupted Bright s harsh voice.
I am, said Donal. It s been my experience that the things people tend to
overlook are those they learned earliest and believe they know best. Zombri is
Page 82
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
not habitable and too small for terraforming. Yet it exists like the Trojan
horse, lacking only its complement of latter-day Acheans to threaten the
Procyon peace
We ve discussed this before, broke in Bright.
And we ll continue to discuss it, continued Donal, pleasantly, whenever
you wish to ask for the reason behind any individual order of mine. As I was
saying Zombri is the Trojan horse of the Procyon city. Unfortunately, in this
day and age, we can hardly smuggle men onto it. We can, however, make a sudden
landing in force and attempt to set up defenses before the Exotics are
alerted. Our effort, then, must be to make our landing as quickly and
effectively as possible. To do that best is to land virtually unopposed in
spite of the fact that the Exotics will undoubtedly have a regular force
keeping its eye on Zombri. The best way to achieve that is to appear in
overwhelming strength, so that the local commanders will realize it is foolish
to attempt to interfere with our landing. And the best way to put on a show of
strength is to appear to have three times the ships of the first class that we
do have. Therefore the sheathing.
Donal stopped talking, walked back across to the desk, and pressed the keys.
The schematic disappeared.
Very well, said Bright. The tone of his voice showed no trace of defeat or
loss of arrogance. I will authorize the order.
Perhaps, said Donal, you ll also authorize another order to remove the
Conscience Guardians from my ships and units.
Heretics began Bright.
Are no concern of mine, said Donal. My job is to get these people ready to
mount an assault. But I ve got over sixty per cent native troops of yours
under me; and their morale is hardly being improved, on an average of three
trials for heresy a week.
This is a church matter, said Bright. Is there anything else you wished to
ask me, War Chief?
Yes, said Donal. I ordered mining equipment. It hasn t arrived.
The order was excessive, said Bright. There should be no need to dig in
anything but the command posts, on Zombri.
Donal looked at the black-clad man for a long moment. His white face and
white hands the only uncovered part of him seemed rather the false part than
the real, as if they were mask and gloves attached to some black and alien
creature.
Let s understand each other, said Donal. Aside from the fact that I don t
order men into exposed positions where they ll be killed whether they re
mercenaries or your own suicide-happy troops, just what do you want to
accomplish by this move against the Exotics?
They threaten us, answered Bright. They are worse than the heretics. They
are Satan s own legion the deniers of God. The man s eyes glittered like ice
in the sunlight. We must establish a watchtower over them that they may not
threaten us without warning; and we may live in safety.
All right, said Donal. That s settled then. I ll get you your watchtower.
Page 83
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
And you get me the men and equipment I order without question and without
delay. Already, these hesitations of your government mean I ll be going into
Zombri ten to fifteen per cent understrength.
What? Bright s dark brows drew together. You ve got two months yet until
Target Date.
Target Dates, said Donal, are for the benefit of enemy intelligence. We ll
be jumping off in two weeks.
Two weeks! Bright stared at him. You can t be ready in two weeks.
I earnestly hope Colmain and his General Staff for Mara and Kultis agrees
with you, replied Donal. They ve the best land and space forces between the
stars.
How? Bright s face paled with anger. You dare to say that our own
organization s inferior?
Facing facts is definitely preferable to facing defeat, said Donal, a
little tiredly. Yes, Eldest, our forces are definitely inferior. Which is why
I m depending on surprise rather than preparation.
The Soldiers of the Church are the bravest in the universe! cried Bright.
They wear the armor of righteousness and never retreat.
Which explains their high casualty rate, regular necessity for green
replacements, and general lower level of training, Donal reminded him. A
willingness to die in battle is not necessarily the best trait in a soldier.
Your mercenary units, where you ve kept them free of native replacements, are
decidedly more combat-ready at the moment. Do I have your backing from now on,
for anything I feel I need?
Bright hesitated. The tension of fanaticism relaxed out of his face, to be
replaced by one of thoughtfulness. When he spoke again his voice was cold and
businesslike.
On everything but the Conscience Guardians, he answered. They have
authority, after all, only over our own Members of the Churches. He turned
and walked around once more behind his desk. Also, he said, a trifle grimly,
you may have noticed that there are sometimes small differences of opinion
concerning dogma between members of differing Churches. The presence of the
Conscience Guardians among them makes them less prone to dispute, one with the
other and this you ll grant, I m sure, is an aid to military discipline.
It s effective, said Donal, shortly. He turned himself to go. Oh, by the
way, Eldest, he said. That true Target Date of two weeks from today. It s
essential it remain secret; so I ve made sure it s known only to two men and
will remain their knowledge exclusively until an hour or so before jump-off.
Bright s head came up.
Who s the other? he demanded sharply.
You, sir, said Donal. I just made my decision about the true date a minute
ago.
They locked eyes for a long minute.
May God be with you, said Bright, in cold, even tones.
Page 84
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Donal went out.
War Chief II
Geneve bar-Colmain was, as Donal had said, commander of the best
land-and-space forces between the stars. This because the Exotics of Mara and
Kultis, though they would do no violence in their own proper persons, were
wise enough to hire the best available in the way of military strength.
Colmain, himself, was one of the top military minds of his time, along with
Galt on Freiland, Kamal on the Dorsai, Isaac on Venus, and that occasional
worker of military miracles Dom Yen, Supreme Commander on the single world of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]