[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
at this point.
We are still more valuable as clues to where the big ships are. They know us.
They know our psychology; they figured it out right away, that we wouldn't
deliberately sacrifice ourselves, that at some point a rescue would be
attempted.
"Hold on a moment," Hans said.
Ariel reached out a hand and Martin took it. "He's going to sacrifice us," she
said.
"Show me something," Martin told the ship, whatever kind of ship it was,
whatever size.
"Show me the outside. What's following us."
A small screen appeared against one wall. A white sphere filled the screen,
pocked by glowing blue dots.
"Harpal has your tagalong's coordinates," Hans said. "We'll get it. You should
see this, Martin.
It is in-credible!"
The white sphere blistered like a plastic ball hit by a torch. The blisters
spread open and the sphere diminished. Curls of darkness blanked the whirling
stars, streaming from the sphere, reaching toward them.
"Super acceleration," the ship's voice said. Fields seized again, and Martin
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screamed. The scream was forbidden and died as a hollow glurp in his throat.
He heard and saw again an unknown time later.
Harpal's voice in his ears. "We got your dog, Martin. Thought you should
know."
They have Gauge on
Greyhound.
My dog is waiting for me? No
"We noached it straight to hell," Harpal said. "It's a beautiful streamer of
plasma about fifty thousand klicks long. Christ, these weapons are
unbelievable
."
The craft following them had vanished. In its place wafted a wide, striated
shower of glowing debris, each piece fanning out in a straight line, vapors
like rays of sun through clouds.
Martin still held Ariel's hand. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at him
with an expression of intense grief.
"You're safe for the time being," Harpal said. "You're really rocketing. Can't
talk now. They haven't pinned us yet, but they're trying, wow are they
trying& "
Silence, long minutes, before Martin realized the noach message had ended.
Martin let go of Ariel's hand.
"They're doing it, aren't they?" she said.
Martin nodded. "They divided
Trojan Horse
."
"Who?"
"I didn't give any order. The moms. The ship itself."
"We're out of the action. Hans screwed you over double," she said.
Martin shook his head. "What?"
"By not letting you do the Job with him. And by cutting all of us out of the
decision." She turned away. "Will they pick us up?"
"I don't know."
Magnified images: a rocky planet, Lawn, sparkling fire snaking over its
surface. Greater magnification: strange superheated forests burning like
carpets of magnesium, ribbons of shredded land rising as if cut from paper,
something moving over the surface, dark and immense, not a shadow, more like a
finger drawing chaos in the rock.
Another: Big City, the finger moving yet again.
God's finger taking vengeance
.
Much smaller in the screen, another rocky world, not immediately familiar to
Martin, this one
dying in a particularly violent display, throwing chunks of itself into
darkness as if being chewed apart by immense beasts.
"Blinker," the ship's voice said. "It will consume itself. Nothing living or
ordered will survive."
"How?" Martin asked. "How can we do this?"
"Remote manipulation of forces within atomic nuclei," the ship's voice said.
"Blinker is particularly vulnerable, as a noach station of immense power.
Greyhound has found the main weakness, and exploited it."
"How much can
Greyhound destroy?" Martin asked.
"Uncertain. Defenses are not fully deployed."
Sleep appeared, surrounded by immense seeds with brushy tops, much like those
released from Puffball, reminding Martin of immune response in humans,
although on an astronomical scale. "Explain."
"Not clear. White objects in orbit around this world may try to confuse
targeting of noach weapons."
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Noach weapons. Confirmed.
A haze as fine as dust in air spread out with incredible speed visible even on
this scale -
from the scattered seed-puffs. A seed-puffs crown glowed brilliant orange,
then faded to green and vanished, leaving the thousand-kilometer "stem" to
precess slowly. As the minutes passed, another headless stem came into view
around the limb of Sleep and fell toward the planet. Its lower extremity
touched atmosphere. Slowly, slowly, across more minutes, the stem bent over
and laid itself in the atmosphere and across the surface, surrounded by
ripples of mixed crust and ocean, all vapor now, glowing dull red with bursts
of pink and white.
Soon all of Sleep became enveloped in a nacreous halo, plasma thousands of
kilometers thick turning it into a dim star. Radiation scoured the surface;
falling seed-puffs stirred it like mud, a mud of continents and oceans.
Martin could not believe that
Greyhound alone was responsible for this.
"Are we getting help& from somebody outside?" he asked, face pale.
Memories of watching
Earth. Same scale, but even more destruction
.
"There are no other combatants," the ship's voice said.
Gas Pump showed in the display now, immense plumes of mined volatiles
spreading out of control, white plasma shooting through, green and blue [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
at this point.
We are still more valuable as clues to where the big ships are. They know us.
They know our psychology; they figured it out right away, that we wouldn't
deliberately sacrifice ourselves, that at some point a rescue would be
attempted.
"Hold on a moment," Hans said.
Ariel reached out a hand and Martin took it. "He's going to sacrifice us," she
said.
"Show me something," Martin told the ship, whatever kind of ship it was,
whatever size.
"Show me the outside. What's following us."
A small screen appeared against one wall. A white sphere filled the screen,
pocked by glowing blue dots.
"Harpal has your tagalong's coordinates," Hans said. "We'll get it. You should
see this, Martin.
It is in-credible!"
The white sphere blistered like a plastic ball hit by a torch. The blisters
spread open and the sphere diminished. Curls of darkness blanked the whirling
stars, streaming from the sphere, reaching toward them.
"Super acceleration," the ship's voice said. Fields seized again, and Martin
Page 259
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
screamed. The scream was forbidden and died as a hollow glurp in his throat.
He heard and saw again an unknown time later.
Harpal's voice in his ears. "We got your dog, Martin. Thought you should
know."
They have Gauge on
Greyhound.
My dog is waiting for me? No
"We noached it straight to hell," Harpal said. "It's a beautiful streamer of
plasma about fifty thousand klicks long. Christ, these weapons are
unbelievable
."
The craft following them had vanished. In its place wafted a wide, striated
shower of glowing debris, each piece fanning out in a straight line, vapors
like rays of sun through clouds.
Martin still held Ariel's hand. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at him
with an expression of intense grief.
"You're safe for the time being," Harpal said. "You're really rocketing. Can't
talk now. They haven't pinned us yet, but they're trying, wow are they
trying& "
Silence, long minutes, before Martin realized the noach message had ended.
Martin let go of Ariel's hand.
"They're doing it, aren't they?" she said.
Martin nodded. "They divided
Trojan Horse
."
"Who?"
"I didn't give any order. The moms. The ship itself."
"We're out of the action. Hans screwed you over double," she said.
Martin shook his head. "What?"
"By not letting you do the Job with him. And by cutting all of us out of the
decision." She turned away. "Will they pick us up?"
"I don't know."
Magnified images: a rocky planet, Lawn, sparkling fire snaking over its
surface. Greater magnification: strange superheated forests burning like
carpets of magnesium, ribbons of shredded land rising as if cut from paper,
something moving over the surface, dark and immense, not a shadow, more like a
finger drawing chaos in the rock.
Another: Big City, the finger moving yet again.
God's finger taking vengeance
.
Much smaller in the screen, another rocky world, not immediately familiar to
Martin, this one
dying in a particularly violent display, throwing chunks of itself into
darkness as if being chewed apart by immense beasts.
"Blinker," the ship's voice said. "It will consume itself. Nothing living or
ordered will survive."
"How?" Martin asked. "How can we do this?"
"Remote manipulation of forces within atomic nuclei," the ship's voice said.
"Blinker is particularly vulnerable, as a noach station of immense power.
Greyhound has found the main weakness, and exploited it."
"How much can
Greyhound destroy?" Martin asked.
"Uncertain. Defenses are not fully deployed."
Sleep appeared, surrounded by immense seeds with brushy tops, much like those
released from Puffball, reminding Martin of immune response in humans,
although on an astronomical scale. "Explain."
"Not clear. White objects in orbit around this world may try to confuse
targeting of noach weapons."
Page 260
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Noach weapons. Confirmed.
A haze as fine as dust in air spread out with incredible speed visible even on
this scale -
from the scattered seed-puffs. A seed-puffs crown glowed brilliant orange,
then faded to green and vanished, leaving the thousand-kilometer "stem" to
precess slowly. As the minutes passed, another headless stem came into view
around the limb of Sleep and fell toward the planet. Its lower extremity
touched atmosphere. Slowly, slowly, across more minutes, the stem bent over
and laid itself in the atmosphere and across the surface, surrounded by
ripples of mixed crust and ocean, all vapor now, glowing dull red with bursts
of pink and white.
Soon all of Sleep became enveloped in a nacreous halo, plasma thousands of
kilometers thick turning it into a dim star. Radiation scoured the surface;
falling seed-puffs stirred it like mud, a mud of continents and oceans.
Martin could not believe that
Greyhound alone was responsible for this.
"Are we getting help& from somebody outside?" he asked, face pale.
Memories of watching
Earth. Same scale, but even more destruction
.
"There are no other combatants," the ship's voice said.
Gas Pump showed in the display now, immense plumes of mined volatiles
spreading out of control, white plasma shooting through, green and blue [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]