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. Another matter entered his mind, and he cleared his throat. Mylord, he began, perhaps you will recall our tactical discussion the otherday.When I& suggested some rather unformed ideas regarding fleet tactics. Do-faq s expression was unreadable. Yes, lord captain, he said, I recallthe discussion. Well, the ideas have grown more, ah, formed. Briefly, he explained the attempt to encapsule the new formations within a bitof elegant mathematics. That was Lieutenant Shankaracharya s particular contribution, he said.Do-faq s answer was instant. You shared the data from Magaria with yourlieutenants? Ah yes, lord squadcom. I very much doubt the wisdom of this.Our superiors have decided that thisinformation must be controlled. Which superiors? As Sula s theory flashed into Martinez s mind. My lieutenants are reliable people, my lord, he said.Best not mentionAlikhan. I have every confidence in their discretion. They may be disheartened.They may spread defeatism. But everyoneknows we got thrashed at Magaria, Martinez wanted to say.Butinstead he said, The news seemed to inspire them to greater efforts, my lord.They know how critical our work could be to the outcome of the war. Do-faq s golden eyes probed at him for a long moment. Well, it s too latenow, he decided. I trust you will caution your officers not to go aboutspreading rumors. file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis.d%20Empire's%20Fall%2002%20-%20The%20Sundering.html (41 of 324)23-2-2006 20:21:29Williams, Walter Jon - [Dead Empire's Fall 02] - The Sundering Of course, my lord. He hesitated. Would you like to see the formula and ananalysis, my lord? There are some unexpected conclusions. Page 30 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlNot least of which was that the effective range of a warship s missiles wereconsiderably less than anyone had expected.Even Shankaracharya hadconfidently predicted that the missiles would have a much greater range thanships defensive armament; but analysis of the fighting at Magaria showed thatwhile a ship could of course launch a missile at long range, a longer flighttime only gave a target s defenses a longer time to track the missile andshoot it down.The missiles that had the greatest chance of doing damagetended to be fired in swarms from fairly close range, and launched behind ascreen of exploding antimatter missiles that confused enemy sensors. Send the analysis, by all means, Do-faq said. I ll review it with mytactical officer. Very good, my lord. Martinez briefly reviewed the analysis he d prepared for Do-faq, gnawed hislip over the phrasing of the analysis, and then sent it personal to thesquadron commander just as the tone sounded for reduced gees.His acceleration cage creaked as the gravities came off, and the soft pressureof his suit relaxed its grip on his arms and legs.He felt his chest expand,the sensation of relief and relaxation in his diaphragm, as he snapped up thefaceplate and tasted the control room s cool, sterile air.There would be a twenty-six minute bathroom, recreation, and snack break atone gravity, then renewed acceleration at high gee.And a higher gee thananyone else knew. Vonderheydte, Martinez said. Yes, my lord. General message to the squadron.Inform them that we have received orders toaccelerate ahead of the heavy squadron and return to Zanshaa.Tell them weshall accelerate to three point two gravities once the current break hasended, at 19:26. The brief hesitation in reply told of Vonderheydte s dismay. Very good, mylord. Heavier gees should take the zest out of Vonderheydte s fantasy life, Martinezreflected, and he unlocked the cage s displays and pushed them above his headand out of the way.Then he tipped the cage forward till his boots touched thefloor, and he released the webbing and stood.Blood swirled uneasily in his head, and he kept a hand clamped on the cagetubing until the vertigo eased.file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis.d%20Empire's%20Fall%2002%20-%20The%20Sundering.html (42 of 324)23-2-2006 20:21:29Williams, Walter Jon - [Dead Empire's Fall 02] - The SunderingHe d have some water, perhaps, or juice.And more meds to help endure theupcoming acceleration.From this point on, he thought, the joy of command was going to beconsiderably reduced.It was reduced by a larger margin four hours later, during the supper break,when a call came fromCaptain Kamarullah, personal to Martinez.Martinez answered it in his office,where he was nibbling a sandwich while catching up onCorona s administrativework.Around the desk, towering in special racks to brace them against hardaccelerations, were the two Home Fleet Trophies won by CaptainTarafah s football teams, plus a second-place trophy and various prizes won byTarafah in other commands.Martinez wasn t after trophies himself.If he could just get throughtomorrow s maneuvers without a visit from Mr.Calamity, he d be satisfied. This is Martinez, he said, turning on the comm display.Kamarullah s squareface appeared, his eyes directed somewhere behind Martinez s right ear. Captain Martinez, I m sorry to interrupt your meal break. That s all right, lord captain.What can I do for you? Martinez kept his eyes directed toward his desktop, where he was looking at aPage 31 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlreport in regard to the replacement of an erratic turbopump used in the enginecooling system.The relevant cooling line would be offline for an estimatedten hours while the work was done by robots operated remotely by crew fromtheir acceleration couches; or six hours if the repair were done by hand.Martinez put his stylus to the desktop, and authorized the robotic repair.Coronawouldn t have six hours under light enough gees to make a hand repairsafe. My lord captain, Kamarullah said, I wonder if I might beg from you aclarification. Martinez gazed at the next report, which had to do with the condemnation ofsupplies damaged by high accelerations, and said, How may I be of service, mylord? I wonder who it was who issued the order separating this squadron from thatof Lord Commander Do-faq? Martinez cast his mind back to the orders he d received that afternoon fromDo-faq. The orders originated with the Fleet Control Board, he said. And not with the lord commander? file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis.d%20Empire's%20Fall%2002%20-%20The%20Sundering.html (43 of 324)23-2-2006 20:21:29Williams, Walter Jon - [Dead Empire's Fall 02] - The Sundering No, my lord. There was a moment s silence. In that case, lord elcap, Kamarullah said, Imust inform you that, as the senior officer present, I am now in command ofthis squadron. Surprise sang through Martinez s veins, but his reply was automatic, andquick. Not so, my lord. But we re now under Control Board orders, Kamarullah said, and no longerunder the command ofLord Commander Do-faq.His order placing you in command is no longer ineffect.Therefore the senior officer now commands the squadron, and thatsenior officer is me. Martinez tried to set his face in an expression of mild interest as he sortedthis out.With his stylus, he condemned the stores.Another report flashed onto hisdesk
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Tematy
IndexHieber Leanna Renee Percy Parker 02 Walka œwiatła i mroku o Percy Parker
Lensman 02 Smith, E E 'Doc' First Lensman
Swann S. A. Wilczy miot 02 Wilczy Amulet
Benzoni Juliette Fiora 02 Fiora i zuchwały
Kaplan Andrew Skorpion 02 Zima Skorpiona
Anne Stuart Czarny lód 02 Zimny jak lód
Gauze Jan Brazylia 02 Brazylia mierzona krokami
Bidwell George Michał i Pat 02 Synowie Pat
Stuart Anne Czarny lód 02 Zimny jak lód
George Shulman American Prophecy; Race and Redemption in American Political Culture (2008)