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.His DAAS identified for him what he looked at.He had hisbattlecomp fix the great beam gun on the palace.And on the Kalif.Zarboshscanned his bridge crew at their stations.The command admiral had allowed himPage 202ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlaccess to fleet personnel records, back on Varatos, and he'd made the finalchoice of his officers based on instrumented interviews.These were men whowould not hesitate to follow orders, however extreme, and they need not knowthe Kalif was down there.The original plan had been to raze the capital of Iryala, destroying the sitesand instruments of its government.To destroy the bureaucracy and put allpower in the hands of imperial nobility.This was far better.He'd never imagined he'd have the Kalif himself in hisgun sight.Kargh had truly blessed him, chosen him to destroy the renegade murderer andprofligate who'd dishonored the Prophet's throne.He ordered the great beam gun charged, the most powerful in existence.Itwould, Zarbosh told himself, blast the Kalif's soul as well as his body.Andpunish the Asian for their insolence.Directly over the palace! Lotta transferred to the mind of Ldnvo Carlaby.Linvo was dozing at hisdesk, and awoke with a start at her urgent meld.In less than twenty secondshe was on the horn to the gate master, the lighter pilot, and all ships'bridges.He'd kept them on standby because of the number of imperial warships.The lighter would go first.The battleshipPertunis would follow.A battleship had far greater fighting ability than thegunboat, which was designed to attack stationary ground targets, but it lackedthe capacity for the quick kill of something as durable as theRetributor.While the destroyers already gated into the Aslarsan System lay parkedoutside the radiation belts.They'd take far too long to arrive.It took about two minutes for the gate master to find theRetributor with her scanner.It was stationary.Before she could move inclosely enough, a great shaft of energy appeared beneath the bombardment ship,stabbing downward at light speed.Then theRetributor began to move, accelerating quickly to perhaps mile a minute.Thegate a master flicked on her comm and told the lighter pilot, who was pilotingfrom an ejection module atop his craft."Position me abaft him!" the pilot barked."Quickly! Don't worry about aim ordistance!"The gate master didn't argue, didn't point out the unlikelihood of hitting amoving target.From its distance a mile away, the lighter started toward thegate, accelerating.The gate master watched for its ejection module to separate at about thefour-fifthsfile:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/J.almas%20-%20The%20Three-Cornered%20War.html (249 of 260) [10/31/2004 11:43:28 PM]John Dalmas - The Three-Cornered War point.It didn't.She stared, realizingwhat the pilot intended.The lighter emerged more than a mile behind theRetributor, at three times the speed, and closed quickly.At about a half mileseparation, the bombardment ship began a turn, in a maneuver to torch anotherswath across the city.Seen from the side, it was less than a fourth thelength of a battleship, though perhaps two-thirds the diameter.And ugly, thought the lighter pilot.Ugly!He didn't hesitate, but accelerated, cutting the angle.Till then thegunboat's bridge had either overlooked or ignored the lighter.Now it reacted,generating a shield.Only the inner layer had formed when the lighter struck.The explosion was awesome, driving the gunboat sideways, her shield blown outPage 203ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlof existence.The galaxy's greatest matric tap flared in an incredible burstof electrical energy that instantaneously heated the bulkheads incandescent.The monstrous beam gun's condenser blew then, bursting the heavily armoredhull.Of the lighter and her pilot, nothing would be recovered.Chapter 52 Wind-DownOn the third day after theRetributor's destruction, Lord Kristal called a conference of his War Council,its staff, and upper level commanders.The overall situation seemed secure,stable, and safe.The people summoned were highly informed on their areas ofresponsibility, but beyond that there were holes in their knowledge.Theconference would answer questions, help them clear their registers.Free theirattention from the war, as they settled into post-war functions.Because the king would attend, it was held in the lesser auditorium at thepalace.Forty-three persons seated themselves facing the speakers' table.Cameras wouldrecord the proceedings.Lord Kristal waited to preside.At eight sharp he tapped his bell."Thismeeting will come to order," he said."I anticipate a full day.We will take ahalf hour at eleven and three, for lunch [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]