William R. Forstchen Wing Commander 07 Peter Telep Pilgrim Stars (BD) (v1.1)

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encompassed a circular room. The catwalk permitted full view of the ship's
drive system, a great metallic organ centered below. From a distance, the
place resembled an amphitheater, with the drive at center stage and emitting a
solid bass note so deep that Blair felt it pass through him as they crossed
toward a staircase that dropped fifteen meters to the drive deck. He gripped
the rail and descended, his gaze riveted to the hopper drive itself.
Mounted on a two-meter-high, rectangular durasteel base, the drive extended
about fifteen meters, bearing the exotic curves of some black, incandescent
melon. It tapered at the tail end to form a curving hose with the girth of two
men. The hose arced back to the center of the drive, where it grew wider by a
third and attached to a dome on the system's back. A conduit at least five
meters across jutted from the forward end and curved up ninety degrees to
reach the overhead. Blair assumed that the four robed men who had risen from
their control stations along the perimeter were drive officers; they bowed as
Aristee entered the room.
"As you were," she said.
"Jesus," Paladin mumbled, gaping at the drive. "Must've taken months to
install this system."
"Nine-point-three," Aristee qualified. "The Confederation could never
maintain security as tight as mine or create a better campaign of
misinformation. Your friends at Intell thought they had us figured out. I
wonder what they think now. Even my own command staff didn't know what was
going on down here. Some said it would be impossible." She sniggered.
"Gentlemen, I present to you the impossible."
Paladin pointed at the tube extending to the ceiling. "Well field
integrator?"
"Very good. The matter-antimatter reactor is housed in the dome. The reaction
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containment field is located below. Problems with the old hopper drive
occurred there. We used a Kilrathi alloy inside the drive to foster
containment, control the reaction, and account for gravitic distortions from
nearby objects. At least the cats are good for something else besides
killing."
"What's the range? If I recall, the old sloships were limited to twenty or
thirty percent of a light year."
"We're still experimenting with that, but our last jump took us nearly
halfway across Vega sector. You do the math."
"But isn't the field localized?"
"There's a relationship between the number of anti-gravitons created by the
field and the range. I don't pretend to understand it, but the more we
generate, the farther we go."
"Yeah, but as you generate more anti-gravitons, the well becomes more
unstable."
The commodore's fact left Aristee unmoved. "We're working on that, too. But
no matter how unstable the well becomes, we can still navigate it, either
through conventional NAVCOM AI or a Pilgrim navigator. Frotur McDaniel is
responsible for our success in that area."
"I'm just an old man," McDaniel said with a smile.
Paladin shook his head. "I wish you were."
"Ma'am, what you've done here is nothing short of remarkable," Blair said.
"But for what? Why show us this? And how do you justify killing millions on
Mylon? What do you want? Most terrorists have some sort of demands."
She stepped toward him, her fruity perfume beginning to sap away his anger.
"I'm not a terrorist, Brotur Christopher. I'm a victim, same as you. We were
chosen for the stars. The Confederation took them from us." She grinned
wistfully. "I don't expect to get them back. But I will start a revolution the
likes of which the Confederation has never seen. Even the Kilrathi will cower
in our presence. I'm not some insane fanatic who's hijacked her own ship with
the intention to kill as many humans as I can before I die a fiery death. You
think I'm that reckless? I know what's right for my people. And I'm going to
give it to them with the help of this drive. I show it to you because it's
yours ."
"No." Paladin's eyes narrowed in disgust.
"You can't strike and run forever," Blair said, his tone complementing the
commodore's expression. "This is just one ship, and the fleet will eventually
catch up with you." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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