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.Like tigers in a cage they prowledrestlessly up and down the tunnel, spying on the daily activities of the pirates.They paid particularattention to the doings of the pirate leader, Ling.He seemed almost as edgy as they were, snarlingirritably at his men, performing his administrative duties in a foul temper, pacing around the partiallydestroyed communications room like a man expecting an important message any minute.The two SOTEagents decided he must be awaiting some orders from his superiors in this conspiracy.On the morning of the third day after their escape, Yvette and Pias heard one oS the corn officersdeliver a verbal message to his commander."Message relayed from C, sir," the man said."The impostershave all arrived as planned, and will be in the hall to take up their positions at the necessary time.If thecoup goes well, you'll be given your orders to move in about twenty-four hours, but you are not to makeany move at all until you receive the word.""More standing and waiting, damn it!" Ling spat angrily."It's driving me crazy.Smooth, tell C that Iacknowledge his instructions.but I don't have to enjoy them.Don't, of course, tell him that."The two SOTE agents, listening in secret, had gotten an earful.The word "coup" had put them instantlyon their toes, but they were powerless to do anything more than speculate at present.The reference tothe impostor puzzled them until, after talking over in quiet whispers with the passengers, they learned thateach of them had had personal identification taken away-rings, ID cards, et cetera."That's why they had a copy of the passenger list," Pias said."They're going to impersonate all thenobility that was aboard the Querida.But how can they hope to get away with an impersonation likethat? The computers should be able to spot the frauds in a second.""It's possible to make exact robot doubles of people," Yvette told him."Jules and I already ran acrossone that was frighteningly perfect.""There were thirty nobles on the passenger list.Could they make that many robots?""I don't know.Jules and I have only learned about three more on the loose-and two of those were madeto look like people from high-gray worlds, which wouldn't match any of these passengers at all.Theyapparently are very difficult machines to construct, but even so this conspiracy is well financed.I'd haveto think about it some more." "That mention of twenty-four hours-it must refer to the Princess's wedding.That's scheduled for tomorrow." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"I know." Yvette slumped down to a sitting position against the wall."It all makes me feel so impotent,knowing something's going to happen and being unable to do anything."Pias gave her a smile."We have an old saying on Newforest- `You can't steal a chicken while wearingboxing, gloves.""What's that supposed to mean?""It means that the first thing you have to do is take off the gloves.We've got moves on right now, and wecan't do anything else until we get them off-which won't be until your family rescues us tomorrow.Besides, your brother's on Earth; he's probably already got everything well in hand."Yvette did not tell Pias about one other thing that was worrying her-this new factor of a boss knownonly as "C." Ho%v did he relate to Lady A in the conspiracy's hierarchy? Was he her boss, her equal orher subordinate? And did the existence of an A and a C also indicate the possibility of a "B" runningaround somewhere behind the scenes?There were no answers to her questions, and she dared not risk breaking the cover of all the peoplehere just to find a little more information.She could only hope her father would get here soon and rescuethem so that they could send the news about the attempted coup back to Earth as fast as possible.The attack, when it did come, was so skillfully done that it was halfway over before the pirates evenrealized it was occurring.The big circus ship emerged from subspace more Than a full light-second awayfrom the pirates' asteroid-well out of its detection range.It launched a projectile at its target that lookedlike merely another rock, a piece of space debris no more than a dozen meters in diameter.Because therock was so small, and because it had no means of self-propulsion for the pirates' sensors to detect, itfailed to activate the automatic alarm system.The course it was traveling would take it no closer than ahundred meters from the base, so there was seemingly no reason for concern.However, shortly beforethe rock reached its nearest point to the asteroid, it burst apart and elected a score of figures clad inspace battle armor.Like the tiny car that pulls into the center of the circus ring and disgorges limitlessnumbers of clowns.the rock had been packed full of d'Alemberts waiting for just the proper moment toemerge.Activating small airjets on their suits, they rocketed silently down to the surface of the asteroidwithout giving the inhabitants the slightest notice of their existence. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlAnother rock flew past shortly behind the first.This one also sprang apart to release its contents-a fewmore members of the d'Alembert clan as well as all the equipment the invading force would need.These,too.were jetted down to the surface without detection.Now the invaders were ready to get to work.Three of them separated from the group and went to theoutside gum emplacements.Once the fighting started on other fronts, the pirates would not be payingattention to more alarms ringing; it would then be the job of these three to dismantle the automaticblasters that guarded the asteroid, so that the circus ship and its naval companion could come in closerand use their own weaponry to aid in the battle.The rest of the d'Alemberts clustered around the four main airlocks of the pirate base.With them theyhad small boarding hatches, identical in concept with the ones the pirates themselves had used to breakinto the Querida.These people were used to working as a team, as they regularly put up the Circus'stents wherever they played.Within a matter of only a few seconds, the attack was ready to begin inearnest.Alarm bells started ringing within the base as the d'Alemberts applied their cutting torches to the outsideof the airlocks.They wasted little time with formality; they were through the outer walls before most ofthe pirates even realized precisely what was going on.The defenders had little time to get into their own battle armor before the fighting was underway.Soon the major corridors were sizzling with energy as blaster bolts beamed up and down their length.Asthe d'Alembert forces poured in from four different entrances at once, pockets of defenders foundthemselves cut off and isolated from their comrades.The d'Alemberts, for their part, were merciless inexterminating anyone who showed even the least bit of resistance.- Alarms were also ringing in the central control room, indicating that the big exterior blasters were beingtampered with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Like tigers in a cage they prowledrestlessly up and down the tunnel, spying on the daily activities of the pirates.They paid particularattention to the doings of the pirate leader, Ling.He seemed almost as edgy as they were, snarlingirritably at his men, performing his administrative duties in a foul temper, pacing around the partiallydestroyed communications room like a man expecting an important message any minute.The two SOTEagents decided he must be awaiting some orders from his superiors in this conspiracy.On the morning of the third day after their escape, Yvette and Pias heard one oS the corn officersdeliver a verbal message to his commander."Message relayed from C, sir," the man said."The impostershave all arrived as planned, and will be in the hall to take up their positions at the necessary time.If thecoup goes well, you'll be given your orders to move in about twenty-four hours, but you are not to makeany move at all until you receive the word.""More standing and waiting, damn it!" Ling spat angrily."It's driving me crazy.Smooth, tell C that Iacknowledge his instructions.but I don't have to enjoy them.Don't, of course, tell him that."The two SOTE agents, listening in secret, had gotten an earful.The word "coup" had put them instantlyon their toes, but they were powerless to do anything more than speculate at present.The reference tothe impostor puzzled them until, after talking over in quiet whispers with the passengers, they learned thateach of them had had personal identification taken away-rings, ID cards, et cetera."That's why they had a copy of the passenger list," Pias said."They're going to impersonate all thenobility that was aboard the Querida.But how can they hope to get away with an impersonation likethat? The computers should be able to spot the frauds in a second.""It's possible to make exact robot doubles of people," Yvette told him."Jules and I already ran acrossone that was frighteningly perfect.""There were thirty nobles on the passenger list.Could they make that many robots?""I don't know.Jules and I have only learned about three more on the loose-and two of those were madeto look like people from high-gray worlds, which wouldn't match any of these passengers at all.Theyapparently are very difficult machines to construct, but even so this conspiracy is well financed.I'd haveto think about it some more." "That mention of twenty-four hours-it must refer to the Princess's wedding.That's scheduled for tomorrow." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"I know." Yvette slumped down to a sitting position against the wall."It all makes me feel so impotent,knowing something's going to happen and being unable to do anything."Pias gave her a smile."We have an old saying on Newforest- `You can't steal a chicken while wearingboxing, gloves.""What's that supposed to mean?""It means that the first thing you have to do is take off the gloves.We've got moves on right now, and wecan't do anything else until we get them off-which won't be until your family rescues us tomorrow.Besides, your brother's on Earth; he's probably already got everything well in hand."Yvette did not tell Pias about one other thing that was worrying her-this new factor of a boss knownonly as "C." Ho%v did he relate to Lady A in the conspiracy's hierarchy? Was he her boss, her equal orher subordinate? And did the existence of an A and a C also indicate the possibility of a "B" runningaround somewhere behind the scenes?There were no answers to her questions, and she dared not risk breaking the cover of all the peoplehere just to find a little more information.She could only hope her father would get here soon and rescuethem so that they could send the news about the attempted coup back to Earth as fast as possible.The attack, when it did come, was so skillfully done that it was halfway over before the pirates evenrealized it was occurring.The big circus ship emerged from subspace more Than a full light-second awayfrom the pirates' asteroid-well out of its detection range.It launched a projectile at its target that lookedlike merely another rock, a piece of space debris no more than a dozen meters in diameter.Because therock was so small, and because it had no means of self-propulsion for the pirates' sensors to detect, itfailed to activate the automatic alarm system.The course it was traveling would take it no closer than ahundred meters from the base, so there was seemingly no reason for concern.However, shortly beforethe rock reached its nearest point to the asteroid, it burst apart and elected a score of figures clad inspace battle armor.Like the tiny car that pulls into the center of the circus ring and disgorges limitlessnumbers of clowns.the rock had been packed full of d'Alemberts waiting for just the proper moment toemerge.Activating small airjets on their suits, they rocketed silently down to the surface of the asteroidwithout giving the inhabitants the slightest notice of their existence. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlAnother rock flew past shortly behind the first.This one also sprang apart to release its contents-a fewmore members of the d'Alembert clan as well as all the equipment the invading force would need.These,too.were jetted down to the surface without detection.Now the invaders were ready to get to work.Three of them separated from the group and went to theoutside gum emplacements.Once the fighting started on other fronts, the pirates would not be payingattention to more alarms ringing; it would then be the job of these three to dismantle the automaticblasters that guarded the asteroid, so that the circus ship and its naval companion could come in closerand use their own weaponry to aid in the battle.The rest of the d'Alemberts clustered around the four main airlocks of the pirate base.With them theyhad small boarding hatches, identical in concept with the ones the pirates themselves had used to breakinto the Querida.These people were used to working as a team, as they regularly put up the Circus'stents wherever they played.Within a matter of only a few seconds, the attack was ready to begin inearnest.Alarm bells started ringing within the base as the d'Alemberts applied their cutting torches to the outsideof the airlocks.They wasted little time with formality; they were through the outer walls before most ofthe pirates even realized precisely what was going on.The defenders had little time to get into their own battle armor before the fighting was underway.Soon the major corridors were sizzling with energy as blaster bolts beamed up and down their length.Asthe d'Alembert forces poured in from four different entrances at once, pockets of defenders foundthemselves cut off and isolated from their comrades.The d'Alemberts, for their part, were merciless inexterminating anyone who showed even the least bit of resistance.- Alarms were also ringing in the central control room, indicating that the big exterior blasters were beingtampered with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]