In Favour with Their Stars
- Автор: Новик Наоми
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «In Favour with Their Stars». Краткое содержание книги:
“I should say not,” Perscitia said. “Only look at what they have done to all our instrumentation, and our equipment! I suppose everything is ruined that we did not have under cover; it is beyond bearing. As for his ship, if you mean the Navy vessel that was up there—”
“Was?” Laurence said sharply.
“Oh, it is still up there,” Perscitia said, “but they have surrendered: the Bonapartists brought a cruiser.”
That was ominous indeed. “If they have a cruiser, they will have more than one landing strike force,” Laurence said to Temeraire urgently. “Have you other installations critical to keeping up the shield?”
“There is the secondary generator, on the southwest continent,” Temeraire said, “but our six Longwings live directly by it, so I don’t suppose they will have had any luck, unless there are a great deal more of them than there were here.”
Perscitia was already orchestrating a small army of robot hands, which had trooped out of the building behind her, to resurrect the communications; very shortly a message had been received confirming that the strike force had been sent, and dispatched in what Laurence gathered was a somewhat gruesome manner. “But they would not listen,” one of the Longwings, named Lily, said, sounding quite bewildered that a fully equipped Bonapartist heavy armor strike force should have dared to persevere in the face of ground resistance, “and those guns were terrible—Temeraire, Excidium is badly hurt; we must have the full medical unit here straightaway—so once we realized how dangerous they were, we went aloft and spat on them from there; I am afraid it was quite indiscriminate, and they are all of them mostly dead. We ruined a great deal of our own gear, too, and we cannot touch anything or go into the encampment, but fortunately the housing was not harmed, so the shield is perfectly secure at present.”
“So there is no need for any more fighting, at present?” Temeraire said—sounding, Laurence thought, rather wistful.
“No,” Lily said, with a like tone of regret.
“Sir,” Laurence said, “I entirely appreciate the Navy’s interest in this matter, but having spoken with the governor, I cannot offer you the least hope of persuading the dragons to relinquish the planet; nor do I consider it even a desirable course of action. We should have to divert at least a first-rate to adequately defend the system from orbit.”
“And you in all seriousness expect me to believe that a handful of untrained, largely unequipped dragons, the better part of them from antiquated and oversized breeding lines, are going to be a sufficient ground defense instead?” Admiral Roland regarded him with marked skepticism.
“I might point out that they have already turned aside two incursions,” Laurence said, “although I grant you, we cannot rely on the Bonapartists not to find ways to address their advantages; but supplying their want of equipment and training will surely be the more efficient solution—not to mention,” he added, “that any alternative should certainly involve having to remove them by force ourselves.”
He went outside after his conversation—he suspected his suggestions had been better received for lack of any really palatable alternatives, than for his own qualities of persuasion—and found Temeraire loitering outside, in as innocent a manner as a dragon the size of a dreadnought could manage, which was not wholly successful. He looked at Laurence when he had come out and said, with an attempt at coolness, “So I suppose that now we have settled the Bonapartists, you mean to press us again to let you quarry the planet.”
“As it happens,” Laurence said, “to the contrary: Admiral Roland wishes me to inform you that the Navy will send you some proper armor: we hope that if we can make you a sufficient bar to possession, the Bonapartists will be induced to give up their attempts to seize the planet, and you may proceed with your development as you like.”
“Oh! That is very handsome of her,” Temeraire said, sitting back on his haunches. “That is quite more than I had looked for; we will be very glad for the armor. I suppose I do not need to bargain with you, then.”
“I beg your pardon?” Laurence said.
“Well,” Temeraire said, “I have persuaded—that is, we have all talked it over together, and we think if you will give us some better tools, that there is no reason we might not extract perhaps a ton of trinium every year: Perscitia is of the opinion it would be quite manageable, without doing anything untoward, or making a ruin of things. So, if you like—we will give you the trinium, and you will give us more armor, and perhaps some more silken hangings, and send us some more elephants: we hope you may find it a reasonable exchange.”
“Good Lord,” Laurence said, “I should say so; but—” He hesitated; of course for the Navy’s sake, he ought merely to take it, straightaway; a ton of trinium a year would represent nearly a quarter of the entire Commonwealth’s supply. “But I think I must tell you,” he said, reluctantly, “that such a quantity of trinium will certainly encourage the most hostile intentions on the part of the Bonapartists: they will be far less likely to leave you unmolested. You will require more armor and more weaponry as well—a secondary shield at the least, and you must prepare for regular incursions; not merely attempts at invasion but raids, to seize whatever trinium they might lay their hands on; you may also be sure that they will fund piracy against you as well. You will have to devote considerable effort to meeting their offensives, and to training as well.”
“Pirates? Are you sure?” Temeraire said, his ruff pricking up, before he hastily cleared his throat and said with a tolerable attempt at carelessness, “But that does not matter: we have agreed we think it very poor-spirited of us to refuse to mine the trinium, only because we were afraid, which we aren’t at all; and certainly we must be prepared for them to make attacks in the future, regardless. Even though, naturally, under most circumstances we would prefer by far to devote ourselves entirely to scholarly pursuits, one must be prepared to make sacrifices.”
“That is very handsome of you,” Laurence said, beginning to be amused. “Well, if you are quite certain, I can assure you that Admiral Roland will be delighted to accept, and I am confident there will be no difficulty in making you a fair exchange, nor in equipping you suitably.”
Temeraire rubbed a talon over his forehead, pleased, and then cleared his throat, a peculiar deep rumbling noise. “But I suppose you will be leaving again, straightaway,” he said. “Once your ship has been repaired.”
“That, I am afraid, will be some time,” Laurence said. “The Reliant’s systems have been thoroughly compromised: she will have to be hauled to dry dock and purged. I have been seconded to you as a military advisor for the moment, if you will have me; Admiral Roland thought I might be of some use to you.” He had known, as he sought the assignment, that it was unwise: having allowed himself to be grounded, as it were, he might well not receive another ship. But aside from a sense of duty—he had felt the need they had of such an advisor, even before Temeraire had outlined to him their intentions—he found he could not leave this world without reluctance; there was work to be done here, and in an honorable company.
Temeraire’s ruff flared momentarily. “Oh, yes,” he said, “—that is, I am very glad to hear it, Captain; your assistance has been very useful to the colony; do you suppose,” he added, abandoning his pretense at formality, “that we might take a survey together, of our settlements? I should like at once to take consideration of our defenses.”