Готовый перевод Калеки / Cripples: 1

— A warship? — said Alex.

The admiral nodded. A token smile appeared on his face.

— Let me guess... — muttered Alex, tipping back in the armchair.

The armchair was far from a standard device of metal and plastic for reliable bum replacement.

It was a creation of a real master - made of dark cherry wood, tapestry fabric and real leather.

The admiral's room was more like a boudoir of a blaze beauty - paintings on the walls, hand-made furniture, soft carpet on the floor.

Even the only screen was in a graceful silver frame.

Well, what else can you expect from people of Hedone?

- I am all attention, - said the admiral, touching up the lace lapel of his silk shirt.

- You found an ancient warship, - assumed Alex. - Thaii's ship. Or - dating back to the first Empire. Or belonging to the yet unknown civilization. The ship works, but it doesn't let anybody on board, it burns your ships and demands to call the password. But the hordes of evil conquerors are approaching to Hedone, and you urgently need to gain the control over the ship. That's why you need my crew. Right?

- How romantic! - the admiral admired. - Aye, you are a storyteller!

Needn't resent "storyteller" - poets, writers and other unnecessary bohemia was extremely popular in Hedone.

- Thank you. - Alex took the glass with a cocktail. Sipped with pleasure. - Did I guess?

- Unfortunately, situation is mush worse, - the admiral sighed. - The ship is brand new, right from the slipways. Defensive systems... er... disabled, even a child can get aboard. And we are not supposed to be attacked, believe me! Hedone is a peaceful planet, we have a space fleet only for aesthetic purposes.

Alex afforded a token smile too. There are no peaceful planets in the galaxy. Or, more accurate, there are some, but they change owners very often.

— What is your problem then?

Admiral indicated at the screen. Either screen was controlled via radioshunt or neuroterminal, or trained secretary, quietly sitting at a desk in the corner had no need of orders. Alex thought it is probably the latter — both implants and genetical specializations were discouraged at Hedone.

We bought the ship from the halflings, - said the admiral. - We ordered the most powerful, the most beautiful and the most excellent warship in the galaxy. The order have been carried out for eight years...

Alex wasn't listening. He put the glass away and stared on the screen, not even trying to hide a rapture look on his face.

The ship was beautiful.

In space battles, everything follows function. Warships need to have maximum tonnage and hull area, because tonnage means energy, computers, armaments, and the somewhat less-important weight taking the form of a crew, and the hull is armor that even with all the defensive fields still always needs to be thicker.

What does it mean in practice?

The simpliest arithmetic task and the simpliest geometric figure.

Space battle is a battle of spheres.

Spheres of all manner of sizes smoothly slip (if you're watching from far off; if you're close-up they zoom) through space. The small spheres are fighters, slightly larger are destroyers, larger than that are cruisers, and the really big ones are battleships. If there is one, then among the ships you'll also see the gargantuan sphere of a dreadnaught.

Some of the spheres are shiny - that means they're equipped with reflective armor. Others are black - that means they're equipped with absorbent armor. The third are shifting-colored - that means that you've had the good fortune to glimpse newer ships with dynamic armor. That said, under black armor most likely you'd find reflective; under reflective, black; under the expensive and thus far not-in-service shifting-colored, a pair of layers of standard.

That's not arithmetic or geometry. That's physics.

That's mechanics.

That's tactics

That's tradition.

Sometimes one of the spheres quits maneuvering and gets carried away by simple inertia. Sometimes, it's transformed into a flash of light.

It is the end.

The ship, made for Hedone by the haflings, was like an alien - no, not from another world, laws of physics and geometry are the same in the whole Universe. It looks like an alien from another time. Dating back to the ancient and odd ages, when the weaponry was made not just deadly, but also beautiful.

— A flower... — said Alex admiringly.

- We called it "Silver Rose", - the admiral said proudly. - A beautiful ship, isn't it?

The ship slowly began to rotate, and Alex understood that the "flower" wasn't even symmetric. The "Petals" differed in shape and thickness, curvature of the bend. The "stem" wasn't totally smooth and straight either, the "spikes" were scattered completely chaotically.

— And what's your problem? — said Alex, stopping staring at the screen with some effort.

- It doesn't want to fight, - the admiral quietly admitted.

— Alex waved his hands:

- Wonderful! I got it, admiral! The halfligns equipped the ship with a too perfect computer! And that one retrieved a personality, understood all the horrors of war and refused to kill! Right?

Alex looked at the admiral attentively. The admiral looked away.

— Okay, — said Alex. — I understand. How does it looks in practice?

- Of course, you refused, - Alex said insinuatingly. - Hedone is a peaceful planet.

The admiral kept silent.

- What war have you dropped into? - asked Alex.

- The conflict Arboro - Dzeych.

- On which side?

- Of course, Arboro! - resented the admiral.

The admiral coughed:

- Well... there were rumors...

- You sent your ship .... the most powerful ship in the galaxy ... against the most aggressive empire in human space! - Alex whistled - Congratulations! So you annhiliated the Jeych fleet?

Technically, «Silver Rose» wasn't a part of our fleet yet…

- Really?

- It is ready to cooperate with new crew... if they will prove themselves.

- And we have to be this crew. - Alex nodded. - I see.

- It's battleworthy... just has a very high opinion of him...

- Admiral!

The price was extremely high, - muttered the admiral. - We bargained...

Alex sighed:

- Even children know, you don't negotiate with halflings! Never! If you haggle, you insult them, devaluing their labor and craftsmanship! That means they'll feel justified in cheating their buyer!

- Add a zero, said Alex.

- Almost forty, said the admiral, and Alex for some reason believed him.

- Well then go ahead and pay fifty. And consider yourself fortunate.

The admiral shook his head

- You don't understand. I'd pay fifty. I'd even pay a hundred. But there's idiots in the government - great poets, genial writers, orthodox painters. They need millions for memorials made from Mazian crystal, for emotionally touching paints for the academy of landscapes, to create books of real paper in leather bindings...

- How many can you pay? - Alek asked

Fifteen. I've been permitted to bargain up to that price.

- Put a one in front of that, said Alex. - I believe you.

- No guarantees. Except our reputation.

— Good evening, captain, — said woman.

Внимание! Этот перевод, возможно, ещё не готов.
Его статус: идёт перевод

Переведено на Нотабеноиде
http://notabenoid.org/book/25895/86316

Переводчики: Kuropatka, Kelenius, TedNinja, neangel452