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r r
numbers at the base and the new town to less than ten anywhere nearby.
Climatologists tell me we'll never eliminate them, but we will be able to reduce
their intensity to normal tornadoes." He paused. "There were a hundred my first
year. They still have a hundred or so on the Scotia coast. One reason why our
latest push is there."
The flitter crossed the demarcation line between the reclaimed land and the
ecological wilderness to the east, bucking several times to the hiss of the
pressurizers.
Farther to the east began to appear dark gray clouds, thicker and more
threatening than the scattered gray and white puffs above the flitter.
"Bring her about to two seven five, then due north along the border line."
"Yes, ser. Coming to two seven five."
"To bring back a planet's a big job, Lieutenant, and I need the best people
possible, no matter how I have to get them."
The commander scanned the board himself, but refrained from pointing out
the slight imbalance between the port and starboard thrusters.
"You wonder if I mean that. Whether it's just words. But I do. Just how much
you'll find out."
The tightening of the pilot's muscles was apparent to the commander, who
shrugged. That was the first reaction they all had, all of them who came home
from the comforts of the Empire and the excitement of the Academy and the
advanced training.
"Turn north, and steady on zero zero five." "Yes, ser."
"Wild outside the northern perimeter, and you need to see it all before you
understand," "Yes, ser." The commander smiled again behind his impact visor,
and the flitter, pressurizers hissing in the background, steadied on zero zero five.
Chapter LXV
BALLAD OF THE CAPTAIN
I flew home one night, as skagged as I could be,
and found an Eye Corps Impie
a-waiting there for me.
I asked the Ops boss, and my dear O.D.,
what's this Impie doing,
a-waiting here for me?'
The Ops boss, my dear O.D.,
here's what he said to me. You devilkid, you dumb kid, can't you plainly see,
it's nothing but a rubbish dump that Eye Corps sent to me.
Oh . . . I've cleaned this wide world,
a million kays or more,
but a rubbish dump in uniform
I hain't never seen before.
I flew home the next night, as skagged as I could be,
and found an Eye Corps cruiser
a-blasting out at me.
I asked the Ops boss, and my dear O.D.,
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r r
what's this Impie doing,
a-blasting out at me?
The Ops boss, my dear O.D.,
here's what he said to me. You devilkid, you dumb kid, can't you plainly see,
it's nothing but a landspout, a-heading out to sea.
Oh ... I've cleaned this wide world,
a million kays or more,
but a landspout with a laser I hain't never seen before.
I flew home the last night, as skagged as I could be,
and found an Eye Corps fleet,
a-boiling up the sea.
I asked the Ops boss, and my dear O.D.,
what's this Impie doing,
a-boiling up the sea?
The Ops boss, my dear O.D.,
here's what he said to me. You devilkid, you dumb kid, can't you plainly see,
it's nothing but your captain a-coming home for tea.
Now . . . I've cleaned this wide world,
a million kays or more,
but the captain drinking tea,
I hain't never seen before.
But the captain drinking tea,
I hain't never seen before.
Anonymous Ballad Reclamation Period Old Earth
Chapter LXVI
"What's the bare minimum?" asked the hawk-eyed officer. His gray flight suit
bore the worn embroidered silver diamonds of an I.S.S. commander.
The woman behind the console looked up from her screen.
"A full cohort?"
"That many?"
"Commander . . . you asking that about the most ambitious project anyone ever
tried?"
"But one hundred plus arc-dozers? Are there that many in the entire Empire?
We've got thirty-not much better than scrap. Each year, there's less in the way of
supplies."
"You've been here a long time, Commander. It's sometimes easy to forget the
size of the Empire." She paused, as if amazed that she had dared to correct him,
then completed in an even softer tone. "Think of it this way. If each system only
needed ten, the total number in the Empire would still exceed 5,000. New
Glascow probably builds or refits close to a thousand annually."
The commander nodded. "You're right. Too parochial. Problem isn't the total
resources of the Empire, but the diminishing surplus available for out-bases and
lower priority activities."
The gray-suited commander pursed his lips tightly, frowned. Only after the
silence had dragged out for several minutes did he smile. As he smiled, the
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commander could see the technician trying not to shiver at his expression, and, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]