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.Domingo thanked all the gods that Wilma must have realized what was happening.And now there was fire from the launch, almost invisible beams of energy from its one real weapon.The beams probed neatly and precisely among the ruins, and small moving machines touched by that vague thin pencil flared up and vanished.Wilma, alone in the launch, had turned her attention from piloting and was cutting some of the enemy down.The launch was hovering now in the middle of the hollow space inside the berserker, standing by to help the boarders, to pick them up.It ought to be easy, here in virtual weightlessness, for them to jump for it.The captain wouldn't be first to jump; he'd see his people on board first safely, if they were still alive; and before going to them he wanted to get the thoughtsight connected…Of course, the launch.Of course, that was what the enemy was after.The captain couldn't see the Pearl itself from where he drifted inside the carcass of his enemy.Nor could he guess what action Polly and Simeon might be taking.By now, if they were still alive, they must have realized that radio signals from inside the berserker were being jammed, and probably they could see the intermittent flares of fighting.If Simeon and Polly were to open up with the heavy weapons that the ship carried, the most likely effect would be the annihilation of everything that still remained of the wrecked berserker, along with the four people who were inside it and the launch that had brought them here.So far, that fire from the Pearl had not lashed out.Page 54ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlNow the noise level in the captain's helmet radio suddenly dropped.Hoping that the built-in combat anti-jamming might now be able to force a signal through, Domingo shouted orders for the Pearl to stay clear of the wreck.He didn't know what additional weapons the enemy might still be able to bring into play, but if berserker units could seize the launch and then the Pearl, much more than this one skirmish would be lost.Still no answer came to him from the Pearl.It was quite likely that the relay station had been knocked out.Surely the people aboard his ship must realize by now that something was wrong.If only they didn't do anything that might endanger the ship, put it at risk of being boarded, taken over—Domingo got confirmation that Polly and Simeon were at least aware of a problem.Now he could see the Pearl herself, hovering close outside the gap through which the launch had entered the berserker.But the radio jamming had come back, as effective as ever.Still no more than half a minute had passed since the first alarm.Moving around within the wreck, still struggling to get the last connector of his thoughtsight properly attached, the captain could see that the relay communications station, on the lip of the berserker's wound, was gone.It had somehow been knocked out, quite possibly uprooted by a berserker android by main strength.Then without warning a voice burst through the jamming into his helmet.Score one round at least for the Space Force technology; even the stereo effect worked.The message was a shout of fresh alarm that turned the captain in another direction:"They're trying to seize the launch!"I know that, damn it, thought Domingo, and repeated an order that had earlier gone unacknowledged."Wilma, keep it away!" The jamming came back, cutting him off in mid-sentence.But Wilma, whether she had heard him or not, kept on with what she was doing, maneuvering the launch close to an interior landing in a different spot from where it had been moored.Actually, Domingo realized, she was bringing it closer to where he himself had been a few seconds ago, as if she thought he needed to be picked up.She would be able to see, though perhaps only intermittently, where the people inside were.She was naturally trying to rescue them, get them out of this snakepit of swarming enemies.And she had stoppedshooting for the moment.To fly the launch, determine where to go and at the same time work its weapon precisely was more than almost any individual would be able to manage properly.The captain gave up trying to be last aboard and propelled himself into a weightless dive to meet the approaching launch.At the same time, with inhuman speed, berserkers went jetting and lunging for the small craft as it appeared about to touch down.Domingo's weapon blazed at them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]