Cobra Guardian: Cobra War: Book Two by Timothy Zahn

Author:Timothy Zahn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Space warfare, Adventure, General
ISBN: 9781439134061
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2011-01-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Fleecebacks, as Jody had already noted, were easy enough to catch. For Cobras, apparently, they were even easier, because the team that had been sent out to find one returned only minutes after Harli finally decided on the site for the test's staging area.

"I hope Freylan won't have a problem sending Snouts on a suicide mission," Paul commented to Jody as they sat on the ground a bit apart from the others.

"I'm sure he won't," Jody assured him. "It's not like they've had a long and rewarding relationship together. Remember, Freylan's the guy who used to name his lab equipment."

"Right." Paul paused. "This is a good plan, Jody," he continued. "I just wanted you to know that."

"Thanks," Jody said dryly. "But you'd better save the accolades until we see if it works."

"Success or failure doesn't change the quality of the plan," Paul said. "It only defines whether a good plan is also a successful good plan."

"Right. Important distinction."

"Actually, it is," Paul said, lowering his voice. "Harli's plan, for example, didn't work as well as we'd all hoped it would. But it was still a good plan, which is what made it worth trying."

Jody looked over at the other Cobras. Harli's back was to them, and she could see no sign that he'd heard her father's comment. But she knew he probably had. "What's your definition of not working?" she asked quietly. "Because Buckley got killed?"

"That's part of it," her father said. "But mostly it didn't work because we didn't really learn anything."

"What do you mean?" Jody asked, frowning. "They shot back. We must have gotten something out of that."

"We saw the power levels they used against us, but we don't know if that was their full power or not," Paul said. "We saw their targeting capabilities, but they waited long enough to begin firing back that we don't know if the lasers were sensor-locked or manually aimed." He grimaced. "And as we've already discussed, we don't know whether Buckley's death was because our attack got too close to something important, or whether it was simply the Trofts sending a message."

"Yes, I see," Jody murmured, peering through the trees. A bit of Stronghold's wall was visible, a sliver of dull metallic sheen in the starlight. "Maybe we didn't learn anything, but if Matigo is right about the Cobras in the town launching an attack earlier, someone in there must have some better data on the Trofts' weapons."

"Which, even if true, is irrelevant," Harli spoke up, his back still to them. "We can't talk to them, they can't talk to us, and if the Trofts are smart they'll keep it that way." He half turned. "They're coming."

Jody tensed. "The Trofts?"

"Kemp and the others," Paul told her. He cocked his head. "And it sounds like Freylan and Geoff are with them."

He was right. Half a minute later, with soft footsteps through the leaves on the part of the Cobras and much louder ones on the part of Geoff and Freylan, the group arrived.

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