"From between the two shuffling dancers padded something on four feet. The canine-feline creature was more than just a head; it was a loose-limbed, graceful body fully eight feet in length, and the red eyes in the prick-eared head were those of a killer.... Words issued from between those curved fangs, words which Dane might not understand...."Dane slid his blade out surreptitiously, setting its point against the palm of his hand and jabbing painfully; but the terrible creature continued to advance.... There was no blurring of its lines...."Dane Thorson of the space-ship knew there was only one way to win out over this hideous thing — a battle to the end between his rational mind and the hypnotic witchcraft of Lumbrilo, the mental wizard of the planet Khatka.
Honor Harrington, ju? jako pe?noprawny oficer Kr?lewskiej Marynarki i dow?dca eskadry, otrzymuje rozkaz, w wyniku kt?rego wpada w zasadzk? zastawion? przez wyj?tkowo uzdolnionego admira?a. Ma dwa wyj?cia: stoczy? bitw?, w kt?rej straci okr?t i za?og?, albo podda? okr?t i uratowa?. Wybiera to drugie, na honorowych warunkach. Okazuje si? jednak, ?e w Ludowej Republice Haven politycy maj? wi?cej dopowiedzenia ni? admira?owie i Honor l?duje na pok?adzie okr?tu, kt?rego celem jest wi?zienna planeta Hades, na kt?rej ma si? odby? jej egzekucja. Przysz?o?? rysuje si? w czarnych barwach, ale jedyne,czego Honor Harrington nigdy si? nie nauczy?a to poddawa? si? rezygnacji.
NO ONE WANTED ANOTHER WARThomas Theisman didn't. After risking his life and a fresh round of civil war to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution, an interstellar war was the last thing he wanted.Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and as long as he could spin out negotiations on the formal treaty of peace, his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" ...
The time is the 23rd century, and ships are crawling outward from Earth into the interstellar depths. It will take them centuries to reach even the nearer stars, but once they do, future travel will be instantaneous. The ships carry matter transmitters which are not subject to the limitations of lightspeed. In the meantime crews can flit back and forth between the ships and Earth, but until now their only purpose has been to stand watch. Until now. At last one ship has made contact with the stars.First published in magazine in 1958. Later published in slightly changed book form as .Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1959.
Nikt nie chcia? tej wojny — ani Thomas Theisman, ani Kr?lestwo Manticore, ani Imperium Anderma?skie. A ju? na pewno nie Honor Harrington. Mimo to wybuch?a, i to na kilku frontach r?wnocze?nie. Teraz za? nie by?o ju? szans na ucieczk? w ci?gn?ce si? latami negocjacje pokojowe. Co gorsza, wszystko zacz??o wskazywa? na to, ?e zwi?kszy si? zar?wno jej skala, jak i liczba uczestnik?w. Tymczasem kolejna pr?ba pozbycia si? admira? Harrington spe?z?a na niczym za spraw? jej wiernych przyjaci?? i nieprzeci?tnych zdolno?ci taktycznych.
Ewolucja we wszech?wiecie powie?ci Brina nie jest tylko si?? naturaln? — rozwini?te gatunki istot inteligentnych przyspieszaj? rozw?j innych, „ni?szych” ras w ramach galaktycznego porz?dku wspomagania. Wi??e si? z tym tak?e system powiernictwa planet — Ziemianie otrzymali Garth w celu przyspieszenia odbudowy jego zniszczonego ekosystemu. Jednak ptasiopodobni Gubru szykuj? inwazj? na Garth. Chc? nie tylko przej?? planet?, ale tak?e wykorzysta? j? w szanta?u, maj?cym na celu ujawnienie miejsca stacjonowania odkrytej przez ziemski statek „Streaker” kosmicznej floty staro?ytnej rasy. Rozpocz?ta wojna toczy si? nie tylko na powierzchni Garth, gdzie pozbawione ludzkich zwierzchnik?w neoszympansy organizuj? partyzantk?, ale i na poziomie galaktycznego systemu wspomagania, w ramach kt?rego Ziemianie walcz? o swoje prawo do planety.
First published in the anthology Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, edited by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, 1995); authorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle.Winner of both the CompuServe Science Fiction and Fantasy Forum’s Sixth Annual HOMer Award for Best Short Story of the Year and Le Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, France’s top SF award, for Best Foreign Short Story of the Year.
