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Sixty eight - IN SPACE
The Shem ships dropped out of hyper and swam through the darkness of space. There were planets, six of them, all worthy of investigation. Scouts were dispatched, probes were launched, and samples were taken.
The Hoon was busy, very busy, but nowhere near capacity. The Artificial Intelligence had time to make backup copies of itself, plunder the newly discovered star system, and run the fleet, all without missing a beat. The AI also reserved some of it's processing capacity for small, unexpected anomalies, especially those that were interesting and potentially dangerous. This one took the form of a request for information from a unit that didn't need it - a highly unusual occurrence that set off alarms. Curious as to why a machine would do something like that, the Hoon assigned a tiny fraction of itself to the investigation and waited to see what would happen. The first question the robot wanted an answer to was rather basic. "Who created tRelated chapters
HALF BREED Sixty nine - IN SPACE
By rigging a pack for Alpha, and carrying one on his back as well, the human brought thirty days of rations. The outward bound leg of the trip took four.Once there, Jyro ignored the planet itself, which amounted to little more than a giant slush ball, and ordered the shuttle to keep on going.There was a moment of excitement when the ship headed out into the darkness of space, but his hopes were dashed when the shuttle circled and headed back.The human yelled, pleaded, and argued, all to no avail. While the Hoon didn't care about Jyro, it did value the spaceship, and saw no reason to part with it.The prospector was on a leash, a rather long leash, but a leash nevertheless. * * * Because Herbert was self aware, it lacked the means to shut itself down, and had no choice but to endure the long, non-productive wait. The situation was made more frustrating by the fact that humans had programmed the Artificial Intelligence to be
HALF BREED Seventy - PLANET BYRON
The Terminator's wardroom was empty for the moment, which allowed Sophie to slip inside and admire the breathtaking view. The planet Byron hung huge against the blackness of space. With the exception of the poles, most of its surface was brown. It had very little water, and what there was flowed deep below the surface through veins in the volcanic rock.And it was there, protected from the sun's wicked rays, that the great worms spun their gossamer cocoons, "sang" their epic love songs, and manufactured their optically switched computers for which they were so justifiably famous.Among the businesses that went together to comprise Doug Douglas Enterprises was a well known "glass house", as chip based computer companies were known.That being the case, Sophie had gone to some lengths to educate herself where related technologies were concerned. Rather than create conventional computers, in which electrons follow pathways etched into tiny silicon chips
HALF BREED Seventy one - PLANET BYRON
The words, translated by the computer woven into the senator's day robes, sounded only slightly stilted.Thus prompted, the spy, a minor member of the president's staff, started to talk.The information was important, extremely important, or would have been if it had been delivered five days earlier. The report tailed off, concluded with another request for funds, and finally came to an end.Though well aware of the effect the gesture had on humans, the Midvalian yawned, and the operative, who hated the sight of the wormlike organs that waved from the interior of the other being's mouth, tried not to shudder."Interesting", the politician concluded. "Very interesting, but made a good deal less valuable, since former President Doug Douglas is scheduled to land within the next standard hour or two. There will be no bonus. Fetch something more valuable next time".The use of the word "fetch" was intentional, and the meaning was clear. He
HALF BREED Seventy two - PLANET BYRON
That being the case, most visitors had no choice but to don their space suits or wait for a pressurized crawler to pick them up.Doug Douglas didn't need oxygen, not much anyway, and knew his body could function in a hard vacuum - a fact that had saved his life once in the past.Sophie had no such advantage, however, and was forced to wear a navy issue space suit. It was a little too large, but not enough to matter. She sealed herself in and followed her uncle through the lock. A luggage laden autocart trailed behind.Organized chaos ruled the repellor-blackened flight deck. Space suited biological bodies rushed to deal with newly arrived ships, robot hoses nosed their way into receptacles, and two person maintenance sleds flew over their heads.A pathway that consisted of two parallel yellow lines zigzagged across the enormous deck, terminating in front of a well marked hatch. The words "Many minds but with one purpose" had been inscribed over th
HALF BREED Seventy three - PLANET BYRON
Arrogant one moment and subservient the next, his assistant was a study in contrasts. He nodded, killed the holo, and took control of the conversation. "So? What, if anything, did the spooks send today?"Though not entirely comfortable with the term "spooks" as a synonym for the Hegemony's intelligence service, the staffer knew whom Six was referring to and answered accordingly. "Yes, Senator. In addition to the usual summary, we received notice that Governor Sandral Usmos departed Earth. She will arrive soon".It was an interesting piece of news, and the clone took a moment to consider the implication. The governor had timed her visit to coincide with the new session, that much was obvious, but why? To forestall the sort of military action for which the the Turr had lobbied? To buy time for her illegitimate government? Both possibilities seemed reasonable.His government remained neutral where the "Earth problem" was concerned, and so was he. Six nodded.
HALF BREED Seventy four - PLANET BYRON
Xian Karrh knew he had been dismissed and was happy to go. The dinner, a formal affair scheduled for end of work the following day, was a diplomatic must. "Yes, I'll be there"."Excellent", the senator replied. "I'll see you then".A worker drone escorted Xian Karrh to the hatch. It opened, and he stepped outside. The corridor was crowded, and traffic pulled him along. Nothing had been gained, or had it? Why would the Midvalians be interested in Dodvalian planets? Didn't they have enough already?It was an interesting question, and one he would endeavor to answer. * * * The private dining room, which was just right for the intimate dinners that Maricolt Rackoon liked to host, was paneled in Vorthillian walnut.The wood gleamed from frequent oiling and matched that of the long, formally set table - most of which was obscured by what seemed like acres of white linen.The President smiled cordially as he ushered his guests into the
HALF BREED Seventy five - EARTH (DIVIDED)
The desert swept long, hard, and wide into what had once been Ethiopia, but had long since become but one of many Administrative Regions, or ARs, all subject to a single Earth government. Not that the local inhabitants cared, or paid much attention to such abstractions. They lived as they always had, subject to God and the rule of nature.There was no sign of movement save from distant clouds of dust raised by the seasonal Khamsin and the high, hopeful circles made by a solitary white backed vulture. A hungry vulture that hoped to feed off the weak or the dead.The river bed, dry until the October rains sent water flooding along its course, ran roughly north to south and offered the only cover for twenty miles in any direction.It certainly beat the hell out of no cover, but was far from perfect. Salom and her people had destroyed most if not all of Luton's spy satellites, and more than a week had passed since one of his high altitude spy planes had attemp
HALF BREED Seventy six - EARTH (DIVIDED)
The fact that the target continued to appear then disappear was somewhat annoying, but wondrous nonetheless. Numbers scrolled down the right side of the screen. They provided air speed, air temp, and grid coordinates.Gradually, as part of each loop, Margaret caught sight of the dry rivet bed and the long line of sandy colored cyborgs, and felt the excitement start to build. Here it was! The one thing any self respecting officer would give her right tit to get - first class, grade A, no doubt about it intelligence.The major reached for her wallet, pulled it out, and selected a fifty. "Here you go, Sergeant. You said the blasted thing would work, and you were right. This should cover the bet".Oko made a show of holding the bill up to the light before tucking it away. "Let's kick some ass, Major. I've got some drinking to do!" * * * Their was an artificial roar as the multiple rocket launchers fired their 122mm rockets in salvos of fo
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