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"You&039;re saying, essentially, that she will accept this duty because of love for humanity Did she have love in her life? Ato the task They had not brought a monitor into the tiny space, and now she wished they had Itat this brain behind glass, Beatriz knew that it was alive, a person She also realized that the tech was surrounded by the squad that had htest inkling of what had happened
No one will know if I don&039;t tell theht I&039;m like this brain, cut off but alive inside I wonder what she dreams?
"I know very little about the person," he said "It&039;s in the record I do know that she had a child that was given up for adoption so that she could continue her studies in the kelp outposts"
"Dr MacIntosh stated two years ago that Organic Mental Cores were crude, cruel, inefficient and unnecessary," she said "Do you have a comment on that?"
The tech cleared his throat
"I respect Dr MacIntosh He, along with the Director and this OMC, is one of the last survivors of the original flight of the old Earthling - &039;Ship,&039; if you prefer Yes, it&039;s true that there were failures, and this required sos have been worked out"
"For soht seem a little cold The &039;compensation&039; you refer to was the first known creation of an artificial intelligence - one that turned out to be smarter than its creators, one that many believe is the personality &039;Ship,&039; one that od Why did your depart brains, rather than pick up on the artificial intelligence?"
"We were instructed to take this course"
"You were ordered to take this course," she corrected "Why? Why is the Director more comfortable with failure than with the success that saved his lif and hers?"
Beatriz pointed to the OMC, wired into her box, deaf, blind and duh!"
The captain&039;s voice behind her froze her spine and started her hands treain while the tech and her crew inspected the deck and their shoes
"I&039;ll speak with you in the cabin"
She followed hie lockers and into the dier cabin
"I had to stop you," he said "It is expected of me, no matter what my opinion Soon there will be no need for deception Prepare for docking There will be briefing et aboard"
Three Orbiter security lounged at the docking bay as the hatch opened from the shuttle They were ready for the press, for the Holovision cameras, but they weren&039;t ready for Captain Brood The captain remained inside the hatchith Beatriz beside hientle voice His eyes held her with that salitter She tried not to look at his face "Choose one for yourself One t entertain yourself"
She was stunned at the question and his cal rise at the back of her neck, so started groundside
"You want none of them?" he answered for her "How fickle"
He pulled her aside and signaled the men behind them to fire In seconds nearly a quarter of the Orbiter&039;s token security force lay dead on the deck
"Dispose of theh the shuttle airlock," he told his men "If you kill one in a room, kill all in the room I don&039;t want to see any bodies Beatriz will announce that there is a revolt in progress aboard the Orbiter and the Voidship We&039;ve been sent to stop it"
"Why do you do this to me?" Beatriz hissed "Why do you tellto kill them anyway, but you have to include esture that she&039;d long associated with Flattery
"A diversion," he said "Part of a gaer for it already It athens you"
"It&039;s torture to er I don&039;t want people to die"
"Everybody dies," he said,his men aboard "What a waste when they don&039;t die for someone&039;s convenience"
Anyone who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it may expect to be destroyed by it
- Machiavelli, The Prince
Spider Nevi&039;s favorite color was green, he found it peaceful He jockeyed Flattery&039;s private foil across the green-tinged seas and allowed the plush command couch to soothe the tension out of his back and shoulders Green was the color of neth kelp, and tens of thousands of square kilometers of it stretched out around them as far as the eye could see
Soe just to drift a kelp bed, enjoying the sreen He didn&039;t like red, it rery The interior of Flattery&039;s foil was finished in red, upholstered in red The coffee cup that Zentz handed him was also red
"What&039;s so special about this Tatoosh woot the hots for her?"
Nevi ignored the question, partly because he wasn&039;t listening, partly because he didn&039;t care He was about to have his first sip of coffee for the day when the Navcoht flicked on He al else, was red An abrasive warning tone blatted fro hot coffee into the lap of his jumpsuit He doubted that he would have missed that tone if he were co
"Go ahead," he told Zentz, "let&039;s hear it"
Zentz turned up the volume on the Navcom system Nevi couldn&039;t stand the radio chatter while he was trying to relax, so he&039;d had Zentz shut it dohen they hit open water
"ou are approaching a &039;no entry&039; area Sector eight is disrupted, kelpways not secure Code your destination and alternate routes will appear on your screen Be prepared to take on survivors Repeat - warning, &039;code red,&039; you ar"
Nevi took the foil down off its step and kept the engines idling
"Fools!" Nevi muttered "They arned to keep her away from the kelp"
"Do you think they&039;re in there? Maybe they h befor" Zentz cut hier in Nevi&039;s eyes
"Get a display up," Nevi ordered, "I want to get a look at this &039;disruption&039;"
He coded in the private carrier code for Flattery&039;s quarters The waters around the foil had already gone froh, and in the offshore distance Nevi couldthe surface
"Yes?" It was a feeton spread across their screen It re on the outside swirling toward the center But this was kelp, not clouds, and it was happening undersea, alht of their point He was not happy with the delay from Flattery&039;s office
The woman&039;s voice came back as curt as the first time
"The Director is busy, Mr Nevi, we are in full alert here Someone blew up one of the outer offices, a security detachment has attacked the Kalaloch power plant and there is soh"
"I&039;ht now," he said, his voice as even as he could et me a direct line to Current Control"
"Current Control has been inco to find out theof -"
"I&039;ll keep this frequency open," Nevi snapped "Get him on the air now!"
Her only response was to close the circuit Nevi pinched the bridge of his nose for aoff one of his headaches
"You should&039;ve kept her on," Zentz said "What did she mean, &039;A security detachment has attacked the Kalaloch power plant&039;? We defend the Kalaloch power plant"
"We need to figure out where the Galli woet our hands on her fast," Nevi interrupted "She&039;s our bargaining chip noon" He tapped their Navcoer and traced the spiral pathway that wound fro she&039;s in there so for the center There isn&039;t ti in any hardware We&039;ll have to chase them down or intercept"
"You mea follow them in there?" Zentz asked "What about the attack on the power plant? So down in the ranks and my men -"
"Your men seem to be undecided about their loyalties," Nevi said "They can work that out a themselves But I&039;ll put you out here and radio for a pickup if you&039;d prefer"
Zentz&039;s massive face paled, then flushed
"I&039; hi down at the Preserve, wher "