Read Online Morgan's Choice by Greta van Der Rol - Free Book Online

A hint of bitterness persisted but this was something
she could drink.
    “It’s not bad.”
    “ This was freshly brewed. Now, tell me what
you are.”
    She stared into the mug. But then again, why
not? Fessing up had been plan B, after all. She couldn’t possibly
put the Coalition into danger and she’d had quite enough of a
detention block.
    “I’m a Supertech.” She said the word in
Standard. “A special sort of technician. My eyes are artificial.
They function like ordinary eyes but they’re also like sensors so I
can connect to computer systems. I ran the computer systems on the
ship we arrived in, flew the ship, navigated, did any engineering.”
She smiled. “Not very well, as it happens.”
    “And now tell me something I don’t already
know.”
    “Huh. You shouldn’t believe everything Jones
tells you.”
    “I don’t. And that is one of the reasons why
I insisted that you actually demonstrate the ability to pilot one
of our ships. At least for a short time. Astonishing control, by
the way. Most impressive. I had no idea our utility shuttles could
perform so precisely. These things in your head… what do they allow
you to do and how can you interact with our systems, which are very
different to yours?”
    You wouldn’t understand… Well, she’d better try. “I’m a
BI. A Bio-engineered Intelligence. Supertech is a nickname. I was
modified at birth to work with computer systems. I’ve been designed
to interact with information systems, hence my eyes and the
implants in my brain. How I connected with your systems? Any
computer system does the same sorts of things. Data travels down a
connection into a processor. The processor does things and sends
the result out. If you know what goes in and what comes out you can
usually figure out what happens in the middle. What’s different is
the language and the rules. Sort that out and you’re there. One of
the things I’m programmed to do is exactly that; to analyze
interactions.”
    And anything else he really didn’t need to
know. Or want to know.
    “And what controls you?”
    Far too smart, this admiral. This was one
question she wasn’t answering. “Nothing.”
    “ Come now, Suri . You serve. Otherwise you would not have been on a
freighter with a man you evidently do not particularly like,
testing a new shift drive. And who built the shift
drive?”
    Yep, far too smart. “Another Supertech built
the shift drive, one who worked for an engineering firm
specializing in space technology.”
    “And you tested it?”
    “If you like. A simple little run between
planets. I was due to take on a new contract not far from where the
freighter was going.”
    A simple little run, indeed. She could
hear Makasa’s words. ‘Just a small test run, Selwood. A new shift drive that
looks very promising. You have to be out at Salamanca base next
month; Penniscon is almost there.’ Or at least, that was the story they told
everybody.
    “Your loss would be greater than the loss of
this freighter, surely.”
    “Probably.”
    Oh, to be sure Makasa would think so, too. He
wouldn’t be happy, not at all. But if this design could do what
they suspected it could—find those short-cuts through
multi-dimensional space—then even inter-galactic travel could be a
real possibility. Sure, the drive had malfunctioned before she’d
had a chance to test it properly but she thought it had actually
worked and brought them here.
    “Who did you report to?”
    Morgan jumped. Pay attention . She sipped some more of the brew. “Does
it matter?”
    Ravindra’s brows lowered. “Do not be
difficult, woman.”
    “Yes, okay, I had a manager.”
    “Rank?”
    He had to be guessing . “Why would I be military?” She remembered just in
time to avert her gaze.
    A snort of dismissal. “Do not waste my time.
Because of the way you do things and the way you behave. Neat,
disciplined, aware of ranks. I have examined hours of recordings of
you with Sayvu, you in the isolation cell and