Read Online Postal Marine 1: Bellicose by Ben Wilson - Free Book Online
Authors: Ben Wilson
Ads: Link
cut her off and her friends abandoned her. He refused to think of them as his family. Families help in time of need.
They've done nothing to help me.
One letter that was flagged important caught his attention. “On the implant” was all it said. He opened it up.
In the accompanying package you will note a silver sphere. This was your great-grandfathers. He bequeathed it to you in his will, but under strict instructions that you not receive it until you reached majority. We considered not sending it to you as you have abandoned the family to follow your debauchery. However Mapen Burkat emphasized the importance of complying with Imperial law and your great-grandfather's wishes.
The implant was found embedded in your great-grandfather at his death. We were warned it might be an AI, which are prohibited by Imperial edict. Lacking the means to confirm this, we are not surrendering to speculation. AIs were commonplace until the great purge around the time of your great-grandfather's death.
If this were an AI, possession is criminal. Installation could lead to summary execution. Please note that the will did not state that this implant is for you. It is meant for your bastard son. Therefore, even if this were a regular implant you should not taint it with your whorish mind. Give it to him when he is of age.
The letter ended abruptly, lacking the closing Bophendze would have expected. Not that a proper closing would have mattered, the invective throughout the letter would have mocked any attempt at a civil closing.
Whorish? Bastard?
He was glad there were no other letters from the family.
So the implant is probably an AI?
They probably knew it was, but had to couch what it is in vague terms. As a postal marine he was given some legal training. Possession did not have to be intentional. The very fact the family has possession meant they were guilty of whatever prohibition the Imperium had placed on the item. It was the basis the Marines used to seize contraband. “I did not know,” and “that's not mine,” were phrases few ship captains ever offered, because they knew it did not matter.
Yet, they shipped it. They knowingly shipped an illegal item.
He thought about the inspections it would have gone through to get from their system to here. It should have been picked up, unless the family smuggled it.
Why go through all that trouble to send a ‘bastard’ an implant, something that could get me in trouble?
If he had been caught with it, then they would be just as guilty for trafficking, so he concluded they were not trying to set him up.
He took the AI out of his pocket, the only place he felt safe from ship thieves. He rolled it around in his palm with his fingers.
They wanted me to do something with this. I should throw it away in the next space exercise. But, if it is an AI, then I could be a serious asset to the Marines. I could redeem my mother's sacrifice.
He shrugged. He had plenty of time to make a decision, especially if being caught with it installed led to summary execution.
He put the implant back in his pocket and returned to reading through his mother's letters.
----
Smee - 111 years ago
A few years passed since Smee awoke in Maijoi, Sirom N.M.L. Sirom's skull. Once he had access to most of Sirom's faculties, his innate programming started to take hold. His older memories returned. Sirom was his fifth host, and it suited him. Smee was an engineer by design, with ready access to complete plans of every spacecraft designed by humans and known to the Imperium. He had designed a few himself. Sirom was not an engineer as much as an aristocrat. Smee's job was to augment Sirom's abilities, making him a powerful businessman in the process.
Sirom's firm Organization!Macrodyn Tectronics Universal Macrodyn Tectronics Universal had diversified interests in a wide array of human activities. Macrodyn was one of the oldest corporations, even surviving the Decline. It was founded nearly 1800 years ago to exploit early
They've done nothing to help me.
One letter that was flagged important caught his attention. “On the implant” was all it said. He opened it up.
In the accompanying package you will note a silver sphere. This was your great-grandfathers. He bequeathed it to you in his will, but under strict instructions that you not receive it until you reached majority. We considered not sending it to you as you have abandoned the family to follow your debauchery. However Mapen Burkat emphasized the importance of complying with Imperial law and your great-grandfather's wishes.
The implant was found embedded in your great-grandfather at his death. We were warned it might be an AI, which are prohibited by Imperial edict. Lacking the means to confirm this, we are not surrendering to speculation. AIs were commonplace until the great purge around the time of your great-grandfather's death.
If this were an AI, possession is criminal. Installation could lead to summary execution. Please note that the will did not state that this implant is for you. It is meant for your bastard son. Therefore, even if this were a regular implant you should not taint it with your whorish mind. Give it to him when he is of age.
The letter ended abruptly, lacking the closing Bophendze would have expected. Not that a proper closing would have mattered, the invective throughout the letter would have mocked any attempt at a civil closing.
Whorish? Bastard?
He was glad there were no other letters from the family.
So the implant is probably an AI?
They probably knew it was, but had to couch what it is in vague terms. As a postal marine he was given some legal training. Possession did not have to be intentional. The very fact the family has possession meant they were guilty of whatever prohibition the Imperium had placed on the item. It was the basis the Marines used to seize contraband. “I did not know,” and “that's not mine,” were phrases few ship captains ever offered, because they knew it did not matter.
Yet, they shipped it. They knowingly shipped an illegal item.
He thought about the inspections it would have gone through to get from their system to here. It should have been picked up, unless the family smuggled it.
Why go through all that trouble to send a ‘bastard’ an implant, something that could get me in trouble?
If he had been caught with it, then they would be just as guilty for trafficking, so he concluded they were not trying to set him up.
He took the AI out of his pocket, the only place he felt safe from ship thieves. He rolled it around in his palm with his fingers.
They wanted me to do something with this. I should throw it away in the next space exercise. But, if it is an AI, then I could be a serious asset to the Marines. I could redeem my mother's sacrifice.
He shrugged. He had plenty of time to make a decision, especially if being caught with it installed led to summary execution.
He put the implant back in his pocket and returned to reading through his mother's letters.
----
Smee - 111 years ago
A few years passed since Smee awoke in Maijoi, Sirom N.M.L. Sirom's skull. Once he had access to most of Sirom's faculties, his innate programming started to take hold. His older memories returned. Sirom was his fifth host, and it suited him. Smee was an engineer by design, with ready access to complete plans of every spacecraft designed by humans and known to the Imperium. He had designed a few himself. Sirom was not an engineer as much as an aristocrat. Smee's job was to augment Sirom's abilities, making him a powerful businessman in the process.
Sirom's firm Organization!Macrodyn Tectronics Universal Macrodyn Tectronics Universal had diversified interests in a wide array of human activities. Macrodyn was one of the oldest corporations, even surviving the Decline. It was founded nearly 1800 years ago to exploit early
Similar Books
