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Book: Slaves of Hyperion (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 6) by Michael G. Thomas
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Authors: Michael G. Thomas
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detected the dark humour that seemed to lie at the bottom of every Jötnar’s soul. He turned back to Osk and tilted his head towards the creature.
“Osk, the first female Jötnar,” he explained.
“Female? How did this happen? I thought all Jötnar were male?”
Khan nodded at his question. It was a fair point, as the Jötnar had been created male with no ability to generate further offspring. From what the military scientists had explained, it was probably just a simple way of keeping their experiment under control with a limited lifespan and no ability to create further generations without their help. Khan gave a lopsided grin from his immense jaw at Spartan’s confusion.
“Anderson, he said for our species to live we will need differences.”
The female soldier with curly hair was listening to the conversation with great interest. At the last part she seemed desperate to add her own views.
“It makes sense to us. The Jötnar are all based on a standard design with little variation. Even with male and female in the species, there will never be enough variation to avoid defects and interbreeding problems.”
Spartan recalled the arguments after the fall of Terra Nova and the factories and equipment that had been used to create the Biomechs. The factories had been badly damaged, but there were also the implications of a race of beings that could be manufactured at will. Some humans rejected their place in society, and others were fearful the factories could produce untold millions of monsters that could enslave humanity. Then there were the liberals who worried about the Jötnar themselves. By controlling their reproduction, humanity maintained a yoke over them, and one that could consign their race to servitude or extinction. Only their war record, and the promises made by the Confederate High Command and the President himself had stopped a new war breaking out in the last weeks of the war.
Jötnar fighting the Confederacy, glad we avoided that one!
Spartan thought back to the last months after the fall of Terra Nova. There had been many reprisals, especially against collaborators but also against Biomechs in general. He had seen papers suggesting over half the population had been wiped out in the three months of purges and violence. The Jötnar considered the Biomechs their untamed brothers and had proven extremely capable in taming them and bringing them under their control. The Biomechs had quickly turned from confused and helpless creatures into violent monsters by their tormentors. He recalled the emergency briefings about a possible war between the crippled Confederacy and the Jötnar and their Biomech brothers. A deal had been forged that guaranteed the right to life for all the Biomechs and the choice to be rehoused with the Jötnar, a choice almost all took. Part of the deal was that the Jötnar would be granted control of any lost unprogrammed Biomechs.
The two Jötnar were busy talking about their comrades and Spartan listened with interest. The last he had heard from Gun, the leader of the Jötnar, was that they had been working with Commander Anderson on a variety of medical issues. He was confused though at how the female Jötnar had arisen.
“I thought the military forbade the creation of any more Jötnar or Biomechs of any kind? In fact, I’m pretty sure it was one of the demands of most of the colonies that it was to form part of the Alliance Constitution as well as granting limited right to the Jötnar?”
Khan nodded feverishly.
“Yes, but Anderson found two Biomech transport ships near Euryale, all with dormant and partly constructed synthetics on board. He had a choice, finish them or kill them. Gun said birth, or the deal with the Alliance was off. He used them to make random changes.”
Khan grinned at him with a sly look and leaned in to speak quietly.
“One change wasn’t though. Anderson let us alter the sequence so they were all born female. Osk was the first.”
Spartan
“Osk, the first female Jötnar,” he explained.
“Female? How did this happen? I thought all Jötnar were male?”
Khan nodded at his question. It was a fair point, as the Jötnar had been created male with no ability to generate further offspring. From what the military scientists had explained, it was probably just a simple way of keeping their experiment under control with a limited lifespan and no ability to create further generations without their help. Khan gave a lopsided grin from his immense jaw at Spartan’s confusion.
“Anderson, he said for our species to live we will need differences.”
The female soldier with curly hair was listening to the conversation with great interest. At the last part she seemed desperate to add her own views.
“It makes sense to us. The Jötnar are all based on a standard design with little variation. Even with male and female in the species, there will never be enough variation to avoid defects and interbreeding problems.”
Spartan recalled the arguments after the fall of Terra Nova and the factories and equipment that had been used to create the Biomechs. The factories had been badly damaged, but there were also the implications of a race of beings that could be manufactured at will. Some humans rejected their place in society, and others were fearful the factories could produce untold millions of monsters that could enslave humanity. Then there were the liberals who worried about the Jötnar themselves. By controlling their reproduction, humanity maintained a yoke over them, and one that could consign their race to servitude or extinction. Only their war record, and the promises made by the Confederate High Command and the President himself had stopped a new war breaking out in the last weeks of the war.
Jötnar fighting the Confederacy, glad we avoided that one!
Spartan thought back to the last months after the fall of Terra Nova. There had been many reprisals, especially against collaborators but also against Biomechs in general. He had seen papers suggesting over half the population had been wiped out in the three months of purges and violence. The Jötnar considered the Biomechs their untamed brothers and had proven extremely capable in taming them and bringing them under their control. The Biomechs had quickly turned from confused and helpless creatures into violent monsters by their tormentors. He recalled the emergency briefings about a possible war between the crippled Confederacy and the Jötnar and their Biomech brothers. A deal had been forged that guaranteed the right to life for all the Biomechs and the choice to be rehoused with the Jötnar, a choice almost all took. Part of the deal was that the Jötnar would be granted control of any lost unprogrammed Biomechs.
The two Jötnar were busy talking about their comrades and Spartan listened with interest. The last he had heard from Gun, the leader of the Jötnar, was that they had been working with Commander Anderson on a variety of medical issues. He was confused though at how the female Jötnar had arisen.
“I thought the military forbade the creation of any more Jötnar or Biomechs of any kind? In fact, I’m pretty sure it was one of the demands of most of the colonies that it was to form part of the Alliance Constitution as well as granting limited right to the Jötnar?”
Khan nodded feverishly.
“Yes, but Anderson found two Biomech transport ships near Euryale, all with dormant and partly constructed synthetics on board. He had a choice, finish them or kill them. Gun said birth, or the deal with the Alliance was off. He used them to make random changes.”
Khan grinned at him with a sly look and leaned in to speak quietly.
“One change wasn’t though. Anderson let us alter the sequence so they were all born female. Osk was the first.”
Spartan
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