Read Online The Engineer Reconditioned by Neal Asher - Free Book Online
Authors: Neal Asher
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, adventure, Fantasy fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction - General, Fiction - Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy - General, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction - Adventure, Short Stories (Single Author)
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specks at slow relativistic speeds. Two fell on the satellite. One wavered, then was gone in a galaxy-shaped explosion. The other struck home and the bright satellite cracked open, jetting flame and human and mechanical debris. The satellite came apart in the horrible silence of vacuum. The only screams heard were over radio links, and brief.
Kellor watched the destruction with no visible sign of emotion, but he had reservations: there were always extras. He had expected no less. But this was a Polity world. The extra payment of five million was all that had swayed him. He turned his attention to the display showing the other two missiles dropping towards the planet.
"What did they use?" he asked Jurens.
Jurens glanced up from his console. "Pulsed laser. Pretty powerful. They won't have that in atmosphere and anyway, the missiles have learnt."
Kellor noted Conard's disgusted expression and dismissed it. The display showed the missiles dropping to a mountain range a hundred kilometres from their target. They'd go in ten metres above the ground. There was only one weapon that could get through their shields and armour. Kellor smiled to himself as he watched them close in like hunting wolves. Then his smile dropped away as the two missiles blinked out of existence.
One weapon ...
"Jurens! Get us out of here! Now!"
"Wait!" shouted Conard. "The runcible!"
Jurens ignored Conard, hit the ionic boosters, then poised his hand over the controls for the U-space engines. The Samurai was at a quarter C but it needed just a little more. Kellor slammed his hand down on Juren's hand, and the ship dropped into U-space. It was a slow drag, the ship straining and the sounds of distorting metal reaching them on the bridge. Over one of the coms someone began screaming as they saw through an incomplete field into the infinite. Kellor felt something dragging at him, at the ship, and it was not the result of a too-quick entry into U-space. When the drag ceased, he allowed himself a grimace at the sweat he felt on his top lip and turned to face Conard's raging. The General was severely pissed-off. He was glaring and unconsciously clenching and unclenching his hands. His two aides stood quiet in the background. A surreptitious scan had showed them both to be heavily armed. Automatics in the bridge covered them, and Jurens and Speck had weapons to hand. If the General started anything Kellor would finish it. There was no way the man could call on his other forces here. They were all sitting in their gunships which, with an order, Kellor could dump into deep space.
"They did not seem to me the smartest of missiles," hissed the General.
"Get to the point."
"You should have used a human team. AIs are not reliable."
The sheer idiocy of that comment left Kellor without any reply. How could you argue with that?
Conard went on, "Humans are chosen of God and are the only ones with the right to sentience!" Oh dear, it got worse and worse. Kellor considered killing him right then and there. It seemed the only kind thing to do. The problem was that Conard had a source of information. Kellor wanted that source before he killed the man.
"The missile did not strike home because the facility was protected by ground-based singuns. Your entire force would not have got through and if I had taken the Samurai in any closer, they would have gutted it."
Conard stood there still clenching and unclenching his hands. After an embarrassingly long time he seemed to get control of himself. He turned and strode out of the bridge. That's it , thought Kellor, go and kick shit out of one of your subordinates ,
PART FOUR
The sifting machine had, in strips, methodically sifted a tenth of the desert's surface to a depth of one metre. At a pace of two kilometres per hour it sucked up the sand, passed it through various grids and sieves, and spat it out behind filling the trench it had made. The sand left behind the machine was level. This would last until the next
Kellor watched the destruction with no visible sign of emotion, but he had reservations: there were always extras. He had expected no less. But this was a Polity world. The extra payment of five million was all that had swayed him. He turned his attention to the display showing the other two missiles dropping towards the planet.
"What did they use?" he asked Jurens.
Jurens glanced up from his console. "Pulsed laser. Pretty powerful. They won't have that in atmosphere and anyway, the missiles have learnt."
Kellor noted Conard's disgusted expression and dismissed it. The display showed the missiles dropping to a mountain range a hundred kilometres from their target. They'd go in ten metres above the ground. There was only one weapon that could get through their shields and armour. Kellor smiled to himself as he watched them close in like hunting wolves. Then his smile dropped away as the two missiles blinked out of existence.
One weapon ...
"Jurens! Get us out of here! Now!"
"Wait!" shouted Conard. "The runcible!"
Jurens ignored Conard, hit the ionic boosters, then poised his hand over the controls for the U-space engines. The Samurai was at a quarter C but it needed just a little more. Kellor slammed his hand down on Juren's hand, and the ship dropped into U-space. It was a slow drag, the ship straining and the sounds of distorting metal reaching them on the bridge. Over one of the coms someone began screaming as they saw through an incomplete field into the infinite. Kellor felt something dragging at him, at the ship, and it was not the result of a too-quick entry into U-space. When the drag ceased, he allowed himself a grimace at the sweat he felt on his top lip and turned to face Conard's raging. The General was severely pissed-off. He was glaring and unconsciously clenching and unclenching his hands. His two aides stood quiet in the background. A surreptitious scan had showed them both to be heavily armed. Automatics in the bridge covered them, and Jurens and Speck had weapons to hand. If the General started anything Kellor would finish it. There was no way the man could call on his other forces here. They were all sitting in their gunships which, with an order, Kellor could dump into deep space.
"They did not seem to me the smartest of missiles," hissed the General.
"Get to the point."
"You should have used a human team. AIs are not reliable."
The sheer idiocy of that comment left Kellor without any reply. How could you argue with that?
Conard went on, "Humans are chosen of God and are the only ones with the right to sentience!" Oh dear, it got worse and worse. Kellor considered killing him right then and there. It seemed the only kind thing to do. The problem was that Conard had a source of information. Kellor wanted that source before he killed the man.
"The missile did not strike home because the facility was protected by ground-based singuns. Your entire force would not have got through and if I had taken the Samurai in any closer, they would have gutted it."
Conard stood there still clenching and unclenching his hands. After an embarrassingly long time he seemed to get control of himself. He turned and strode out of the bridge. That's it , thought Kellor, go and kick shit out of one of your subordinates ,
PART FOUR
The sifting machine had, in strips, methodically sifted a tenth of the desert's surface to a depth of one metre. At a pace of two kilometres per hour it sucked up the sand, passed it through various grids and sieves, and spat it out behind filling the trench it had made. The sand left behind the machine was level. This would last until the next
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