Read Online Tides of Light by Gregory Benford - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Gregory Benford
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lives at risk with every turn of events.
He became aware that the assembly room had grown silent, pensive, watching him. He blinked, dispelling the outside visions.
Cermo stood at his elbow. He breathed in luxuriantly, pierced by the strange pulsing pleasure of being again, after so long,
in the thick of action.
“Posts!” he shouted. “Form the star!”
NINE
Airless, silent, the metallic landscape rose against the distant mottled black like a gleaming promise of perfect order. Watching
the view, Killeen thought it amusing that his job was to smash such smug geometric certainty, to bring living chaos.
He stood in the control vault, Shibo at his side. This was the first time he had commanded an intricate movement of the Family
without actually being there, participating. Family Bishop had a long tradition of Cap’ns who fought and risked and died with
their fellow Family. Now, operating from a true ship for the first time in long ages, that was impossible.Only from here could he monitor all the small teams who swarmed over the tower, seeking the mainmind.
The shifting scene on the main screen was a direct feed from the all-scanner on Toby’s back. Killeen’s eyes narrowed at each
flicker of fresh movement on the disk plain, letting his own reflexes respond to the images. His hands tightened, unclasped,
tightened again.
Shibo looked at Killeen shrewdly. “You told Cermo, pick Toby?”
“Naysay.”
“Truly?” She seemed surprised.
“I ’spect Cermo chose Toby ’cause he’s quick. Sure, some crew’ll see this as pure favor. But if I overruled him, showed any
interference for Toby…”
“I see.”
“It’s a tradeoff. This scanner slows you down, makes you easier to hit. But—”
“It gives you a chance to warn him if he’s missing something.”
His mouth twisted with irritation. “Naysay! I was going to say, it puts him in the second skirmish line.”
“Which is safer.”
“Course.”
He turned to see Shibo’s silent wry smile. He was about to bark a challenge at her when he paused, made himself step out of
his Cap’n persona, and found himself making his “um-hmm” of grudging amusement. She understood him perfectly, and when they
were alone was unwilling to let him get away with the Cap’n role completely. He was about to kiss her—which was easier for
him than speaking—when the screen above shifted.
Toby was striding quickly across the disk plain, having trouble finding boot-grip. He was down in one of the myriad open-topped
“streets” that crisscrossed the disk, for unfathomablepurposes. The tower loomed directly overhead, larger than the eye could take in.
What had caught Killeen’s attention was Toby’s long leap out of the “street,” which had protected him so far. He rose to the
tower side, applied his magnetic coupler, and was drawn with a harsh clank to the studded tower wall.
Two other suited figures joined him. They raced along the wall, letting their boots seize and thrust. A thick-lipped opening
appeared over the horizon of the tower’s curve. The three dropped down it. Killeen saw that one was Besen, her white teeth
the only feature visible inside her helmet amid the yellow sunlit glare.
A sizzling report echoed. Something spat microwave bursts at them from a side passage. Low-level mechs always imagined they
could kill with mech weapons, never realizing that organic forms could shut out the electromagnetic spectrum and still function
quite independently.
Killeen was glad he had sent them in with their inboard receivers completely dead, except for the link through Toby’s all-scanner.
Toby and Besen surged after the bulky mechs and blew neat holes in each.
The squad twisted deeply into the tower. They worked without crosstalk, giving the mechs no electromag-tag. A hard yellow
glow beckoned down a narrow tunnel and Toby did not hesitate to plunge after it.
Killeen drew back, the lines of his face deepening, but he
He became aware that the assembly room had grown silent, pensive, watching him. He blinked, dispelling the outside visions.
Cermo stood at his elbow. He breathed in luxuriantly, pierced by the strange pulsing pleasure of being again, after so long,
in the thick of action.
“Posts!” he shouted. “Form the star!”
NINE
Airless, silent, the metallic landscape rose against the distant mottled black like a gleaming promise of perfect order. Watching
the view, Killeen thought it amusing that his job was to smash such smug geometric certainty, to bring living chaos.
He stood in the control vault, Shibo at his side. This was the first time he had commanded an intricate movement of the Family
without actually being there, participating. Family Bishop had a long tradition of Cap’ns who fought and risked and died with
their fellow Family. Now, operating from a true ship for the first time in long ages, that was impossible.Only from here could he monitor all the small teams who swarmed over the tower, seeking the mainmind.
The shifting scene on the main screen was a direct feed from the all-scanner on Toby’s back. Killeen’s eyes narrowed at each
flicker of fresh movement on the disk plain, letting his own reflexes respond to the images. His hands tightened, unclasped,
tightened again.
Shibo looked at Killeen shrewdly. “You told Cermo, pick Toby?”
“Naysay.”
“Truly?” She seemed surprised.
“I ’spect Cermo chose Toby ’cause he’s quick. Sure, some crew’ll see this as pure favor. But if I overruled him, showed any
interference for Toby…”
“I see.”
“It’s a tradeoff. This scanner slows you down, makes you easier to hit. But—”
“It gives you a chance to warn him if he’s missing something.”
His mouth twisted with irritation. “Naysay! I was going to say, it puts him in the second skirmish line.”
“Which is safer.”
“Course.”
He turned to see Shibo’s silent wry smile. He was about to bark a challenge at her when he paused, made himself step out of
his Cap’n persona, and found himself making his “um-hmm” of grudging amusement. She understood him perfectly, and when they
were alone was unwilling to let him get away with the Cap’n role completely. He was about to kiss her—which was easier for
him than speaking—when the screen above shifted.
Toby was striding quickly across the disk plain, having trouble finding boot-grip. He was down in one of the myriad open-topped
“streets” that crisscrossed the disk, for unfathomablepurposes. The tower loomed directly overhead, larger than the eye could take in.
What had caught Killeen’s attention was Toby’s long leap out of the “street,” which had protected him so far. He rose to the
tower side, applied his magnetic coupler, and was drawn with a harsh clank to the studded tower wall.
Two other suited figures joined him. They raced along the wall, letting their boots seize and thrust. A thick-lipped opening
appeared over the horizon of the tower’s curve. The three dropped down it. Killeen saw that one was Besen, her white teeth
the only feature visible inside her helmet amid the yellow sunlit glare.
A sizzling report echoed. Something spat microwave bursts at them from a side passage. Low-level mechs always imagined they
could kill with mech weapons, never realizing that organic forms could shut out the electromagnetic spectrum and still function
quite independently.
Killeen was glad he had sent them in with their inboard receivers completely dead, except for the link through Toby’s all-scanner.
Toby and Besen surged after the bulky mechs and blew neat holes in each.
The squad twisted deeply into the tower. They worked without crosstalk, giving the mechs no electromag-tag. A hard yellow
glow beckoned down a narrow tunnel and Toby did not hesitate to plunge after it.
Killeen drew back, the lines of his face deepening, but he
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