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Thirty three - IN SPACE
Jyro felt his heart thump against his chest. Were aliens waiting? How would they react? What should he say to them? Something moved. The dart thrower came up; his finger tightened on the trigger, and then came off again.
Nano! A long silvery stream of the silvery stuff had entered the ship and oozed in his direction.The human watched the pseudopod split into three separate rivulets. Two turned and slithered down side passageways, while the third probed the main corridor.The nano were assessing how much damage the ship had suffered. That's the way it appeared, anyway, which suggested that they were external to the ship. Afterall, if the ship had the ability to repair itself, why wait until now?Thus encouraged, the prospector followed the pulsating stream back toward its source. He passed through one of the more damaged sections, saw light through a ragged hole, and was struck by how strange they were, like luminescent dandelion seeds floating on the wind.Related chapters
HALF BREED Thirty four - IN SPACE
The corridors were like a maze. Jyro walked for like fifteen minutes. He turned right, turned left, and turned right again. The lock was just as he had left it. Such wanderings were frustrating,but more than that, extremely dangerous. The adrenaline had dissipated. He was tired, very tired, and a little bit dizzy. What he needed was food. All his dwindling strength should be focused on finding it.But how? Where to look? What to do? Robots didn't need food, so he couldn't get it from them. From where, then? Despair threatened to pull him down. Jyro forced himself to think. The combined weight of the space suit and duffel bag was too much. He would leave them behind.The maze of passageways was consuming time and precious energy. He would mark them. The prospector fumbled around in his duffel bag, found a can of blue spray paint, and eyed the indicator. Half full. Good. That should suffice.The lock hissed open, allowed two of the humanoids to exit, and close again. Th
HALF BREED Thirty five - ELGIRON
Fort Camerone squatted on the dry, rocky plain, and, with the exception of the missile launchers, antenna arrays, and fly form landing pads that broke its hard, angular lines, looking a lot like the godforsaken outposts the Legion had occupied in North Africa, centuries before.General Maltese Kairo low-crawled forward, used his elbows for support, and brought the binoculars up to his eyes. A motor whirred, and the outskirts of the ever expanding slum known as Naa Town, swam into focus.The shanty town consisted of hundreds of makeshift earthen domes, each reinforced with whatever chunk of metal or plastic that the occupants could beg, borrow, or steal.The officer panned from left to right. Data rippled down from the right side of the screen. Range, albedo, and more. None of it mattered. What did matter was the fact that smoke dribbled out of only half the chimneys, very little laundry had been hung to dry, and the narrow, twisting streets were practically deserted.
HALF BREED Thirty six - ELGIRON
The bodies, some of which were forty eight hours old, were piled like offerings before a pagan alter. There were at least fifty of them. Blood had seeped down onto the floor. Coaster's best friend, Jane Hopskins, lay on her back. Insects crawled in and out of her mouth.A servo whined. The tech looked up, and there was Davide. The quad looked like what he was - a monster.Some poor slob had spent hours on the huge, glaring eyes, the wide, grinning mouth, and the rows of razor-sharp teeth.Coaster turned and tried to run. The troopers caught the tech and brought her back. Urine soaked her pants.The voice had a hard, metallic quality, like the synthesizer that produced it. "Nice job, Coaster. There we were, all ready to suck Kairo in, when you spooked him".The discovery that Davide knew what had transpired down in the Ops Center would have surprised the technician, except for the fact that she knew he had access to the fort's command and control systems.
HALF BREED Thirty seven - ELGIRON
There was no longer any doubt. Something terrible had happened. There were plenty of reasons to think so, not the least of which was a lack of meaningful radio contact with the fort.Oh, there were conversations all right, plenty of them, but none that mattered. The com technicians sounded legit but couldn't come up with any officers. Why? Because they were busy? Like the techs claimed? Or because of something a good deal more sinister? A full scale mutiny? Was that the answer? Had the scouts known that something would happen before they left the fort? That would explain how certain they were. But what about the men and women under his command? They seemed unaffected. Why? None of it made much sense.One thing was for sure: it was impossible for general Saul to keep his mouth shut for more than ten seconds. That being the case, Kairo would have heard from the asshole by now. Yes, something was very, very wrong when Saul remained silent, but what?The general had no mo
HALF BREED Thirty eight - ELGIRON
Kairo could imagine the scene. Officers and noncoms to the front, backed by rank after rank of legionnaires. And there, behind the crisp white kepis, the Trooper IIIs, the Trooper IIs, and the tank-sized quads.Kairo looked for the other man's eyes and saw nothing but scar tissue. "So, what happened then?"Dooley grimaced. "Nothing good. Saul have a speech, started to inspect the troops, and they took him prisoner. A scuffle ensued, loyal troops came to the general's assistance, and Davide opened fire."That was pretty much it, except for the plan to capture you and secure the rest of the planet"."And it would have worked", Kairo said softly, "if it weren't for my scouts"."And you willingness to listen", Mayweather added firmly.Kairo was about to demur when Gunbuilder appeared at his side. "Yes, Sergeant?""Com call for you, sir. A technician named Coaster".Kairo allowed his eyebrows to rise.
HALF BREED Thirty nine - ELGIRON
One of Elgiron's super short nights passed into day as a line of artillery shells marched down off a low-lying hill, exploded with the same ruthless efficiency as the computer that controlled them, and hurled fountains of dirt high into the air.Kairo waited for the barrage to end, strolled out of the CP, and nodded to a sentry. "How's it going', Hayes? Better keep your head down. Those idiots might get lucky".Hayes laughed, just as she was supposed to, and told Corporal Ataph. He told Sergeant Muntu, and the entire battalion had the story within the hour."Yup", everyone agreed, "there is nothing that bothers the old man, except cold tea, and stupid orders".None of which would have surprised Kairo, who knew that the troops took a considerable amount of comfort from such stories, and tried to keep them happy.Major Kitty Kitty frowned as her boss riggled up next to her, produced his binoculars, and scanned the distant fort. She considered Kairo's predilect
HALF BREED Forty - ELGIRON
Kairo, his elbows resting on the quickly melting snow, watched the quad appear. Not just any quad, but one with monster features, and a cross welded to its bow. Kairo felt a sudden emptiness in the pit of his stomach.The officer increased the magnification, and the unrecognizable blob leapt into focus. There was no mistaking the staring eyes, the contorted face, or the horribly bared teeth. It was Saul.Kairo felt an irritating surge of anger. Damn the miserable sonofabitch to hell! Damn him for allowing such a thing to happen, damn him for staying alive, and damn him for putting me in this position!Kitty nudged his arm. "The man on the cross, did you see who it is?"Kairo answered without lowering his binoculars. "Yes, he's hard to miss"."So what should we do?"The word seemed to hang there as Kairo considered his options. One solution was to ignore Saul, attack, and let the chips fall where they may.But what if their positions were reversed?
HALF BREED Forty one - EARTH (DIVIDED)
Colonel Luton Arthur was tired, very tired, but unable to sleep. That was why he rolled off the rumpled cot, ran water into the store room's deep sink, and took a sponge bath. Then, wearing a fresh new uniform, he emerged to prowl the floor.More than two weeks had passed since the revolt. The Global Operation Center hummed to the never-ending flow of reports, requests, and orders. People nodded or in some cases saluted, but kept their distance. They knew his moods.Luton pushed to consider the gigantic globe. The holo seemed to shimmer as it turned. A less conservative man might have been satisfied with the territory under his control - most of North America, Europe, and Asia were red.But all Luton saw were Islands of blue, chunks of territory still identified by ancient names like Mongolia, Ethiopia, and a large part of Brazil. These were the places where resistance had grown and taken root. Partly because of the terrain, and partly because of the people, many of w
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