Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) đ
- Author: Andrew Claymore
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Lunawas looking down the long central space of the fighter hangar. âThisis as good a space for us to talk as any boardroom,â she said,waving up at a group of crewmen working on a fighter.
Sheturned to face the group and sat.
Adelinamoved to reach out, drawing breath to shout a warning, but her sisterdidnât fall on her backside. A seat flowed up out of the deckplating.
âThatis several different kinds of cool,â Adelina observed, watching thetracery of gaps in the decking close up.
âHah!âGabriella laughed, now seated. âI see why you couldnât tell usanything beforehand. If you said Iâd be doing a trust exercise witha spaceship, weâd be driving home right now, worried about yoursanity.â
Adelinarealized she was now the only one standing. She moved back a bit soshe wouldnât be blocking her daughter andâŠbegan the âlandingâ procedure.
Evenknowing thereâd be a seat there, she still felt a surge ofresistance from her instincts as she started awkwardlylowering her backside likeshe was getting ready to lay an egg. She nearly abandoned the attemptat the point of no return.
Ofcourse, everyone was watching her. âIâm alright,â sheinsisted.
âBetterthan alright, Iâd say,â Luna told her. âAfter all youâve seenin the last half hour, I canât say for sure Iâd be so composed.â
âButyou are, composed.â Adelina pointed out.
âYeah,but I was a part of this from the moment I dragged him into ourelevator in San Diego.â She jabbed a thumb at her husband.
âHowdidyou find out?â Gabriella asked. âI mean, didhe bring you up here? Whatdid he bring along for the big, show-and-tell moment?â
Lunagave her niece a suspicious look. âIâm gonna assume thatâs aninnocent question. HeâŠâ She looked at Adelina, pursing her lips.
She stilldoesnât know her own tells,Adelina thought. That simple Human foible was immensely reassuring.This was still her little sister and she was trying to decide howmuch to reveal to Adelina.
âIcan handle it, Sis.â
Lunasighed. âHe demonstrated an ability that nobody on Earth has.â
âO...KayâŠâ
âAi!Grow up! Iâm not talking about sex!â
âSowhat did he do?â Gabriella asked.
âThis,âGleb said from behind them.
âShit!âGabriella jumped up from her chair.
âLanguage!âAdelina scolded automatically.
Lunaneeded a few seconds to stop laughing. âYou can take the girl fromEarth,â she said, still giggling, âbut you canât take the momout of the girl. I never would have expected that to be yourresponse!â
âYouever see Momlet up?â
âFairenough,â Luna conceded. âBut thatâs what he showed me asproof.â
âHowdid you do that?â Adelina asked him but he was gone again. Sheturned to find him taking a seat next to Luna again.
âWell,âhe began slowly. âA short time ago, none of us could do anythinglike that. We were no different than you, except we were grown inchambers by a corporation that sold us to the lord of Kish asslaves.â
Hegestured to Eth. âWe were never children, like you. We becameconscious as adults, with knowledge already programmed into ourminds. We were created for combat and we served our lord so well inthe Brush-FireWars that he freed our people.â
Helooked at Eth again. âThen we arrived at an ambush and theVarangians, the emperorâs personal military, were there, preventingthe ambush from triggering.They requested an interview with our lord but it was just a cover fortheir real intent.â
âWhatdid they want?â Gabriella asked eagerly.
âMe,âEth said.
Everyonelooked at him.
Heshrugged. âIâd met one of their people at Kwharaz Station and heseemed to take an interest in me.â He grimaced. âPerhaps it mightbe more accurate to say they already had an interestâŠâ He stoppedtalking and turned to look behind himself. âWonder how many timesIâve diedâŠâ he muttered.
âWhat?âGabriella asked.
âNothing,âhe shook his head. âBest to just keep things simple.â He took adeep breath and resumed.
âTheytook me to a portal in their ship. It took me out of the Universe, ina way. I found myself in a place that⊠had more dimensions thanweâre usually comfortable with.â
âWhythe hell would they do that?â Adelina asked.
âIfyou find out...â Eth shook his head. â⊠Letme know. Expecting a straight answer from a Varangian is a sign ofinsanity. AllI know is that they were curious about our presence in the empire,aboutour impact on its affairs.
âTheexperience changed me. I could do what you saw Gleb do just now.â
âIwas able to learn,â Gleb said, âbut not everyone can. Scylla, whowas also taken to the same place, has a much better grasp of theintricacies. Sheâs kind of our high priestess.â
âShetaught me,â Luna said.
âYoucan do that?â Gabriella whispered.
Lunanodded. âThat, and⊠other things. But weâve got a lot of opencans of worms here. Letâs focus on why we asked you to come heretoday.
âTheseguys were never kids. They have no idea what itâs like to grow upbuttheir sterility implants are being deactivated by some techs we haveon loan. There are going to be lots of pregnancies happening and noneof them know the first thing about being a kid or being a parent.â
âThisis a pivotal moment for our species,â Gleb said. âIrth willeventually have to learn that theyâre a part of the republic andour people will have to learn how to bea people.â
âOurpeople from the empire,âLuna reminded him. âThe folks on Earth are our people too, now.â
Henodded, accepting the correction. âWeâve all got a lot ofadjusting to do. Havingthe two of you spend time among us, just as yourselves, would beincredibly valuable.â
âYouwant us to be a model family?â Adelina was shaking her head. âItâsâŠjust the two of usâŠâ She stopped, not wanting to denigrate herex-husband in front of Gabriella. Jacques was still her father, afterall, even if heâd run off back to Corsica.
âYoustill held it together,â Luna said quietly as if she didn't quitetrust her voice. âAnd youâre clearly doing a great job as a mom.âShe nodded at her embarrassed niece.
âYoucould really help our people,â Luna said, âand folks out hereexpect their nobles to set the example. That would include the two ofyou.â
Somethingoccurred to Adelina. âDo Momand Dadknow about all this?â
âNotyet. We need to settle into all this before we start telling morepeople. For themoment,itâs just you two because we need you. Weâreasking now because youâre still between gigs.â
âSo,what happens? We just
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