Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) đ
- Author: Andrew Claymore
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They both sat there incompanionable silence for a while, looking out at the swirling colorsof path-space.
âHow are you feelingabout all this so far?â Adelina asked her. âThis is a lot ofchange to take in all at once.â
âIt is,âGabriella admitted, âbut itâs also pretty cool. I mean, findingout you live in, essentially, a science fiction story is pretty wild.Two days ago we were planning on taking a big trip up to Oregon. Nowweâre on our way to watch a new colony get started on analien world.â
She leaned her head onher motherâs shoulder, putting an arm around her back. âWhatabout you? Must be a shock to find out your little sisterâs got thefate of the species on her shoulders.â
Adelina snorted.âBetter her than me! You know, when we were kids, we used to playsuperhero. Your aunt was usually the one in the cape beating the crapout of your uncles. Nobody was surprised to hear she got into OfficerCadet School.â
âYeah, but thatâsstill not the same as this,â Gabriella said. âIn the Navy, shecould still be a teenager, act like a rebel.â
âA teenager, huh?â
âYeah. Somebodymore senior had authority over her. She might have gone out to dropbombs on a target or shoot down some bad guy but she had commandingofficers telling her to do it.Now, sheâs it⊠Judge,jury and trigger hand. Gotta be stressful.â
She tossed the coversoff her legs and gave her mom a peck on the cheek, grinning at thethoughtful look on her face. âShe could use her big sisterâssupport, I think. Now more than ever.â
She scrambled off thebed. âThatâs just my teenagerâs take on the strains of absolutepower. Iâm gonna take a shower and then stroll around the ship fora while.â
âMind if I joinyou?â
Gabriella lookedup. The voice belonged to one of her auntâs genetically engineeredsuper-soldiers. He had a tray in his hands and a question, askedin Imperial Standard, that shestill hadnât answered. Great⊠How long have I beensitting here staring at him?
He was kind ofcute, for one of the mostfeared killers in the Milky Way. âUm, sure,â she said, tryingsound casual. She saw the disappointment on his face. Whatthe hells? Oh, shit! I basically said I mindâŠâI mean, sure, go ahead and have a seat,â she corrected hastily.
âWhatâs thatthing?â he asked, setting his tray down and taking the seatopposite her.
âItâs mye-reader.â She turned it so he couldsee the text on her screen. It stores about a thousand books.â
âBooks?â He lookedat the device with a frown. âWhat are books?â
âYou know, astory in printed form?â She frowned at him. Donât theseguys have stories? âYou guyshave entertainment, right?â
âWell, of course,âhe replied instantly, âbut itâs in holo form or direct retinalprojection for long story formats. You know, you choose whichcharacterâs point of view and you then see what they see or you canchoose the producerâs cut, seeing from the perspectives that tellthe best story.â
âThat soundscool! Iâd like to try that sometime.â She said before her brainhad a chance to overthink it. Smooth move, idiot. Now itsounds like Iâm fishing for a date. Stop staring at his face! Heâsgonna think youâre a weirdo.
âI can give youa few recommendations,â he offered. âBut this reader,you use it for stories, like a noble?â
âA noble?âAre the commoners illiterate here?
âYeah, I mean, we allknow how to read but we just use it for work, for interfaces andsuch. Itâs only the nobles who develop the speed needed to read forpleasure.â He had a slightly guarded look now. âIâm sorry, IforgotâŠâ
âForgot what?â
âThat Iâm talkingto a noble.â He bowed his head.
âWait, are youbowing?â
âI havenât greetedyou properly, as befits a noble of the republicâŠâ
âHow does arepublic even have nobles? And knock it off with the courtlymanners!â She had her arms crossed over her belly. âJustcall me Gabriella.â
âYes, my⊠Yes,Gabriella.â
He almost called me my Gabriella,she thought. A girl could get used to that⊠Oh gods! Howlong have I been staring at his pecs?She looked away, making sure the entire room wasnât watching herembarrassing performance.
âSo, Gabriella,âthe young man said, putting a slight emphasis on her name, âwhat isit that youâre reading? The nobles I spoke of tend to read epicprose.â
âNo doubt sothey can drop little quotes in conversation to prove how accomplishedthey are,â she said archly, pleased to see he wasnât shocked ather irreverence.
âThis is just a bitof mildly amusing historical fiction.â She waved the reader. âItâsset about five hundred years ago. Lotâs of damsels in distress,besieged castlesâŠâ
He frowned,looking at the reader. âI donât know this word⊠besieged.â
She set the readerdown. âOkay, imagine this is the castle but it has a high wall ofstone all the way around it.â
âIsnât that a wasteof labor?â He wrinkled his nose at her in a way that reminded herthat she was still feeling a little awkward. âIt would be easy toinsert troops with a shuttle or evenâŠâ
âThis is fivehundred years ago,â she cut him off. âNobody was flyingback then. If you showed up in a shuttle theyâd think you were awitch and burn you at the stake...â
She stoppedtalking. Yep. Now he thinks weâre all a bunch of ignorantsavages, sitting around in caves and hunting with pointy sticksâŠ
âOh, thatâsright,â he said. âI forgot about that. Our people on Irth wentfrom first flight to quantum circuits in less than two centuries.âHe leaned forward. âYou know the old kingdom took about fifteentimes as long?â
âReally?â
âHells yeah!You wild Humans hitass!â He frowned. âDid I translate that Irth-phrase correctly?Hitass?â
âKick,â shecorrected. âItâsâkick assâ.â Donâtthink about his ass. She knewher face was starting to turn red. âI didnât even realize youâdsaid it in Imperial, just now.â
âAh,no doubt the specific word-choice can make a difference.Now, you were explaining a⊠besieged?â
âBesiegedis the thingmod.The thing wouldbe âsiegeâ, am I using the right Imperial grammatical terms?â
He nodded. âI thinkso. You seem to be making sense.â
She put her handsaround his side of the reader. âImagine my hands are the wallâŠâ
âOh! Wait amoment,â he said. He brought up a holo menu and pulled out a filethat he dropped on the desk. A three dimensional model of a fortifiedtown now sat above the e-reader.
âYou mean like this?â
âReally?â Shetilted her head back so she could look
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