Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) đ
- Author: Andrew Claymore
Book online «Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) đ». Author Andrew Claymore
âWell,â he gesturedhelplessly at the town. âThis is just⊠I mean itâs forâŠâ
Oh my gods!Is he turning red now? Iâd say something to help but heâs just socute when he stammersâŠ
Thepods did such a good job of teaching that she didnât even realizeher inner dialogue was currently using Imperial Standard.
âThis is a colonytown,â he finally managed. âThe walls arenât for open militaryconflict; theyâre just for keeping out wild creatures or whateverbandits might show up.â
âFine, whatever.âShe pointed to the town. âBoth the attackers and the defenders inthis story would have been limited mostly to edged weapons, swords,lances, arrowsâŠâ
âWow!â hebreathed, looking down at the wall. âSo the wall would have...archers, yes?â
She nodded. âAnd theywould make it a living hell for enemies to get close to the wall withladders, though that was one of the ways to get a quick victory. Ifthat fails, they have to settle in and build siege equipment âstuff that can hurl large stones at the wall to make a hole.â
âIf they had noflight capability,â he began slowly. âWhy not just surround thetown and wait? Wouldnât the defenders run out of food?â
âThey would,â sheconfirmed. âAnd sometimes they did that but itâs costly. Thelonger an army sat still back then, the more men died from disease.â
âWhy?â
âThere was verylittle understanding about⊠sanitation,â she said. âBack then,âshe added quickly.
âAmazing,â he said,finally taking a bite. âTo think that our people came so far injust a few generations.â He pointed a piece of blue fruit at theholographic town. âI suppose the new colonists will feel at homehaving a wall.â
âIs this thenew town?â sheasked excitedly. âThe capital of our new colony?â
He waggled his head,still chewing. âItâs an option but theyâre probably going tochoose an arcology. Itâs more secure and easier to upscale over theyears as the colony grows.
âDid you designthis?â
He swallowed. âNo,this is procedurally generated based on the number of inhabitants andtype of colony. This is the standard imperial colony town for anearly community of farmers.â
âOh, that is verycool!â She leaned in to look down on the buildings. âI do a lotof modeling on my computer back home. Iâd love to learn more abouthow this works. Maybe we could give this town a little Earth flairâŠâ
She sat back, shoulderslowering a bit. âSorry. Just getting carried away. Iâm sure thewhole thing is just stuck together from pre-fab components anyway.â
âWhat?â He shookhis head. âNo. The town is built out of locally-harvested materialby a swarm of nanites. They follow the pattern we give them. If youcan change the look of the placeâŠâ
âYou couldactually build it that way?â sheasked, practically falling off the front of her seat.
âOf course,â hesaid. âItâs no more difficult than the standard model and thiswould make it more⊠Human!â
She was soexcited that sheâd managed to forget how cute the guy was. Untilnow,she thought, her eyes drifting down to his shoulders. Thosedamn under-armor suits donât leave much to the imaginationâŠ
Sherealized she was staring again. She looked up, face red, to meet hisgaze.
âHowold areyou?â heasked.
Dang it!she thought in English. Couldnâthe just be the cute older dude that I hung out with and enjoyed alittle unacknowledged tension with? Now I have to admit Iâm just ateenager.âIâm seventeen,â she muttered, looking down.
Shewas a couple weeks shy of eighteen but steadfastly refused to addthat. She felt it sounded a little too desperate to look older.
âThatexplains it,â he mused.
âExplainswhat?âshe asked, humiliated.
âHowyou come up with such interesting ideas,â he said. âHow you caneasily read this,â he gestured at her tablet with a mild frown,âhistrionic friction?â
Shealmost giggled. There was a fair bit more âfrictionâ in thosenovels than her mom realized.
âYouâreso much older.â
Shenodded morosely. Wait,what?She let her eyes bore into him now. âIâm seventeen,â shereminded him.
Buthe just nodded, as if that was all the proof he needed for his ownpoint.
She pursed herlips for a half second. âHow old are you?â
âIâm six,â hetold her.
Sheheld up a finger. âIâm gonna need a second to absorb that.â Shelooked around the room with new eyes. Iâm probably theoldest person in the whole damn room. WellâŠShespotted her mother walking in. âŠSecondoldest.
Donât come over here, shethought. She watched her veer toward the serving line. âYou have toadmit itâs weird,â she said, looking back at him. âYou looklike youâre in your twenties but Iâm actually three times yourage.â
âYes, but weârecreated with implanted knowledge,â he said. âWe wake up for thefirst time with a lot of context that we have to sort through.â
âYou havecontext but how much of a role is played by societal boundaries?âshe asked. Look whoâs been paying attention in socialstudies! She closed her eyes fora second, not needing to look in order to know whoâd just sat nextto her.
âMy lady,âthe young man bowed his head.
âA perfect example ofsocietal boundaries,â Gabriella said. âMy mother sees me talkingto a male of the species and she canât resist a protectivedisplay.â
âI canât sit withmy daughter while I eat?â Adelina asked, sounding mildly offended,one of her best performances, really.
âNeither of ushave eaten since yesterday afternoon,â Gabriella said, looking downat hermotherâs hastilychosen piece of fruit and a mug of black coffee. Her mom never tookher coffee black.
âMy mother,âGabriella explained, turning back to her companion, âisentirely responsible for me. Iâm not yet a legal adult inour homestateâŠâ
âOr on thisship,â Adelina insisted.
âIsnât thatup to republic law?â sheasked her mother.
âNope. I lookedit up. The laws of the republic are intended as a stopgap in caseswhere local laws donât cover something. As far as something likeâŠâ
âAge of consent?âGabriella asked innocently.
Adelina glared at herchild. âOkay, sure. Age of consent. Youâre covered by Californialaw.â
âAge of consent?âthe man asked.
âItâs the ageyou need to reach before you can legally consent to sexualintercourse,â Gabriella answered, amazing herself with her suddenboldness. Iâm the wise old woman here, right?
âOtherwise, you facelegal penalties,â Adelina added, a little more forcefully than sheprobably intended. âAnd the parent as well, if she murders thebastard who took advantage of her childâŠâ
His eyes grew wide atthe threat radiating from the mother. The entire room had gonesilent. Gabriella looked around at
Comments (0)