Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) đ
- Author: Andrew Claymore
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Vikramâsskin tingled. She said descendants. Did that mean Humans camefrom these people as well? He opened his mouth.
âDidyou say descendants?â Gabriella asked, coming to stand by Vikram.âAre you saying weâre related somehow?â
âWewere finished. We should have seen that we were designing our own endbut it was too late for us.â She turned from the display to look atthem.
âWecreated the most diverse group of bodies possible, given the genes incirculation. We cloned the group for use on hundreds of worlds, eachbody inhabited by a volunteer.
âThechances of any one group becoming genetically viable over time wasminimal but by seeding multiple worldsâŠâ She glanced over hershoulder at the display.
âSomehave thrived. You are one of the few successes. Most of those who liein fold-sleep, waitingfor our descendants, willnever be wakened.
Theholo behind her became a grassy plain, zooming in on a group ofpeople. They were dressed in modern-lookingclothing and stood among a cluster of small storage containers.
âYourancestors apparently thrived,â Kusha said. âAs their supplieswaned and their equipment broke down, they had to learn to survive.Their descendants would have heard the stories of the god-like powersof those who came before.â
TheTitans?Vikram wondered, looking up at the ancient woman. Werethey remembered as the Titans?
âYousurvived and you came here to builda new home ona new world.âKusha said. âYou have passed the test by becoming a viable,multiplanetspecies.â
Vikramfrowned. Ifwe had no colonyâŠ
âWeâvegot Billions of people on Earth,â Gabriella said. âAre you sayingyouâd have ignored all that diversity if we hadnât come here tosettle on Ragnarok?â
âYes,âKusha answered, sounding surprised this wasnât already understood.âI said âviableâ species.â
Gabriellashared a look with Vikram, shrugging in resignation. âOK, where dowe go from here? What was the plan for after weâd come to you?â
âYouseem very casual about this!â Kushasounded a little put out.
âImean no offense, Kusha, but Iâd be lying if I said this is thestrangest thing to happen to me this month.â Gabriella spread herhands. âIâm just a little wrung out, thatâs all, butthis is right up there â top three, at least.â
Kushastared down at her for an uncomfortably long time. Hershoulders twitched upward a little, then did it again. Suddenly shebrokeout laughing,holding a hand to her belly.
âOh,ancestors,â she wheezed. âI havenât had a good laugh in a verylong time. Sheswept a hand in front of her and the room was gone.
Vikrammight have jumped in alarm but there was nothing beneath his feet.Theywere floating in a large room, raw currents of energy flowingin a complex network along distant walls.
Sheraised a hand and pulled a tendril of glowing blue from the emptyspace around her and sent threads toward the two Humans. Vikramcringed as the linereached his forehead but there was no noticeable sensation.
Untilthere wasâŠ
Ina blinding flash, he was gone. There was no Vikram, only an awarenessthat vaguely remembered the name.
KushaâŠGabriella...otherconcentrations of identity that rang familiar. They orbited a densecloud of awareness,deep, complex and ever-changing.
Theydipped into it like a ship skipping in and out of a planetary gravitywell.
Conceptsand ideas flowed, unfettered and unrecorded by theblunt tool oflanguage. The simplicity of knowledge was a thing of ephemeralbeauty.
Itwashed through them and then they were back in the room with thelarge naked alien. Vikram didnât even notice her state of undressanymore.
Hefelt the tracks on his cheeks. He looked at Gabriella and saw her owntears.
âItâsfading,â she whispered. âOh God,thereâs so much we donât know!â
âThatis the first step,â Kusha said gently. âYou need time to fullyabsorb what youâve witnessed.Iâll be here when youâre ready to carry on.â
âButwhatâŠâ Vikram stopped mid-sentence. They were back on themetallic surface, surrounded by the jungle.
âDidall of that just happen in our heads while we were standing up here?âGabriella asked him.
Helooked at her, seeing her now as someone heâd shared a profoundlyconfusing experience with. âI honestly donât know.â
Ad Meliora
Youâre Saved!
The Tulwar, Ragnarok
âRestoringnormal geometry,â the helmsman announced. âWeâre well withinthe arrival envelope,â he added with a hint of pride.
âVerygood,â Captain Max, âHotBoxâ Johnson acknowledged. âOps,whereâs that freighter?â
âTheycame out just where theyâre supposed to, Captain. Theyâre closingin now, confirming their status on tight-beam.â
âKeepâem close. I want that ship playing suppository till we know whatâsgoing on down-well.â
âCooling,Captain?â the engineering officer suggested.
âSecurethe path drive and engage the cryo-exchange.â Max had spent severaldays thinking about this as they raced to Ragnarok.
Theodds of them arriving just in the nick of time to turn a battle wereinfinitesimal. Better chance of finding a congressman with aheart.
Thechances of finding enemies still in orbit or conducting operations onthe ground were much higher. That meant stealth would be a morevaluable asset than speed.
Theyâdarrived in the outer edge of a gas giant and there was a lot of coldto be harvested. Fully charged cryo-banks would let them get close toRagnarok without being spotted.
Thecarbon nanotubules on the hull let light bounce down between themwhere they were harvested for data. The hull was, effectively, agiant telescope lens.
Butall that energy had to end up somewhere. Corvettes on stealth modebuilt up heat quickly. If standing in the Sahara was hot, standing inspace with no attenuating atmosphere and a completely light-absorbingcoating was mind-numbingly hot.
âFullcharge on the cryo,â Engineeringannounced.
âDisengagethe cryo-exchange,â Max ordered. âHelm. Lift us out. Letâs geta look.â
TheTulwar eased her way out of the clouds, hull side on to theplanet to maximize the data she could collect.
Maxleaned forward in his chair. The planet in his holo began changingfrom a wireframe model to a colored representation as the incominglight was processed.
âThereâsbeen a fight, alright,â the ops officer said. âThe space overUnity is littered with wreckage.â
âTheground around it as well,â Max replied. âLooks like several shipswent down and not under control either.â He enlarged the planet andstabbed a finger. âThatâs got to be a cruiser. Toobig to be the Kuphar.â
Hesat back. âAnything in the rest of the system?â
âSomewreckage out here.â Ops lit up a debris-field further out. âLookslike it was mostly civilian freighters, though.â
Maxhad entertained the idea of dropping in toward Ragnarok with thefreighter hiding behind their hull. Seeing evidence of a fight alonga lateral axis to his planned approach
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