Carnival On Union Station (EarthCent Ambassador Book 5) by E. M. Foner

Author:E. M. Foner [Foner, E. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Paradise Pond Press
Published: 2015-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

Twelve

After their abortive mission to Kibbutz, the EarthCent Intelligence delegation returned to the Effterii and made directly for Bits. This time even Clive, who was used to the Effterii jumps, felt more than a little disoriented when they popped into space above the small, dense world.

“Excellent detection grid for humans, but they won’t spot the Effterii,” Jeeves remarked. “Small spaceport next to the main atmospheric dome, nothing parked at the moment. Planet shows extremely high levels of electronic signals traffic, it’s surprising they can sort out who is talking to whom. My, what very long addresses they are using.”

“Have you spotted any weapons systems?” Clive asked, rubbing his temples in an attempt to clear his brain of the feeling that it had been placed backwards in his head.

“Interesting collection of stuff, I would say that it’s all war surplus gear bought through piracy channels,” Jeeves reported. “Do you see anything interesting, my Effterii friend?”

The ship, which rarely spoke unless addressed first, took its time in replying.

“I detect a large collection of dysfunctional weaponry in the main dome, perhaps some sort of repair facility. But the variety is unusual and includes some hardware I can’t identify, despite my recent update from the Union Station library.”

“Could it be a museum?” Woojin asked. He was beginning to suffer from a twinge of seller’s regret for letting go of his antique firearms collection.

“Impressive guess,” Jeeves said, sounding more respectful than usual. “I don’t have the resolution of the Effterii from this distance, but I can confirm that the majority of the weapons in the main collection we are discussing have been damaged or discharged, probably gathered as a sort of a display.”

“Maybe it’s a weapons library,” Paul said. He’d been following the conversation with his eyes clenched shut while he waited for the feeling of having an out-of-body experience to pass. Paying attention to something other than his head helped with the nausea. “I was never a fan of infantry war games myself, but Bits turns out most of the first-person-shooter games played by humans.”

“Receiving a hail from the planet,” the Effterii reported. “I’m confident they haven’t used any active detection technology capable of spotting me, but the transmission is on a fairly narrow beam. This indicates that they either know somebody is in the area or they regularly send such transmissions into space in an attempt to trick hidden vessels into revealing themselves.”

“Let’s see it, reception only,” Clive instructed the ship’s controller, since Paul still looked woozy.

“Caught you,” a mocking voice came over the speakers. The main screen came to life, showing a young man with a bad complexion sitting in a swivel chair, a battery of equipment covered in sliders and blinking LEDs at his back. “Our sensor grid picked up your gravimetric distortion as you warped in. Why don’t you drop the silly radio silence before we blast you out of the sky?”

“It’s a recording,” Jeeves reported. “The kid in the foreground is layered onto an image taken from elsewhere, probably an old Earth entertainment broadcast.

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