Fire Forged: A military science fiction space opera adventure. (Terran Expeditionary Corps Book 2) by Richard Fox
Author:Richard Fox [Fox, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triplane Press
Published: 2024-10-22T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 9
âBecause we have a treaty with the Inheritors, thatâs why.â Ashara sucked the flesh from an orital berry and kept the fuzzy skin on the outer side of her teeth. She raised a cup to her mouth and spat the skin out. The inner pulp of the berries had a mild narcotic effect but ingesting the skins caused a degree of gastrointestinal distress that culminated in a sudden and violent need to defecate.
Yutan had allowed her orital from the stationâs hydroponics gardens but had forbidden her from bringing a waste unit into the presence of the Morning Starâs Old Soul.
âI didnât sign this treaty. Who did? They have betrayed our clan,â the juvenile holo said.
âAbove my station.â Ashara shrugged. âThe Inheritorsâ presence here is temporary. Iâve told you this how many times?â
âThe Zeis quarters in synch orbit are temporary. Theyâve been empty for many orbits, but theyâre still ready for product.â The Morning Star holo pointed up and a screen appeared, highlighting the location of slave pens floating around the station. âRipping my bones apart to build a prison cell is permanent.â
âPrison cell?â Ashara sucked down another berry.
âThe tall ones have an ugly one with them. Look.â The childâs eyes went white as hundreds of data feeds swirled around Ashara.
âToo much. Just show me what I need toââ
The data feeds coalesced into an image of a human female cowering in the corner of a cell.
âOh. Her.â Asharaâs lip pulled into a sneer.
âHokans donât belong in my bones,â the Morning Star said. âMake her leave. Or I can decouple the Inheritor Quarter from me and dump her air.â
âWhat about the rest of the Inheritors? Donât they need to breathe too?â Ashara asked.
âNo. They donât breathe.â The holo shook its head. âThey donât use reclamation systems. Thereâs no oxygen draw from in my scrubbers. They never order from the farms either.â
âHow is that possible? Theyâre alive, arenât they?â Ashara asked.
âNot like my people. The tall ones offend me,â the holo said. âThe ugly one is more normal. I still donât like her.â
âI donât like her either. Chief Carson is Terran and it was the Terrans that murdered our returned Triumvirate. They also cast down the cursed Sacred Intelligence.â
âA mockery,â the holo said. âIf I sabotage her cell, will the tall ones leave?â
âNo. And they will punish Ultari for her death,â Ashara said.
âThen how do we make them leave?â the holo asked.
âAs I have made abundantly clearâmultiple timesâthe Inheritors are our allies against the hokan races. That meansââ
All power cut out from the chamber, leaving Ashara in total darkness.
âDonât act like this,â the Ultari sighed. Dealing with the ancient artificial intelligence at the core of the Morning Star station was worse than babysitting clan children. It was capable of intricate analyses and information processing, but it reasoned with a degree of petulance that frayed her limited patience.
A screen materialized, casting pale white light against Ashara.
An FTL plot of an incoming fleet appeared. It left hyperspace dangerously close to the gravity-well terminus of the planet the Morning Star orbited and split into two vectors.
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