Forbidden Planets (BCE) by Anthology

Author:Anthology [Anthology]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

–IV–

The Scypha built spaceships much as they built themselves: Mechanical embryos were generated, each containing the guiding principles used in every ship in their enormous fleet. But the growth of each vessel was a chaotic, wildly unpredictable business. If a hundred identical embryos were instructed to form slow freighters of a specific size, no two vessels ended up with identical schematics. To a human engineer, such a system was both astonishing and terrifying. Aasleen would be the first to admit that Scypha machinery was astonishingly adaptive, tough and reasonably efficient. If necessary, their vessels could heal most damage with the resources on hand, and should one of their freighters need to update its shape and job, the transformation took remarkably little time. But no two freighters could reliably exchange components. Hull shapes and engine designs were full of quirks and one-of-a-kind features. And sometimes mistakes were made—catastrophic failures in design just waiting for the wrong moment to arrive—a grim possibility that Aasleen could never, ever accept.

On the other hand, human ships were always standardized and tenaciously, even dangerously reliable.

Rococo had no expertise as an engineer or a pilot. Yet he was able to learn enough about human-built shuttles to steal one of them, and without much trouble, he crippled the three sister shuttles remaining behind in the Peregrines dock.

“How long for repairs?” Hazz had asked.

“Twenty-three hours,” was Aasleen’s best guess. “That’s for bringing all three ships back on line and refueling them, and that’s assuming our colleague didn’t sabotage their Al managers, too. Because if that’s the case, it’s going to take time to find that out, and then it could be three days, or four, until we can launch even one shuttle.”

A captain’s poise obscured what had to be a terrible rage. Hazz nodded and said nothing, considering the situation.

It was the chief diplomat who couldn’t contain her emotions. “Your brother,” she said twice, then twice again. “Where is your brother going? What in hell is your brother planning?” She was a young-faced woman named Krill. Little more than a child in appearance, she happened to be older than anyone else present. Thousands of years had been invested in a career that looked ready to shatter. “If we can’t catch your brother soon,” she declared, “then we’ll have to tell the Scypha and let them corral your brother for us.”

“If they can do that,” Aasleen mentioned.

Krill grimaced and looked at their captain.

Hazz understood the situation clearly. But he thought it best to let Aasleen explain.

“My brother,” she began, staring at the diplomat’s smoke-colored eyes. “He took our best shuttle. It is exactly the same as these other three, except it has a secondary hull that can be reconfigured. I designed that hull, under direct orders from you, madam. It was early in the mission. We were planning for contingencies. And you suggested that we have at least one shuttle that could look rather like a Scypha ship. Just in case,’ you said, madam. ‘In case our hosts aren’t as friendly or forthcoming as they should be.

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