INSOMNIA and Seven More Short Stories by Robinson Jeremy

Author:Robinson, Jeremy [Robinson, Jeremy]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Breakneck Media
Published: 2011-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

With most of up-town reduced to atoms there isn’t anyone left to report to. Hell, I might be the highest ranking cop in town. All city-bound lines of communication are inoperable, so I turn to the next best source of information. The dashboard sat-link blinks on and is instantly filled with the image of a screaming woman. She appears to be reporting on the wave of destruction that just ravaged my city, but she’s incoherent. Useless.

“Channels one through fifty, news filter priority one.” The sat-link responds to my voice like an obedient dog, filling the screen with twenty three thumbnail feeds. I scan the images and listen to the mix of voices.

“English only.” One by one, images disappear. Only five remain when it’s done. Three screens show women reporters crying their guts out. Another displays a man wailing like a stuck pig—embarrassing. The fifth shows an aerial shot of the carnage, something had carved a clean, perfectly round hole in the center of the city, miles wide and countless fathoms deep. Millions of lives have been lost.

Rehna gasps. “My God.”

Women...

The kid is sitting in Rehna’s lap, staring intently at the screen, eyes wide. Kid’s taking it all in stride. Probably not old enough to be an emotional wreck yet.

“Track five, audio only. Enlarge.” The image of the destruction fills the screen.

The voice of a reporter speaks calmly over the feed. “Once again, as it did a year ago, a sinister force from orbit has struck the Earth. The source of the devastation is still unknown and with The Authority headquarters destroyed, chances are, we will never know where and when this evil force might strike again. Scientists studying the clean-cut hole of last year’s attack could not identify what kind of weapon was used, only that it is far more advanced than anything in the World District’s arsenal. Could technology finally be turning on—”

Before I have time to react, the kid reaches out and messes with the sat-link controls. We lose the feed.

“What the hell, kid? Don’t touch this shit,” I say, while attempting to readjust the controls.

“Move your damn hand,” the kid barks at me.

I stop and give her the coldest stare I can muster—sends most mutts running scared. But the kid just gives it back to me.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Well, it ain’t kid.”

I wait.

“Gawyn.”

“Well, Gawyn. I ain’t letting no simp mess with my mobile unit.”

“Good. Cause I ain’t no simp, old man.”

Old man? Kid’s looking to get a close up look at my knuckles talking like that. I clench my left fist. Then I feel a squeeze on my shoulder. Rehna’s glaring at me. “Let her play with the freakin sat-link, Priest.”

I smile. “There you go talking dirty to me again.”

Gawyn goes to work. Her fingers are a blur on the screen, working the controls masterfully, faster than I could even with the synth-arm. My eyes widen with every half second, cause that’s all it takes for her to access The Authority’s satellite mainframe. She’s no simp. She’s a damn cyber-genius.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.