Impact by Brandon Q. Morris & John C. Corner

Author:Brandon Q. Morris & John C. Corner [Morris, Brandon Q. & Corner, John C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hard-SF.com
Published: 2020-11-30T06:00:00+00:00

Cross used a cloth to wipe the perspiration from his forehead and neck, and then threw it on the floor. His employees' energy and enthusiasm had filled him with strength, a deep sense of power—the power that he would need for the next steps of his plan. Because, in truth, neutralizing Earth was only one victory in his ultimate struggle, one battle in the grand war he was waging.

The path is now clear, but you still must take it! Cross silently told himself as he called up a holo-screen. Swirling pixels soon revealed a gray-haired Chinese woman named Huang Huo, the geneticist serving as his technical director for the top-secret Santa Maria Project.

“I congratulate you on the first successful real-world mission for your creations, Dr. Huang. How did the sibling swarm perform?”

“There were absolutely no signs of rejection responses during the entire mission. The composite beings have remained stable for over one hundred mission days, both under high-acceleration and in zero-gravity conditions.”

“Very good!” Cross rubbed his hands together, satisfied. “Then we can finally start mass production.”

“I must point out one thing to you. The ‘Santa’ mission was the longest mission that the siblings have completed to date under real space environments. We must ensure that there have been absolutely no disruptions in their synthetic structure. After its return, the swarm must be disassembled into its component segments and then analyzed. I can give you scientifically sound results, at the earliest, three months from now.”

Cross took a breath. “My patience is running out, Dr. Huang!”

“Must I remind you that this project has already had multiple catastrophic turns of events due to actions taken too hastily? I am now, if I’m counting correctly, this project’s fourteenth scientific director. If you do not follow my advice, you will have to find a fifteenth.”

Dr. Huang’s face showed absolutely no emotion.

She’s probably already a mechanical being herself, Cross thought. He shrugged. The Santa Maria Project required patience.

For almost 100 years, the Corporation had been working on this project in a secret facility, ever since an escape pod from the missing freighter, the Santa Maria, had been found while the foundation structures of Mars Central were being built. The Santa Maria itself had disappeared in space in 2075, but the escape pod had survived centuries, buried deep in the Mars sand, together with its highly controversial cargo.

“Do what you believe is right, Dr. Huang. For now I will trust you.”

Cross closed the holo-screen. Even back then, Milton Cross had recognized that the Santa Maria Project was the future of not only the corporation, but the future of all humankind. His grandfather had succeeded in hiding the escape pod and shielding it from the intrusive eyes of the terrestrial governments.

He would not endanger the success of this 100-year project by making short-term decisions or yielding to his impatience.

He opened another screen with a quick hand motion. The pixels formed an image of one of his top security officers.

“Status report on ‘Santa’ mission. The terrorist Blane Cooper was apprehended, alive, in a structure below the asteroid’s surface.

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