Space Rodeo by Jenny Schwartz

Author:Jenny Schwartz [Schwartz, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-29T04:00:00+00:00

On overwatch on the Lonesome, Thelma finally leaned back in the captain’s chair on the bridge. She continued to track the shuttle’s return onscreen, but the horrible tension of not knowing what was happening to Max underground was past.

Until Harry, standing comfortingly close by, said. “That’s not good.” At her panicked glance, he added. “Max is fine, but the data he sent Lon…they found a troop of mech-mods.”

Mech-mods were illegal in the Federation for a very good reason. The people who mutilated themselves—or allowed themselves to be mutilated—to interface with the technology went crazy.

Cyborgs were augmented. The technology that replaced organic body parts was designed to interface seamlessly with the user’s brain and nervous system. The person’s body image was not violated even if their sense of self, their capabilities, changed.

A person who linked with a mech-mod acquired a mechanical body and abilities their mind wasn’t equipped to manage. The software from the mech-mod could support the technology’s functionality in the short term, but in the longer term, the organic sentient went insane, and in trial, destroyed themselves one hundred percent of the time.

Mech-monsters, the entertainment industry called them. They featured as villains and villains’ lackeys in horror movies.

Lon added to Thelma’s shock. “Carl studied the control plates on the mech-mods while Max stood guard. Max believes that Carl saw ‘Hwicce’ on the plates.”

“Has…” She had to stop and fumble for the water bottle in its secure holder away from the controls and screens. She wet her dry mouth. “Has Carl confirmed Max’s suspicions?”

“They’re still in their combat suits and the suits aren’t transmitting,” Lon reported.

Thelma flinched from imagining the stifling shock and suspicion between the two men. “Once the shuttle is in, we should change our location just in case the base somehow traces the shuttle’s path.”

The possibility was outrageously remote to the point of paranoia. Lon agreed instantly. The discovery of mech-mods had alarmed them all. Harry vanished while Thelma watched the screens.

As soon as the shuttle reached the Lonesome and the hatch closed behind it, Thelma was freed from overwatch. She ran for the shuttle and Max. Or rather, she ran for the ladder down to the public deck before forcing herself to slow.

Max walked toward her, opening his helmet. His emotionless expression matched Carl’s; the cyborg one step behind him.

“Mech-mods,” Thelma said.

Carl halted.

Max kept going five more steps to where a housekeeping robot was docked. Then he unsuited.

Halfway through the process, Carl began his own suit removal. Perhaps he’d waited for Max to order him back into the public lounge and his imprisonment. “The data from the base is too much for me to analyze. Max?” Carl tossed a chip to him. “If you know an AI, now’s the time to ask a favor.”

Max caught the chip.

But Lon answered. “I am here, Carl Jafarov. As you suspected. I am Lon. Why give us this data? Why trust us?”

“The Hwicce logo was on the control plates of the mech-mods lined up in the base. Two hundred and thirty two mech-mods.

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