The Eye of Darkness by George Mann

Author:George Mann [Mann, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Published: 2023-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

PRANDRIL, INSIDE THE OCCLUSION ZONE

“Well? What does it say, Kaysee?”

Avar drummed her fingers impatiently on the arm of her seat. It was the fourth time she’d asked. Beside her, the astromech remained silent and still, just as before. The only indicator that he was still working at all was the blinking sequence of lights that continued to flicker across the front of his head.

They’d been forced to wait for the repeating message to finish and cycle again, so that KC-78 could capture the entire sequence. Now he was scrubbing away layers of static and over-recording to seek out the message buried deep beneath the public broadcast. And he was taking his time, much to Avar’s frustration.

She was trying hard not to speculate but finding it near impossible. Her best guess was that KC-78 had stumbled upon some subwave communication technique that the Nihil used to transmit orders to their teams in the field. If so, it could be revolutionary. Knowing what the Nihil were planning would enable her to move much more freely, to warn beings throughout the Occlusion Zone when the Nihil were gathering for a raid, and to better work to frustrate their efforts by getting ahead of them whenever she could.

What was more—she needed this. She needed the win, especially after all she’d been through to get the grain shipment here, to Prandril, and the terrible realization that it would make no real difference to the plight of the colonists. She had to find something to grab hold of. A purpose. Because, deep down, she knew that the scattershot approach she’d been taking just wasn’t working.

She’d been playing it safe. Acting as a loner. Chalking up each tiny victory as her justification for continuing to avoid her real responsibilities. But if she was going to make any real difference at all, she was going to have to make some noise.

Only some big breakthrough was going to do that, and while she wasn’t yet ready to admit it, even to herself, she was already pinning her hopes on the idea that this could be it.

KC-78 emitted a single beep and turned his head toward her. The sequence of lights had stopped dancing.

He was done.

“Well?”

The droid issued a disapproving tone.

“I know. I’m sorry,” said Avar. “It’s just…” She trailed off, then glanced away. “I just need to know what it says, Kaysee. I’m sorry for hurrying you.”

KC-78 trundled forward until he bumped gently against her leg. It was a kind gesture that almost brought a tear to her eye—the kind of thing Maru might have done, a light hand upon the arm, just to let her know she wasn’t alone.

She wondered if the old stories were true—that a droid who spent enough time near its master would begin to pick up some of their traits. It was probably just a fairy story, wishful thinking, but the idea nevertheless had a certain appeal.

She patted the top of KC-78’s head. He gave the equivalent of a heartfelt sigh, and then reversed half a meter.

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