Vesta Burning by M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron

Author:M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron [Cooper, M. D. & Aaron, James S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2018-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

THE INCLUSIONIST

STELLAR DATE: 03.28.3011 (Adjusted Years)

LOCATION: Emerson Sharp Communications Station

REGION: Vesta, Terran Hegemony, InnerSol

Standing in the opening was a thin man with bug eyes, his shoulders stooped. He was wearing a crisp red ship suit, with a Heartbridge logo above his heart. A lengthy mop of grey hair sat on top of his head, and his skin was deeply tanned, like he’d spent most of his life close to the sun.

He squinted slightly and looked between Manny and Ty. He was holding a shock wand in his right hand, squeezing a button on its handle in a rhythm that Ty realized controlled the pulses.

“Well, look at you,” he said aloud. His voice was soft through the helmet. “Of all the places you could wander into in this uncaring universe, it had to be my little spider hole.”

He spoke with a slight drawl that Ty thought sounded Texan—the way Texans sounded in vids anyway. Which probably had nothing to do with how they actually talked. Maybe it was the slight bitterness in his voice.

He moved from side to side around them, inspecting their uniforms without touching them. “Marsian?” he asked. “Special Operations. Interesting. I haven’t intercepted anything telling Marsians to make their way to Vesta’s surface. I’ve seen a whole lot of traffic from the Terran Assembly complaining about Psion, thinking those bolt-head AIs are going to try and jump here first. But nothing about Marsians.”

He stopped and rubbed his chin.

“No,” he said. “I think you’re here for my data. I’ve been waiting for a long time. Here I was, getting ready to send a burst, everything. And who waltzes into my cave but two supposed Special Forces Operators?”

He fixed Ty with a stare that was a little too wild to be rational. “She sent you, didn’t she? You all are here for my data. I knew it was just a matter of time. She did, didn’t she?” He pushed his face close to Ty’s, eyes wide.

Ty gaped, unable to speak through the pulsing seizures.

The man sneered. “Of course, you won’t say. She would have told you to keep your mouths shut. You’re pukes after all, aren’t you? Cyberpukes till death. So, the question is what to do with you? I don’t have time to deal with you. But I don’t see the point in murdering two fine young special operators like yourselves. You’re probably worth something to someone.”

He jabbed his chest with a thumb. “I’m an Inclusionist. I see the value in hanging onto something until it proves useful. You, you’re probably both short-sighted Essentialists. That’s right. I know all about how you Marsian special forces get your memories wiped. Who needs history, right? Who needs to hang onto what makes us human? Might as well all be Psion AIs, following our tin-can commands.”

The thin man turned to blow his nose on the plascrete floor, one nostril at a time. When he was finished, he crinkled his nose and said, “All right then.”

He stepped to the side, clearing the way to the corridor that lay beyond the blast doors.

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