Future On Ice by Orson Scott Card
Author:Orson Scott Card [Card, Orson Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780312872960
Publisher: Tor
Published: 2000-01-01T06:00:00+00:00
âDid it hear you?â Bothogi asked, a boyâs honest worry on his unlined face. He still had the rock, as if he had forgotten it. Or feared robots. Or intended to use it if he detected treachery. âIs it moving?â
âI assure you itâs moving,â Desan said, and shut the transmitter down. He drew a great breath, shut his eyes and saw the shuttle lift, a silver wedge spreading wings for home. Deadly if attacked. They will not attack it, they must not attack it, they will query us when they know the shuttle is launched and we will discover yet that this is all a ridiculous error of understanding. And looking at nowhere: âRelays have gone; nothing stops it and its defenses are considerable. The lords-navigator have not been fools, citizens: we probe worlds with our shuttles, and we plan to get them back.â He turned and faced Gothon and the other staff. âThe message is out. And because I am a prudent manâare there suits enough for your staff? I advise we get to them. In the case of an accident.â
âThe alarm,â said Gothon at once. âNeoth, sound the alarm.â And as a senior staffer moved: âThe dome pressure alert,â Gothon said. âThat will confound the robots. All personnel to pressure suits; all robots to seek damage. I agree about the suits. Get them.â
The alarm went, a staccato shriek from overhead. Desan glanced instinctively at an uncommunicative white ceilingâ
âdarkness, darkness above, where the shuttle reached the thin blue edge of space. The station now knew that things had gone greatly amiss. It should inquire, there should be inquiry immediate to the planetâ
Staffers had unlocked a second closet. They pulled out suits, not the expected one or two for emergency exit from this pressure-sealable room; but a tightly jammed lot of them. The lab seemed a mine of defenses, a stealthily equipped stronghold that smelled of conspiracy all over the base, throughout the staffâeveryone in on itâ
He blinked at the offering of a suit, ears assailed by the siren. He looked into the eyes of Bothogi who had handed it to him. There would be no call, no inquiry from the lords-magistrate. He began to know that, in the earnest, clear-eyed way these people behavedânot lunatics, not schemers. Truth. They had told their truth as they believed it, as the whole base believed it. And the lords-magistrate named it heresy.
His heart beat steadily again. Things made sense again. His hands found familiar motions, putting on the suit, making the closures.
âThereâs that AI in the controllerâs office,â said a senior staffer. âI have a key.â
âWhat will they do?â a younger staffer asked, panic-edged. âWill the stationâs weapons reach here?â
âItâs quite distant for sudden actions,â said Desan. âToo far for beams and missiles are slow.â His heartbeat steadied further. The suit was about him; familiar feeling; hostile worlds and weapons: more familiar ground. He smiled, not a pleasant kind of smile, a parting of lips on strong, long teeth. âAnd one more thing, young citizen, the ships they have are transports.
Download
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.
Sita - Warrior of Mithila (Book 2 of the Ram Chandra Series) by Amish(53753)
The Crystal Crypt by Dick Philip K(36389)
Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut(14721)
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han(14437)
Ready Player One by Cline Ernest(13930)
The Last by Hanna Jameson(9775)
Year One by Nora Roberts(9274)
Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey(8922)
The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro(8350)
Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro(8264)
Red Rising by Pierce Brown(8219)
Dark Space: The Second Trilogy (Books 4-6) (Dark Space Trilogies Book 2) by Jasper T. Scott(7885)
The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood(7416)
The Circle by Dave Eggers(6816)
Frank Herbert's Dune Saga Collection: Books 1 - 6 by Frank Herbert(6671)
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood(6453)
Legacy by Ellery Kane(6371)
Pandemic (The Extinction Files Book 1) by A.G. Riddle(6157)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty(5791)
