The Bug Wars by Robert Asprin

Author:Robert Asprin [Asprin, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: sf

Zur and I stood watching as the two flyers departed. Arm-units had now been issued to all team members, and as promised the View Screen was functional.

Mahz and Vahr were piloting the craft. I would have sent Kor instead of Vahr, but Vahr was a competent Warrior and a veteran of the Wasp campaign, and Kor was a valuable asset to fortification defenses.

"Shall we watch their progress at the View Screen, Commander?" suggested Zur.

Even though our arm-units could monitor all data fed to the View Screen, the larger screen would afford better monitoring. I signaled my agreement by starting for the fortification.

The flyers we had used in the Wasp campaign seemed crude when compared to the craft Mahz and Vahr were piloting. The new flyers had been modified to allow vertical takeoff and landing, a feature that would have negated the crash landing and jury-rig drop takeoff of our last mission. More important for the immediate assignment, the new flyers were each outfitted with three view-input units. These would scan the terrain the fliers passed over and feed the images directly back into the View Screen data banks for storage and/or immediate viewing. With proper cuing, the View Screen arm-units could then either display the entire area or give a close-up of a specific portion. This gave each member instant access to a three-dimensional pictorial map of our terrain once the data was input.

Horc and Tzu were already at the View Screen when Zur and I arrived. That was one of the effortless parts of being a Tzen Commander. If something really important was happening, you seldom had to call a meeting. The staff would gravitate to the key point on their own.

The four of us watched silently as the map formed on the View Screen. So far it was identical with our existing data, but it was good to have it confirmed.

"Horc!" I said, breaking the silence.

"Yes, Commander?"

"This ravine." I tapped the appropriate portion of the screen. "We're going to need some way of getting across it.

"An arc bridge?"

"A cable would be better. That and a jump ramp for skimmers. What we want is something we can cross, but the Leapers can't."

"Understood, Commander. We'll start on it as soon as we can get a Technician there for a firsthand look."

"Would additional close-ups help?"

"It would be advantageous."

I slipped on my booster band.

"Mahz!" I beamed.

"Yes, Commander!"

"The ravine you're approaching...after you've completed your preliminary sweep we would like some close-ups of the rim."

"Confirmed, Commander!"

As I started to remove the band, I noticed Tzu was checking something on her arm-unit.

"Something wrong, Tzu?"

"I'm not sure, Commander, but it is definitely interesting. Do you see those rock formations there...and there?"

"The large rocks with the small ones clustered about?"

"That's right. Do you notice anything strange about them?"

I studied them for a few moments.

"They seem to have a similar configuration. Each one is a large rock surrounded by brush and small rocks. Why? Are they some kind of marker?"

"I'm not sure, but look at this."

She extended her arm to share her arm-unit.

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