[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
operate with or without the GPS, though accuracy is better with GPS guidance, and an APSB with
positron foil." He looked bewildered. "Do you know what that means?"
"GPS is the Global Positioning System." She scratched her chin. "I think the others are missiles. Can the
Rex tell you more?"
He was silent for a moment. "Yes, missiles, both air-to-surface and air-to-air. Some are laser guided."
He tilted his head. "These are really smart bombs, Sam. They can chase their targets."
It didn't surprise her. "What does positron foil mean?"
"It's the beam weapon."
"The what?"
He "listened" to the Rex. "It's some sort of offshoot from the ABL program, but it ended up a lot
different."
This didn't sound like anything she had heard about. "What is ABL?"
"Airborne laser."
"You're kidding! This Rex carries a laser weapon?"
"No . . . it's completely different. Something new. It has less documentation oh, wait, here we go. It's
an antimatter beam."
"What?" Sam's mouth opened. "That's impossible."
He blinked. "It is?"
"Are you saying this craft can shoot positrons?"
"What's a positron?"
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"The anti-particle of an electron."
"The Rex says the beam is anti-protons." He spoke slowly. "It's neutralized and focused by running it
through a foil where it picks up positrons."
"Well, I'll be a frog on a fling."
Turner gave a startled laugh. "A what?"
Sam reddened. "It's a saying." She knew the cutting edge of research was always further ahead than
most people realized, and that the pace of development had risen in recent decades, but this was beyond
anything she expected. "This is a lot to handle."
"The Rex?"
"You and the Rex."
"You're afraid."
"And you're not." She didn't make it a question.
His anger flared. "You think I don't feel fear, dismay, desire, affection? My emotions are real, Sam. It
affects me just as much as it would have Turner Pascal." His voice cracked. "I'm turning into something
inhuman and I can'tstop it. If you goddamn think I'm simulating that, you're even less human than me."
"I'm sorry." She didn't know how to react to him.
He opened his balled fist, the metal cables uncurling. "I don't know how to handle this. Iliked being a
bellboy. This is so far beyond my comfort zone, I don't know what to feel. But I can't make it stop. I'm
on this horrible roller coaster and I don't see any way to get off."
"We'll make it through. Somehow." She just wished she knew how.
"I hope so." He watched her with a strange expression, as if he were dying inside. "Because I don't
know how far I will change."
The shrill of an alarm cut through the cockpit.
VIII
Hockman and Beyond
Turner jerked. "We have company."
Sam swore under her breath. She did a mental rundown of who could come after them. Charon, maybe,
though if he had just stolen the Rex, it seemed unlikely he would have more aircraft with its capabilities.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
The military of a country might have launched their own intercept aircraft, or it might be one of the
corporations with a space division. That would be fast work, though; they had been up here less than an
hour and supposedly shrouded.
"Does the Rex know who our company is?" she asked.
Turner answered slowly. "Something called a Needle."
"A spacecraft?" Needles were an offshoot of NASA's shuttle program. Although smaller than space
shuttles, and unmanned, they had more maneuverability. A Needle already in orbit could conceivably be
coming down after them, but someone from the ground had to be controlling its actions.
"Here," Turner said. Schematics of a narrow craft appeared on a display, along with specifications. This
Needle was a dated model, about ten years old. It probably didn't come from the United States, which
had upgraded its fleet of Needles a few years ago. The specs looked familiar, though.
"Maybe it's one of the old ships the U.S. sold to another country," Sam said.
He paused. "The Rex says it belongs to the Chinese, but that they junked it two years ago."
"Doesn't look junked to me."
"Maybe someone stole it."
"Or bought it illegally."
Turner raked his hand through his hair, a very human gesture that looked all the more eerie with cabled
fingers. "It's armed."
"That's nuts! Needles aren't built for combat."
"Tell that to whoever gave it teeth." He indicated the schematic of their pursuer. "The Rex says it's a
UCAV. What does that mean?"
"Unmanned combat air vehicle." It had to be an alteration to the orginial spacecraft. Usually Needles just
ran micro-gravity experiments.
Circles appeared on the schematic. As they spread out from the Needle, the blood drained from Sam's
face. Their pursuer had just fired at them.
G-forces shoved Sam into her seat as the Rex took evasive maneuvers. Spots danced in her vision. She
could just make out new circles on the display, these moving from the Rex toward the Needle. Close
behind, a cloud of flecks spread in a spherical pattern. It was hard to read stats when she was on the
verge of passing out, but she thought the Rex had released any debris it had on board to confuse the
Needle's missiles. Whether or not the ploy worked would depend on the quality of the AI brains in the
bombs.
"Boom," Turner muttered.
Sam would have askedWhy boom? but she couldn't speak. The webbing exerted pressure against her
body, especially her legs, but she still felt ready to pass out. She could tell only that no circles overlapped
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
on the display. Two were close, though, one from the Rex and one from the Needle. The circle from the
Rex flared, expanding to encompass the other circle. Then both vanished.
Before Sam had a chance to feel relief, new circles appeared on the screen, spreading outward from the
Needle. Another change in g-forces eased the pressure on Sam. She grunted as pinwheels danced in her
vision. She felt ready to throw up.
"They can't keep shooting at us." Turner barely sounded affected by the acceleration. "They must have a
limited number of bombs."
"So do we," Sam said. The Rex went into another maneuver and a massive, invisible hand slammed her
into the seat. The circles on the display continued to move.
Turner spoke in a subdued voice. "That's it."
That's it?Sam would have asked what he meant if she could have spoken.
The Rex lurched as if a giant had kicked it. A line slashed across the display and they lost the image of
the Needle. Tears blurred Sam's vision and her stomach felt as if it plummeted to her feet.
Suddenly the pressure stopped. Sam gasped, struggling to keep down her last meal. Blobs of color
came back with her returning vision. It was a few seconds before her sight cleared, her stomach settled, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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operate with or without the GPS, though accuracy is better with GPS guidance, and an APSB with
positron foil." He looked bewildered. "Do you know what that means?"
"GPS is the Global Positioning System." She scratched her chin. "I think the others are missiles. Can the
Rex tell you more?"
He was silent for a moment. "Yes, missiles, both air-to-surface and air-to-air. Some are laser guided."
He tilted his head. "These are really smart bombs, Sam. They can chase their targets."
It didn't surprise her. "What does positron foil mean?"
"It's the beam weapon."
"The what?"
He "listened" to the Rex. "It's some sort of offshoot from the ABL program, but it ended up a lot
different."
This didn't sound like anything she had heard about. "What is ABL?"
"Airborne laser."
"You're kidding! This Rex carries a laser weapon?"
"No . . . it's completely different. Something new. It has less documentation oh, wait, here we go. It's
an antimatter beam."
"What?" Sam's mouth opened. "That's impossible."
He blinked. "It is?"
"Are you saying this craft can shoot positrons?"
"What's a positron?"
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"The anti-particle of an electron."
"The Rex says the beam is anti-protons." He spoke slowly. "It's neutralized and focused by running it
through a foil where it picks up positrons."
"Well, I'll be a frog on a fling."
Turner gave a startled laugh. "A what?"
Sam reddened. "It's a saying." She knew the cutting edge of research was always further ahead than
most people realized, and that the pace of development had risen in recent decades, but this was beyond
anything she expected. "This is a lot to handle."
"The Rex?"
"You and the Rex."
"You're afraid."
"And you're not." She didn't make it a question.
His anger flared. "You think I don't feel fear, dismay, desire, affection? My emotions are real, Sam. It
affects me just as much as it would have Turner Pascal." His voice cracked. "I'm turning into something
inhuman and I can'tstop it. If you goddamn think I'm simulating that, you're even less human than me."
"I'm sorry." She didn't know how to react to him.
He opened his balled fist, the metal cables uncurling. "I don't know how to handle this. Iliked being a
bellboy. This is so far beyond my comfort zone, I don't know what to feel. But I can't make it stop. I'm
on this horrible roller coaster and I don't see any way to get off."
"We'll make it through. Somehow." She just wished she knew how.
"I hope so." He watched her with a strange expression, as if he were dying inside. "Because I don't
know how far I will change."
The shrill of an alarm cut through the cockpit.
VIII
Hockman and Beyond
Turner jerked. "We have company."
Sam swore under her breath. She did a mental rundown of who could come after them. Charon, maybe,
though if he had just stolen the Rex, it seemed unlikely he would have more aircraft with its capabilities.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
The military of a country might have launched their own intercept aircraft, or it might be one of the
corporations with a space division. That would be fast work, though; they had been up here less than an
hour and supposedly shrouded.
"Does the Rex know who our company is?" she asked.
Turner answered slowly. "Something called a Needle."
"A spacecraft?" Needles were an offshoot of NASA's shuttle program. Although smaller than space
shuttles, and unmanned, they had more maneuverability. A Needle already in orbit could conceivably be
coming down after them, but someone from the ground had to be controlling its actions.
"Here," Turner said. Schematics of a narrow craft appeared on a display, along with specifications. This
Needle was a dated model, about ten years old. It probably didn't come from the United States, which
had upgraded its fleet of Needles a few years ago. The specs looked familiar, though.
"Maybe it's one of the old ships the U.S. sold to another country," Sam said.
He paused. "The Rex says it belongs to the Chinese, but that they junked it two years ago."
"Doesn't look junked to me."
"Maybe someone stole it."
"Or bought it illegally."
Turner raked his hand through his hair, a very human gesture that looked all the more eerie with cabled
fingers. "It's armed."
"That's nuts! Needles aren't built for combat."
"Tell that to whoever gave it teeth." He indicated the schematic of their pursuer. "The Rex says it's a
UCAV. What does that mean?"
"Unmanned combat air vehicle." It had to be an alteration to the orginial spacecraft. Usually Needles just
ran micro-gravity experiments.
Circles appeared on the schematic. As they spread out from the Needle, the blood drained from Sam's
face. Their pursuer had just fired at them.
G-forces shoved Sam into her seat as the Rex took evasive maneuvers. Spots danced in her vision. She
could just make out new circles on the display, these moving from the Rex toward the Needle. Close
behind, a cloud of flecks spread in a spherical pattern. It was hard to read stats when she was on the
verge of passing out, but she thought the Rex had released any debris it had on board to confuse the
Needle's missiles. Whether or not the ploy worked would depend on the quality of the AI brains in the
bombs.
"Boom," Turner muttered.
Sam would have askedWhy boom? but she couldn't speak. The webbing exerted pressure against her
body, especially her legs, but she still felt ready to pass out. She could tell only that no circles overlapped
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
on the display. Two were close, though, one from the Rex and one from the Needle. The circle from the
Rex flared, expanding to encompass the other circle. Then both vanished.
Before Sam had a chance to feel relief, new circles appeared on the screen, spreading outward from the
Needle. Another change in g-forces eased the pressure on Sam. She grunted as pinwheels danced in her
vision. She felt ready to throw up.
"They can't keep shooting at us." Turner barely sounded affected by the acceleration. "They must have a
limited number of bombs."
"So do we," Sam said. The Rex went into another maneuver and a massive, invisible hand slammed her
into the seat. The circles on the display continued to move.
Turner spoke in a subdued voice. "That's it."
That's it?Sam would have asked what he meant if she could have spoken.
The Rex lurched as if a giant had kicked it. A line slashed across the display and they lost the image of
the Needle. Tears blurred Sam's vision and her stomach felt as if it plummeted to her feet.
Suddenly the pressure stopped. Sam gasped, struggling to keep down her last meal. Blobs of color
came back with her returning vision. It was a few seconds before her sight cleared, her stomach settled, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]