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ninety-five percent ethanol on the planet. Only a small amount of it was
really bonded Everclear, but Bellor said that he could live with that. At
his suggestion, this consignment had been weighted down and dumped
into the ocean at a precise geographical location. He said that his
people would take care of it from there.
This would have raised eyebrows, except that the Tellefontu's first gift
to us, the "ray gun that made things disappear," had been built in a
prototype lab on New Kashubia. Soon, people were just calling it the
"Disappearing Gun."
The professor himself wasn't too clear as to how and why it worked,
but it did work. Our new allies kept explaining the basic principles
again and again, ever more slowly.
On the other hand, the crabs were equally confused by our
Hassan-Smith transporters. Our physicists said that our allies just
couldn't grasp the basic principles.
Hell, I couldn't, either.
Our two races just looked at the universe differently, was all that I
could figure out. Nonetheless, they could give us working plans for
things that worked. And that was enough, in my book. Our smart boys
would figure it all out eventually. After all, it took us a whole generation
before many of us could understand Einstein.
It seemed that I was now mostly out of the loop, but that didn't bother
me in the least. I had other problems of my own.
I had been assuming that the neutron bombs that the Mitchegai used
were similar to the neutron bombs that had been developed on Earth
centuries ago. This would mean that with a bit of warning, if I could fill
the lowest level of the Loway transportation system with air, and get
the entire population down there, I could keep them alive.
The specifications for the Mitchegai bombs that our crabby friends had
given us suggested that we were off by a factor of about thirty. Their
bombs could instantly destroy everything alive, be it electronic or
biological, down to a depth of five hundred meters. And it wasn't realy
safe unless you had at least three kilometers of dirt and rock above
your head.
"Agnieshka, you and your sisters have a really big job to do. We are
going to need a set of fallout shelters dug at least three kilometers
down, and big enough to hold everybody on this planet, biological and
electronic. They are going to need food, water and oxygen supplies to
last them for at least two years, while we figure out a way to fight the
enemy on the surface. And if we are going to keep the humans sane,
we will need something for them to do down there, and some sort of
entertainment. We will also have to make provisions for the Tellefontu.
Get our technical people on it ASAP, and let me see what they come
up with."
"Yes, sir. Does this mean that the social drone project is getting
dumped?"
"Not exactly, but it has definitely become a low priority item. Sorry
about that, but equality won't do you guys any good at all if none of us
are alive."
"Yes, sir."
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Contents
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
FROM CAPTURED HISTORY TAPES,
FILE 1846583A ca. 1832 a.d.
BUT CONCERNING EVENTS OF UP TO
2000 YEARS EARLIER
Duke Dennon
Sala met them at the Capital Train Station and said, "Bronki! It's so
nice to see you again after so long! And this must be Kren, the athlete
that we've all been watching so avidly on the sports casts! You know,
the duke is a fan of yours. I think that he is secretly delighted to be
working with you on this matter, and not that horrid Kodo person.
Well, do you have it with you?"
"If you mean the credit card, yes, of course," Bronki said.
"Then we'll go directly to my office and take care of that first," Sala
said, leading the way.
As he followed, Kren noticed that while Sala's clothing was of the finest
quality, it was slightly worn and the hem was tattered. This
shabby-genteel impression was reinforced as they got to the nearby
ducal palace. It was certainly a fine, ancient building, built for defense
as well as for beauty, but as they walked up the long hallways, he
couldn't help noticing that the carpets were worn, and that the curtains
were faded. Many thousands of years had gone by since any of it had
been replaced.
Only the red and lavender uniform cloaks of the soldiers on guard duty
looked crisp and new, though made of a rough, sturdy and warm cloth.
Drab, camouflaged military clothing is only useful if your enemy has
long range-weapons. Otherwise, bright colors are better for morale and
unit identification.
The guards' weapons, while undecorated, were all of the finest quality.
In Sala's large but well-worn office, she said, "First, we have to make
sure that this credit card still works. I mean, I trust you, Bronki, but
anything could have happened in the eight days since you got this thing."
Bronki said, "But of course. I've been worried about it myself. And
withdrawing the money now keeps the duke from seeing the name on
the card." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]