by Shuvom Ghose
He held up the metal replacement excitedly. "This is just temporary. Ridley says they can make metal claws so that I can interface with your computers. Or open cans! Or even fire your metal spitters!"
I had to laugh.
Like I said, Hell-Spiders are hard to kill.
***THE END***
***
FLEET INTER-SERVICE COMMUNICATION: PRIORITY 1A
FROM: UN HIGH COMMAND, DEPGENSEC, SWITZERLAND
TO: GENERAL OAKLEY, COMEARTHFOR, ANGIE'S STAR II
RE: IMMEDIATELY CEASE ALL OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS
MESSAGE:
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY FOR ALL FORCES ON ANGIE'S STAR II: CEASE ALL OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS. THE BENEFACTORS HAVE REPORTED THAT HELL-SPIDERS ARE SENTIENT AND NOW UNDER THEIR PROTECTION. THIS MIRRORS THE FINDINGS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL HIMENEZ'S LAST REPORT, TRANSMITTED MINUTES BEFORE HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION. DEPENEMYINTELL IS UNAWARE OF ANY BENEFACTOR FORCES ABLE TO MONITOR FOR SMALL-SCALE INFANTRY ACTIONS AGAINST THE HELL-SPIDERS, BUT THE BENEFACTORS ASSURE US THEY ARE ALREADY IN SYSTEM, SO CEASE ALL OFFENSIVES IMMEDIATELY.
REVIEWING YOUR REPORT ON THE MUTINOUS ACTIONS OF INFINITY SQUAD AND OF THE CONTAMINATION OF CLONE TANKS, DEPGENSEC AGREES WITH YOUR CONCLUSION: ALL MEMBERS OF INFINITY SQUAD WERE INFECTED WITH AN UNKNOWN ALIEN PARASITE WHICH HEIGHTENED ALREADY DEVIANT TENDENCIES. THE BENEFACTORS ARE ENFORCING A QUARANTINE ON ANGIE'S STAR II UNTIL BRAIN SCANNING EQUIPMENT ARRIVES. ALL HUMANS WILL BE SCANNED AND ALL INFECTED WILL BE RESTRAINED FOR FURTHER STUDY.
THE RESULTS OF YOUR INITIAL RORSCHACH TESTS CHECKING FOR INFECTION, HOWEVER, HAVE UNCOVERED AN UNRELATED ISSUE: A CONVERGENCE IN THOUGHT PATTERNS AND LATENT BEHAVIORS OF SOLDIERS AS THEIR NUMBER OF RESURRECTIONS INCREASE. DEPGENSEC IS UNSURE WHETHER THIS TREND WILL BE A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IN BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS, BUT BUFFERING BAND USE IS ORDERED RESTRICTED UNTIL THIS IS DETERMINED. ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE MULTIPLE, SIMULTANEOUS FAILURES OF THE BANDS DURING THE ATTEMPTED CAPTURE OF THE INFINITY SQUAD TRAITORS.
BECAUSE REPORTS OF THIS ATTEMPTED MUTINY, ALONG WITH NEWS OF BUFFERING BANDS FAILING TO RESURRECT THEIR USERS WOULD CAUSE A DRASTIC DROP IN MORALE, AND SINCE ALL TRAITORS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED DEAD, THE NAME 'INFINITY SQUAD' AND ALL ACCOMPANYING PERSONNEL FOLDERS WILL BE STRUCK FROM THE RECORDS AND NOT MENTIONED AFTER THIS MESSAGE.
MAY WE NEVER SEE SUCH A GROUP OF TREASONOUS, INEPT, CALLOUS AND DESTRUCTIVE SOLDIERS IN HUMAN SPACE AGAIN.
END MESSAGE
***
About the Author
Shuvom Ghose is a Libertarian who escaped to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project and couldn’t be happier. He loves writing science fiction along with his wife Llalania, and promises that, if 1,000 people buy and love this book, there will be a sequel!
If you have comments, find typos, or just want to talk about this book, please contact him through Libboo or FaceBook at “Shuvom Ghose”.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
