Adventures of the Starship Satori 4: No Plan Survives Contact by Kevin McLaughlin Read Free Book Online Page B

take you out as well," Charline said. "Or we could negotiate our release in return for shutting them down."
    "You over-estimate the value of your technology," it replied. "This unit is encased in a shell of hardened armor. It is unlikely that your bomb will do significant damage to this unit."
    "Unlikely means it is possible," Charline said.
    "The probability is roughly point zero zero zero 4 percent. This is deemed an acceptable risk for the capture of such a high priority target."
    "Me?" Charline asked, confused.
    "No, you will be deceased. Your ship is another matter. Commander Kazresh has placed a high priority on its capture."
    That answered the question about whether Kazresh had survived the mess they'd made of his ship. Charline had been hoping he'd died, after what he did to Andy. No such luck. If he got his hands on the Satori, odds were good he'd be able to find enough clues to track their point of origin. With that information in hand she had no doubt that nightmare scene of Naga warships above Earth would become a reality. The AI had to be stopped before help arrived. She didn't have a damned clue how to do it, though.
    "If you do turn off your devices, you might be allowed to live," the AI said. "A small burst broadcast was sent by this station and received. A ship should arrive to assist before long."
    "Are you a little more worried about my bomb than you're letting on?" she asked.
    "No. But removing even the small chance of destruction would be preferable. Appealing to your sense of self-preservation is logical."
    She tapped her fingers on the console, then clicked on her radio link. The AI would probably listen in on everything she said, but the radio controls weren't part of the systems it had hacked.
    Before she could make the call, she saw a warning flash from the radar display. A quick glance showed her that it was tracking a new contact. That contact was still a long ways off, but it was closing on the planet fast. Starship fast.
    "Dan, we've got a bigger problem than we thought," she said.

13
    T he thing came out of the dark at them with blinding speed. Andy had at least a little advance warning. He'd seen John raise the barrel of his rifle and point it at...something. He wasn't sure what had clued John in, but the split second of extra time his friend's movement had given him allowed him to get his own weapon up and aimed just as the thing charged.
    He caught flashes of it as it approached and passed by his glow-sticks. Green light dimly lit segments of carapace, slashing mandibles as long as his arm, and legs. Lots and lots of legs. Way more legs than anything that large had any right to have. At had to be at least as big as a horse.
    Andy fired more out of instinct and training than any conscious effort to take the thing down. Whether the shots went wild or just bounced off the thing, it didn't seem to slow it down at all.
    "Run!" John shouted.
    Andy held his ground another moment, giving his team-mates time to get clear. The thing was like lightning streaking across the cave floor. There was no way any of them were going to outrun it, and in close quarters it looked capable of tearing them all to bits in moments.
    He dove sideways as it clattered through the spot where he'd just been standing. Its legs scrabbled against the rock to slow itself down. Fast and powerful, yes. But physics was working against it here. He couldn't run faster than it, but it couldn't turn well when moving that quickly.
    It came twisting around about ten feet away from him, blocking his way to the exit. Andy hadn't planned for that. Hell, he wasn't planning much of anything at that point. He was reacting, fighting back as best he could against a threat unlike anything he'd ever fought. In a way it reminded him of the grim hand-to-hand combat against Kazresh. The Naga had also been alien, but that battle seemed normal compared to this one.
    He dropped his rifle, letting it hang from the combat sling. It wasn't going to save