Exurbia: A Novel About Caterpillars (An Infinite Triptych Book 1) by Alex McKechnie Read Free Book Online

day.’
    Logical victor: this is a military test on behalf of the syndicate empire. If it wasn’t, it should still be treated as such and justified accordingly after the fact.
    261 moulded the last omnicast sphere into the shape of the orbital canons, a first time for him. ‘Military action,’ he said to the cave. ‘Immediate. Inform the agglutinator at once.’
    ‘You’re quite certain?’
    ‘Yes.’
    The spheres collapsed. An identical set would rematerialise in Agglutinator Knox's office, wherever that was, and he would ensure Governance took the decided action.
    ‘That will be all for today,' said the cave then.
    ‘All…?’
    ‘That will be all for today.’
    He made a conscious effort not to show his surprise. The butterflies in his stomach were dancing in time with his breathing now, throbbing in mad synchrony. When had the cave ever done this before? When had there ever been less than at least fifty quandaries in a day?
    There was nothing else for it. He went back into the sleeping quarters and lay motionless on the bed. An existential hole appeared at his centre.  Perhaps they know I’m defective. Of course they must; they’re watching all the time. Possible solution: the approaching spacecraft quandary was a test to appraise my mental state. Did I pass? Overriding conclusion: I am still falling prey to the same anxiety as last night. I should tell Governance at once. Interrupt conclusion: if the approaching spacecraft quandary is genuine, then Governance will consult me again on making a subsequent decision. If I reveal that I am unwell, Governance will refrain from using me and potentially make an ill-informed decision using a Governance official or adviser instead. This could jeopardise the entire planet. Absolute conclusion: I will inform Governance of my mental abnormalities when the crisis has been dealt with. I will most likely be removed from my position and euthanised, but the crisis will have been resolved.
    He tried to return to sleep but could not. In his mind he saw the t’assali cannons two hundred miles above Exurbia’s surface fixing on a single silver pip in interplanetary space.
    What do t’assali cannons look like when they fire? Is there a huge energy discharge accompanied by multicoloured plasma eruptions, or is the beam invisible to the naked eye? Whatever the aesthetic, they would be discharging now. The combined beams would take several seconds to traverse the interval space, then tear the craft open effortlessly. Any crew members who somehow managed to avoid the vaporisation of the beam itself would be immediately sucked into the vacuum, the air in their lungs evacuated in well under a second. The corpses would float silently in the black then, their eyes rendered open in absolute horror, never closing, never wavering, only staring and staring and staring and staring. He felt a deep sickness come upon him.
    This cannot wait. I am already compromised . He would tell Governance at once. He composed an ideal expression of the problem as he donned his robe. “I am currently experiencing -” no, too subjective. “261 is currently experiencing -” yes, that's it, “- some neurochemical abnormalities.” That sounds ambiguous. Perhaps -
    ‘261 will return his attention to the quandary equipment at once.’
    He froze. There had been a development. Neurochemical abnormalities . He would tell them in a moment.
    ‘261 will return -’
    ‘I’m coming,’ he said and retook the central chair. The spheres reappeared presently.
    ‘Day eight thousand seven hundred and twelve, quandary two. T’assali cannons ineffective.’
    He waited for further explanation. None followed.
    ‘Understood. Also?’
    ‘T’assali cannons ineffective.’
    ‘Did they malfunction?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Did they fire correctly?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And the beam reached the ship?’
    ‘No. The t’assali beam was neutralised at a distance of half a kilometre from the hull of the vessel.’
    He felt a