POD (The Pattern Universe) by Tobias Roote Read Free Book Online

Laboratory.
    Other than the normal range of conversations and data transfer exchanges it had come to expect and could graph as standard, there seemed to be two specific report spikes where calls either originated from, or were connected to. One was in Africa, the second somewhere in the Pan Asian sector.
    Pod pulled up its Space Council records and checked the membership details. Neither of these nations were part of the Space Council. Either they were deemed too small, too unstable, or they had other agendas.
    Taking note of the GPS location of the African connection, Pod D-jumped to the approximate grid section of the calls. Then, while cloaked, visually surveyed the area for signs of Fortress activity. The only things visible were rough terrain, deep ravines and wadis that were barren, arid and wild. Pod had expected to see buildings, factories or something like a space-port
    It was about to widen its search area when a large A-Grav sled appeared from nowhere, approaching Pod’s current location. It was travelling on an intercept course so Pod would have to move, or force a collision. Still smarting from its earlier capture at the Fortress, Pod took no chances and D-jumped a hundred feet behind the sled, thinking to watch if it changed direction, or gave chase.
    Instead, the sled carried on without deviating from its original route, then promptly disappeared from view as if consumed by the ravine.
    Pod, realising the sled had entered a shielded area that was also camouflaged, activated its deep terrain sensors. These humans are smart; they innovate so well, Pod thought, as it took note of the frequencies being used while trying to analyse the changes that had been made in an effort to negate them.
    The new design was not good enough to fool its deep sensors, but optically it was totally effective against its visual ones. Humans would never discover the complex even if they were standing directly in front of it.
    Now having activated all of the sensors on its small craft, Pod attempted to break through the screening, but had no luck doing so. After several hours of circling the area trying to find a way in, Pod decided to map it all instead, then jumped to the Asian region, where it found things laid out quite differently.
    Here there were the makings of a Space Port. However, the buildings it expected to see weren’t immediately apparent. Having learned from the African zone, Pod set the sensors and quickly uncovered a mass of buildings large enough to contain a spaceship, all extremely well hidden behind camouflage shields.
    There was, without question, some clandestine operation going on here and in Africa. Pod summoned the nearest cloaked globe and set it to patrol the area of the suspect space port. It would monitor the cloaked buildings and anything that moved would be recorded and immediately transmitted to Pod for attention.
    It D-Jumped back to the African zone and did the same there, setting the globe to vary its level in case any more A-Grav sleds appeared out of nowhere.
     
    The Crystal Palace buzzed with activity. They had caught a ship purely by chance using a new trap. This utilised a unique transparent web designed to be hitched between multiple stationary points where a laser carrying neutralisers could catch and disable all known shield and cloak designations.
    They were planning to use the system to herd Nonnies into a corral in space where they could be eliminated for Palace entertainment. Instead, they had caught a covert ship, cloaked and shielded, very close to their home. It was a punishable offence, one of re-compositioning. The only thing that saved it from immediate disintegration was the need for parts and materials.
    The Hive consisted of three massive asteroids cobbled together to form a Mother-ship where the resident workers and clones spent their time inside the hollowed out hulks or on the surface. There was no atmosphere outside and the gravity was weaker there. Occasionally, passing