Sentience 1: Storm Clouds Gathering by Gibson Michaels Read Free Book Online Page A

word that has all but disappeared from the Rak language. It referred to living life by a code of ethics that often seem contrary to our nature. A life dedicated to doing what is right , instead of what feels natural.”
    Drik sighed. “Yes, that certainly sounds like him. I have never heard of even a Dolrak who was as totally dedicated to the ancient laws as Varq.”
    “Would Varq speak directly to me, do you think, if we were in total privacy?” asked Raan.
    “I doubt it, Master. In all my cycles among Region-Master Glan’s pride, he spoke only to me and to other stoneless, such as himself. He said that he was not sent for any others, but perhaps he might answer my questions in your presence. He did so in Glan’s presence… once… long ago.”
    Varq didn’t.

Chapter-7
    A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind. -- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
    The Raknii Warship Akudavex, in Deep Space
    243/196-1 Akudavex Log: Underway to Region 12 Sub-Region 10 Sector 9 / System 8. Continuing the search for Class-1 planets — Negative Result. Heading: 087-519. Speed X245. // Ship-Master Tzal.
    Tzal sat on his command mount examining his ship’s log with distaste. Sixty-seven consecutive entries, all bearing that same, shameful “NEGATIVE RESULT” notation frosted Tzal’s soul. Only the twitching of the whiskers on Tzal’s muzzle betrayed his inner turmoil as he contemplated having to make the sixty-eighth. Tzal realized that his impatience was totally unreasonable. The exploration of only seven star systems without discovering a life-sustaining planet was only to be expected, as they really weren’t all that common in the overall scheme of the universe. But Tzal didn’t feel like being reasonable. His soul burned for something… anything positive to weigh against the stain on Akudavex’ honor after the debacle at Jarp’s Folly. Just surviving the experience and living to tell the tale was a dishonor. Jarp’s Folly had been the worst, and one of the very rare, defeats in all of Raknii history. Merely being associated with a defeat was more dishonor than any Rak warrior could bear.
    After discovery of the x-drive propelled the Raknii into interstellar space, they expanded ever outward for over a thousand cycles, enslaving several intelligent races. All had been less technologically advanced and therefore easy prey... until the Trakaan.
    The Trakaan were the only other star-faring race the Raknii had ever encountered. Incredibly, those first Trakaan ships carried no weapons at all… a concept totally alien to the Raknii mind. Even Raknii transports carried minimal weaponry. The Raknii were virtually unopposed for over six cycles before finally encountering a Trakaan ship that fired back. Even after they finally began to resist, Rak warriors mocked and derided their new prey, saying that the only thing challenging about hunting Trakaan was that one had to chase them farther before the kill.
    The Trakaan initially took to destroying their own ships, in an effort to hide the locations of their worlds. Some had even timed their self-destruction, so they could destroy or badly damage the Rak warships closing in to capture them. Eventually, there came a time when a Trakaan ship’s self-destruct mechanism failed and the first one was captured intact. It was then towed to the closest sector capital and analyzed by Raknii scientists.
    Science had come slowly to the Raknii, as generally the race just wasn’t emotionally equipped with the patience necessary for scientific discovery. But as the rise of the Dolrak had saved their race from self-extermination, they also provided a method for determining the best field that an individual Raknii citizen was best suited for.
    The Dolrak were all females, originally priestesses of the ancient Raknii god, Dol. It was said that in ages past, Dol had shown mercy on his savage Raknii children and given his priestesses the secret by which the bestial savagery that abounded within