SHIAM Conspiracy- Book 1 by Joseph Heck Read Free Book Online Page B

he’d lived with all
these years, which sustained his hatred of the Orks, he understood
that war was not a preferred choice. He’d been there and done that
and there had been nothing glorious or heroic about it. War was
brutal and barbaric. And more death would not bring back those who
died before.
    Zak shook his head as he watched the kid from
the back seat. He figured him as a v-warrior. Too many hours of
virtual war games and now he thought he was macho. If the kid was
afraid of the Zone, he sure didn’t want to ever go to war against
the Orkensha.
    “ ...Prime Minister Sarte, however, assured
the Orkensha government that Minister Hakkim’s statement was in no
way a threat and that he remains totally committed to settling the
current border dispute by diplomatic and peaceful means.
    “ While the energy corporations may not
agree with the Prime Minister’s commitment to a peaceful solution
with the Orkenhsa, the latest polls indicate that Aragne voters
continue to support the Prime Minister. With the elections only
days away, Prime Minister Sarte gained several more points and now
enjoys a forty-four percent rating in the polls.
    “ Senator Jayme Donovan moved up two points
in the polls to a thirty percent rating, which inches him ahead of
Representative Collin Martel, who trails the polls with twenty-one
percent.
    “ When this election campaign began it
appeared as though it was going to be a much closer race between
the Freedom Party candidate, Torrin Kapp, and the Prime Minister.
But the sudden and tragic death of Senator Kapp in a car accident a
month ago changed all that. The Freedom Party’s popularity has
dropped drastically with the appointment of Representative Collin
Martel to take Senator Kapp’s place...”
    Zak was pleased to hear that the Prime
Minister was still on top. Sarte was the only logical candidate for
the country. Zak had met Jayme Donovan while still in ASID. He was
a pretentious, self-absorbed, superficial man in Zak’s opinion. As
for Collin Martel... Well, the Freedom Party lost any chance for
victory with the death of Torrin Kapp.
    The subject of the news changed and Zak
became less interested in listening, although it was difficult not
to considering the volume of the comm.
    “ ...Adan Eirubadhon, a spokesman for EAST
Group, said today that the organization intends to lobby in
Parliament with the hope to convince the government to make the
manufacturing and sale of androids illegal...”
    “Right on!” Kam said, as animated now as he
had been while listening to the electro music before. “Screw those
metal headed SHIAM. Gather every last one of the fraggin’ things up
and melt ‘em down!”
    EAST Group had initially been an Elvish
organization, although lately it had gained in popularity and was
becoming a more inter-racial affiliation. Its members objected to
the development of artificial intelligence, particularly when it
mimicked sentient intelligence. That made the EAST Group the sworn
enemy of the SHIAM. Zak didn’t entirely disagree with their
sentiment, or Kam’s for that matter. The SHIAM had the potential to
become a very real threat to Aragne society. Initially SHIAM had
been used primarily to replace Human workers in performing
hazardous jobs. They were used extensively within the mining and
nuclear energy industries. But it hadn’t taken long for other areas
of commerce to see the value of a Human-like work force minus the
Human factor.
    The use of SHIAM labor was steadily
increasing within the manufacturing sector. And lately they were
showing up even retail and service industries. Cabbies had been hit
particularly hard by this new trend, as there were now more SHIAM
cab drivers than Human drivers in Sol Kappur. More and more
businesses were finding the idea of having a work force free of
unions and labor laws appealing. Where it was all heading, Zak had
no idea. But he did know that the situation was potentially
dangerous. You can only push people so far before