The Independent Worlds (The Sixteen Galaxies Book 2) by William Drayman Read Free Book Online Page B

sort. The use of a dum-dum round ensured the micro-drone did not pass through her body; it lost its momentum as it broke apart.”
    Jack’s face grew dark. “You mean to tell me, that nut-job injected a micro-drone into her with a freaking bullet ?!”
    David nodded. “The problem is, that micro-drone is a point connection generator. As soon as Mandy arrived on this ship, it went live and connected an entity on Earth with Truly, via the connections she established with Mandy in order to treat her. Truly could not withdraw her connections without further injury to Mandy, so she put the ship into faster than light speed to sever the point connection.”
    Hiram shook his head in wonder. “That is pure evil right there. But so clever, too.”
    “Hang on,” Ron interjected. “You said the connection was to an entity on Earth; don’t you mean Kestil?”
    “Not Kestil,” David said. “An AI that Kestil obviously created.”
    Nuthros frowned. “Kestil? An AI? Surely not. My brother hates machines.”
    “Not so, Nuthros,” David replied. “Kestil is opposed to machines which wield power over sentients, but he is a pragmatist. He knows it takes an AI to defeat an AI. We don’t know how much information Kestil’s machine obtained, but it had access for nearly a full minute. It was programmed to obtain as much information as possible, so both my new form and the Entity’s existence may well be known by Kestil, now. By extension, the entire Independent Worlds will soon know.”
    “It’s a disaster,” Nuthros said.
    “It could have been a lot worse,” David replied. “Kestil’s AI also tried to access the Entity through Truly’s point connection. It attacked my connection as well. Truly severed the link quick enough to stop it before it could gain access through either one of us.”
    Hiram frowned at the floor. “It seems awfully advanced for something Kestil knocked together on Earth.”
    “It is a unique creation, in many ways,” David told him. “It is more like a parasite than a true single being. It occupies the human network, using whatever spare space and processing power it can find. It replicates itself at will, and can pass through any barriers mankind have in place. It is many centuries in advance of Earth technology. Its only capacity limitation is the transfer rate of the human network; that’s why it failed to access the Entity fast enough. This thing no doubt grants Kestil far more power than he currently uses. We did not detect it, as it doubtless spent all this time since its creation in expansion and evasion. It will now, undoubtedly, become much more active. It can control, or shut down, anything with a processor in it. At this point in your history, that is a long list.”
    “My God,” Hiram breathed, “Kestil owns the Earth.”
    Nuthros waved a hand. “Let us focus our priorities; we must return to Earth orbit immediately, or Kestil could place shiploads of whatever he chooses on the planet.”
    “We can’t,” David replied. “As long as that point connection generator is inside Mandy, she cannot be taken anywhere near Earth.”
    Nuthros frowned. “Why does Truly not remove it? It cannot be that advanced.”
    David shot a quick look at Jack. “That micro-drone has lodged itself in her spine. It has an anti-tamper detonator inside it with enough power to destroy her central nervous system. If we touch it, she will die. Truly doesn’t have the equipment to remove it, nor can she make it quickly enough. Mandy must go to Kareetha.”
    Jack clenched his fists and swore under his breath. Nuthros rubbed his forehead. “We simply must return to Earth orbit, Kestil will take in technology to advance the Earth even faster; he could place a fleet in orbit again, if they have improved their cloaking abilities. He could even bombard the planet if he chose to; we know they have mass drivers.”
    David gripped Nuthros by the arm. “Nuthros, Kestil wants to incorporate the Earth into the