To Well And Back (The Deep Dark Well) by Doug Dandridge Read Free Book Online Page B

motherfuckers,” yelled Pandi over the grav wave com, following with
her best rebel yell.
    And then she was past
the enemy ships, her stern lasers and particle beams taking them under fire for
the fraction of a millisecond that they were viable targets.  She didn’t bother
with any missiles, they just would have been decelerating to slow down from the
imparted momentum of her ship, and would have been out of range by the time
they had developed any vector toward the enemy warships.  Pandora smirked as
she looked into her viewer, watching the expanding mass of one enemy ship, and
the dead in space hulks of two others.  One of the two looked lifeless, while
the other was a hive of activity as spacesuits and repair bots started to swarm
over the surface. 
    Not bad for a quick
strike in what really isn’t a warship , she thought, ordering Avenger to begin
braking and vector changes to bring her onto the second group, a maneuver which
could take several hours.  By that time the enemy ships would be in normal
space, and she had no doubt they would find a message waiting for them that
told of her existence.  The next group would be waiting.
    “Could I convince you
to preclude the second attack,” came the voice of Watcher over the com, a
timber of anxiety coming through the words.
    “No way, lover,” said
Pandora, grinning.  “I’m having too much fun.”
    “You realize that you
have just killed over a thousand intelligent beings.”
    You’re one to talk , thought Pandi,
catching herself before she said something hurtful to Watcher.  After all, it
wasn’t really he who had destroyed Galactic civilization.  It had only been his
body under control of another mind.  Then Pandi thought about the men she had
killed, and that brought another smile to her face.  I’m not always the nice
girl , she thought, imagining the destruction of that ship her missile had
hit.  And times like these call for us bad girls .
    “I wish I could bring
those bastards back to life so I could kill them again,” said Pandora through
gritted teeth as she let the anger at those kind of people build within her. 
“Those xenophobic, misogynistic, genocidal son of bitches.”
    “You are not in the
proper emotional state to go into combat,” said Watcher, his voice tone
calming.  “You need to be in a better frame of mind, and not controlled by your
emotions.”
    “You know,” said Pandi,
checking her tactical display to make sure nothing was about to bite her in the
ass, “my uncle Clayton told me stories about being in the Marines during the
Third Crusade.  And I think he would disagree with your assessment of the
utility of emotions during combat.  He was a fighter pilot, and the Marines
never believed in turning over air support roles to robots.  He told me that a
good old mad was just the thing to take into a fight.”
    “Interesting,” said
Watcher, his voice so calm it felt almost hypnotic.  “But I think he was wrong
in this situation.  Your brain is the only thing keeping you alive.”
    “You trying to
hypnotize me,” said Pandi, her voice rising along with her anger.  “If you want
to talk rationally, then let’s talk.  But none of that damned mesmerizing
crap.”
    “OK,” said the
superbeing, his own voice slightly agitated at being caught in a subterfuge. 
“Just talk.  Since you have about four hours before you’ll be ready to engage
the enemy again.  So let us go over some history of space warfare.  And just
maybe you will see the wisdom of my suggestions.”
    “I’m all ears,” said
Pandi, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.  “Enlighten me.”
    *     *     *
    “What in the hell was
that?” yelled Admiral Miklas Gerasi as the Orca bucked from hits from
particle beams.
    “Eat shit, you
xenophobe motherfuckers,” came a voice over the grav wave receiver, following
by a high pitched warbling yell.
    There were shocked
looking faces all over the large control room.  It