Unstable Prototypes by Joseph Lallo Read Free Book Online Page B

with a
heavy armored shell and delivered it to orbit with a mass driver in
our northern hemisphere. The shell absorbed some minor debris
impact, and the trajectory carried the pod beyond the patrol range
of the ships in orbit. Once enough distance was between myself and
their patrol sweeps, I ensured that the electronics had recovered,
ejected the shell, and piloted to a shipping transfer station,
where I stowed aboard a transport heading to Golana, where I met
you."
    "A what delivered you to orbit?"
    "A mass driver."
    "A what?"
    "A rail gun."
    "... A wh-"
    "A fancy slingshot."
    "Ah," Lex said, finally understanding,
"Doesn't that strike you as a little Wile E. Coyote?"
    "I do not know anyone by that name."
    "It is a classic cartoon character, from a
long time ago."
    "I am afraid that I did not include my full
cultural database."
    "Well he was-"
    There was a tone over the ship's PA
system.
    "Attention Passengers. The flight will be
leaving dock in approximately sixty seconds. You will experience a
few moments of weightlessness while the ship orients itself for
transit. Please secure any belongings and fasten safety harnesses
or utilize hand grips now. Refrain from utilizing sinks, showers,
or drinking fountains until gravity is restored, and be sure that
all open beverages or food containers are closed securely.
VectorCorp thanks you for your cooperation, and for helping to keep
this spacecraft safe, clean, and orderly."
    Lex pulled a strap from the back of the couch
and clicked it in place across his chest. Finding no simple way to
do the same for Ma, he scooped her up and held her on his lap as
the audible count down reached zero. The gravity dropped away
instantly as inertial inhibitors kicked on and the ship detached
from the station. It maneuvered itself out of the station area,
shifted its orientation, and increased its engines. Some very large
or very luxurious ships used gravitational generators to provide
their patrons with an uninterrupted sense of "down." Most were
instead designed with the thrusters pointing off of the bottom of
the ship. This, coupled with very finely tuned inertial inhibitors,
could knock the acceleration caused by the engines down to 1g,
giving everyone the feeling of gravity until it was time to stop,
at which point there was a short weightless moment while the ship
was flipped over, and then the deceleration took over. Lex's own
ship didn't have either, because fine tuned inertial inhibitors
were still too rich for his blood, and the lowest nonzero inertial
value of a crude one couldn't knock the faster than light
acceleration down to a survivable level. Thus, during FTL he set it
to zero and got by with harnesses and weightlessness during his
flights. It had never really bothered him.
    After the ship had jockeyed into position and
entered the transit lane, it activated something called a
Carpinelli Field – the techno-magic that made faster than light
travel possible – and they were off. The gravity faded back in, the
PA announced that it was safe to move about the cabin, and the last
interesting moment for the next twenty or so hours had ended. This
was unfortunate, because the relative calm was giving Lex a moment
to allow the severity of the task at hand to sink in. He'd gone up
against long odds before, but that was different. That was
VectorCorp, or at least one very small, very crazed portion of it.
They had to at least give the appearance of operating within the
bounds of the law, and as his currently unmolested status as a
passenger on one of their vessels would indicate, either didn't
hold a grudge or perhaps didn't know what its more shadowy corners
had been up to. A terrorist group was all shadowy corners,
and they didn't care one bit about law or public image.
    "You are exhibiting signs of stress," said
Ma. She was still in his lap, looking him in the eye.
    "Yeah. Yeah I am," staring vaguely at the
opposite wall.
    "Are you aware that you are stroking my
tail?"
    "Oh! Oh, Jeez,