BooksBarbecue
Back Excession
Chapters (108)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. 1 - Outside Context Problem
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. VI
  12. 2 - Not Invented Here
  13. I
  14. II
  15. III
  16. 3 - Uninvited Guests
  17. I
  18. II
  19. III
  20. IV
  21. 4 - Dependency Principle
  22. I
  23. II
  24. III
  25. IV
  26. V
  27. 5 - Kiss The Blade
  28. I
  29. II
  30. III
  31. IV
  32. V
  33. VI
  34. 6 - Pittance
  35. I
  36. II
  37. III
  38. IV
  39. V
  40. VI
  41. 7 - Tier
  42. I
  43. II
  44. III
  45. IV
  46. 8 - Killing Time
  47. I
  48. II
  49. III
  50. IV
  51. V
  52. VI
  53. VII
  54. VIII
  55. 9 - Unacceptable Behaviour
  56. I
  57. II
  58. III
  59. IV
  60. V
  61. VI
  62. VII
  63. VIII
  64. IX
  65. X
  66. XI
  67. XII
  68. XIII
  69. XIV
  70. 10 - Heavy Messing
  71. I
  72. II
  73. III
  74. IV
  75. V
  76. VI
  77. VII
  78. VIII
  79. IX
  80. X
  81. XI
  82. XII
  83. XIII
  84. XIV
  85. XV
  86. 11 - Regarding Gravious
  87. I
  88. II
  89. III
  90. IV
  91. V
  92. VI
  93. VII
  94. VIII
  95. IX
  96. X
  97. XI
  98. XII
  99. XIII
  100. XIV
  101. 12 - Faring Well
  102. I
  103. II
  104. III
  105. IV
  106. V
  107. VI
  108. Epilogue

It was something of a rhetorical question. The three craft were unambiguously warships; slightly longer and fatter than the Grey Area itself but tapering at either end to points surmounted with large spheres. Spheres which could logically only contain weaponry. Quite a lot of weaponry, judging by the size of the globes.

~ My own design. Their names are T3OUs 4, 118 and 736.

~ Oh, witty.

~ You won’t find them terribly good company; AI cores only, semi-slaved to me. But they can operate together as a superlifter to get you down to manageable speeds.

The GCU was silent for a moment. It moved in to take up position in the centre of the triangle the three ships had formed. ~ T3OUs? it asked. Type Three Offensive Units, by any chance?

~ Correct.

~ Many more like these hidden away?

~ Enough.

~ You have been busy all these years.

~ Yes I have. I trust I can rely on your absolute discretion, for the next few hours at any rate.

~ You certainly have that.

~ Good. Farewell. Thank you for your help.

~ Glad to be of the small amount of service I was. Best of luck. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough how things pan out.

~ I imagine so.

III

III

The avatar returned the main focus of its attention to the three humans on the Jaundiced Outlook. The two old lovers had moved from small talk to a post mortem on their relationship, still without coming up with anything particularly interesting.

‘... We wanted different things,’ Dajeil said to Genar-Hofoen. ‘That’s usually enough.’

‘I wanted what you wanted, for a long time,’ the man said, swirling some wine round in a crystal goblet.

‘The funny thing was,’ Dajeil said, ‘we were all right while it was just the two of us, remember?’

The man smiled sadly. ‘I remember.’

‘You two sure you want me here?’ asked Ulver.

Dajeil looked at her. ‘If you feel embarrassed . . .’ she said.

‘No; I just thought . . .’ Ulver’s voice trailed off. They were both looking at her. She frowned. ‘Okay; now I feel embarrassed.’

‘What about you two?’ Dajeil asked evenly, looking from Ulver to Genar-Hofoen.

They exchanged looks. Each shrugged at the same time, then laughed, then looked guiltily at her. If they had rehearsed it it could hardly have been more synchronised. Dajeil felt a pang of jealousy, then forced herself to smile, as graciously as she could. Somehow the act helped produce the emotion.

IV

IV

Something was wrong.

The avatar’s principal attention snapped back to its home ship. The Grey Area and the three warships were free of the GSV’s envelope now, dropping back in their own web of fields and decelerating to velocities the GCU’s engine could accommodate. Ahead lay the Excession; the Sleeper Service had just carried out its first close track-scan look at it. But the Excession had changed; it had re-established its links with the energy grids and then it had grown; then it had erupted.