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

Ulver Seich sat forward again, raising one hand. ‘Hold on. I take it all back; actually he’s pretty enticing . . .’

The drone made a sighing noise. ‘Ulver, if you will please try to hold your hormones in check for just a second . . .’

‘What?’ she shouted, spreading her arms.

‘Will you do this or not?’ it asked her.

She closed one eye and wobbled her head from side to side. ‘Maybe,’ she slurred.

‘It means a trip,’ the drone said. ‘Leaving tonight--’

‘Pah!’ She sat back, crossing her arms and looking up at the ceiling. ‘Out of the question. Forget it.’

‘All right; tomorrow.’

She turned to the drone. ‘After lunch.’

‘Breakfast.’

‘Late breakfast.’

‘Oh,’ the machine said, aura field briefly grey with frustration. ‘All right. Late breakfast. But before noon, in any event.’

Ulver opened her mouth to protest, then gave a tiny shrug and settled for scowling. ‘Okay. How long for?’

‘You’ll be back in a month, if all goes well.’

She tipped her head back, narrowed her eyes again and said quite soberly and precisely, ‘Where?’

The drone said, ‘Tier.’

‘Huh,’ she said, tossing her head.

A sore point; Phage had been heading to Tier specifically for that year’s Festival but had been diverted off course to help build an Orbital after the part-evacuation of some stupid planet; it had taken forever. The Festival only lasted a month and was now almost over; the Rock was still heading that way but wouldn’t arrive for two hundred days or so.

She frowned. ‘But that’s a couple of months away even on a fast ship.’

‘Special Circumstances has its own ships and they’re faster; ten days to get there on the one they’re giving you.’

‘My own ship?’ Ulver asked, eyes flashing.

‘All yours; not even any human crew.’

‘Wow!’ she said, sitting back and looking pleased with herself. ‘Aloof!’

4 - Dependency Principle

4

Dependency Principle

I

I