![]() “More goin’ on between those ears than meets the eye then, you reckon.” “He did infiltrate a pirate ship on the Whitecrests’ behalf, sir,” Rebar pointed out. “Ain’t it? Anyway, Regaari reckons we might have some use for Daar.” He scratched the stubble behind his ear thoughtfully. It’s…a lot easier to show than say.”įorty seconds later, Powell stood back and watched the “truck” land on its flat-tyred, misshapen wheels and rock to a halt. “It’s all in how you drive with your hips, sir. “A Gaoian taught you lot how to move heavy stuff?” Regaari had been wearing an ’I-told-you-so’ expression ever since the mission that had delivered Daar into their hands. To judge from their stunned reactions, most of the Whitecrest brothers hadn’t really believed that such a specimen could be, either. He couldn’t throw a punch worth a damn-Gaoian arms just didn’t work that way-but anything that got those jaws around its throat was in very serious trouble. He was a physical match for most human men, and outstripped others of his species by a similarly ridiculous margin, biological differences notwithstanding. Daar had come as a serious surprise, like inspecting a lineup of scrappy terriers only to find a wolf panting happily in their midst. ![]() Daar taught us the trick…easy, really.”ĭaar. “If it wasn’t before, it fookin’ is now!” Powell shook his head. The Lads had yoke-pulled it and stuff, but the sheer joy of sending a ten thousand pound vehicle tumbling had kept them at it long after the truck had passed the threshold of usability or even, really, past the point where it could even really be called a truck. ![]() Well, flinging it around for a training tool had been the most action that poor thing had seen in years. It had been old, cheap and expendable even the first time it had been flung across interstellar space to land on Folctha, and years of sitting inert in a disregarded corner of the base, starved for gasoline or purpose, had left it… ![]() The truck in question was an elderly cherry-red Ford pickup that was now almost cylindrical thanks to a merry afternoon of rolling it back and forth across the base’s gravel backlot. HMS Sharman (HMNB Folctha), Cimbrean, the Far Reaches. It was a stroke of pure good fortune that they arrived in that order. The only other information was a time stamp. ACCUMULATE (VOID) EXCISE FOR SINGULARITY (NOVA) STERILIZE. The other important message arrived four hours later, disguised as a cybernetic implant control software update and accessible only to readers with some very specific access codes. Thus was founded “The Society For The Acknowledgement Of, And Commiseration And Identification With, Species Of High-Class Home Planets And Their Integration Into A Harmonious Societal Paradigm Intended Ultimately To Benefit All Peoples Of The Galaxy Both Known And As-Yet Unknown Via The Distribution And Protection Of Unclaimed Planetary Resources In Accordance With Their Respective Unique Biological, Cultural And Evolutionary Traits So As To Minimize The Potential For Interspecies Stress And To Promote Greater Galactic Unity, Prosperity And Peace With Particular Regard To The Securing Of Interplanetary Infrastructure Assets For Export And Deployment As A Necessary Step In Ongoing Phased Growth Initiatives.” ![]() The clerk who handled the request noted only that the name was absurd-indeed, that it was absurd was all she could later remember of it-but approved the request on the grounds that all the paperwork was properly in order, as were all the correct fees. The first was a straightforward business letter addressed to the law firm of Odrognenug And Associates, pertaining to the establishment of a non-profit corporate entity with a plodding and lengthy name that was impenetrable even by the standards of the prosaic Guvnuragnaguvendrugun language. Planet Guvendruduvundraguvnegrugnuvenderelgureg-ugunduvug, Capitol planet of the Guvnuragnaguvendrugun ConfederacyĪn omniscient observer might have noticed that two of the most important messages to ever arrive on the homeworld of the Guvnurag people did so, purely by coincidence, on the same day and in consecutive packages. ![]()
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