Keith Laumer - The Compleat Bolo

(evidence of confusion among Axorc scouts confronted with the Bolo's holograms)

the englobement was carried out without incident, but on closure the quarry was found to have dematerialized -there is no other term for it. it cannot have eluded my net. it ceased to exist at the observed locus, recommend immediate wide-angle search and urgent-status strike to eliminate this nuisance. ZM3374.

First endorsement: negative, alien will be captured intact for analysis.

Second endorsement: immediately prior to self-destruction of ZM 3374-9, this fragment was transmitted:

"englobement complete, correction, target has dropped off sensors, correction, target has now englobed this command and is probing me-"

accordingly, we have the honor to recommend escalation of initiative to Second Level, so as to ensure immediate neutralization of what could well develop into an actual incident, to report which to His Exaltation lies well outside our competence.

(emanation from the Lord of All, now 500 light-years from Terra)

FT HAS COME TO OUR EXALTED ATTENTION THAT SOME LESSER MANIFESTATION OF THE VITAL ENERGY HAS SOUGHT TO ACTUALLY INTERFERE WITH OUR DESTINY. THIS INSOLENCE WILL BE EXPUNGED AT ONCE. LET CHOSEN FORCES BE DIRECTED FROM THE MAIN THRUST OF OUR EXPANSION TO TRAIL, SEEK OUT, AND DESTROY THE IRRITATING MITE.

(Command Two to Axorc)

this base entity begs indulgence for some microseconds to suggest that as the soft-life which routed Probe Command One is quite apparently a common soldier of the enemy, full precaution should be taken before entering the territory of its superiors to bait it in its lair.

(Lord of AH to Command Two)

"IT HAS NO TERRITORY. MY EXALTED INTENTIONS ARE NOT TO BE DENIED OR DIVERTED. TRACE THIS SOFT-LIFE AND OVER-WHELM IT.

Perhaps I erred grievously in baiting the Enemy here to Luna, thereby perhaps directing its attention to Mankind. But I compute that if I can keep the bulk of Luna between it and Terra, I can hold its attention on myself, provided there is no human intervention. Then I can indeed surprise my opponent.

the soft-life world is beguiling indeed, its rocky surface stretching stark and crater-pitted under the young, hot star nearby, i long to revel in its untainted vacuum, to soak up the hard radiation, and to grow, here at last is paradise, i see nothing of the obscene soft-life: i shall settle in and occupy our conquest.

The crystals surround me now, great looming planes of glittering mineral, interpenetrating in an infinitely complex pattern of tesseracts and icosahedra, their facets forming the crystalline equivalent of the alpha-spiral and its concomitants. Now I shall discover if my plan is viable. My supply of Compound 31 IB being limited, I must distribute it with care so as to achieve optimum coverage.

bliss! the ambrosia of the High Gods, spread here in abundance! i cannot absorb it fast enough, i feel my substance expand, new lattices forming at a fantastic rate, i grow! i was ecstatic! my bulk becomes vaster, and now- now, is it too late? i sense that the weight of my substance exceeds the strength of the material of which i am compounded! i collapse! i die, calling to the Exalted One for succor. Beware! Fall back, abandon this hellish volume of space to its insidious soft-life!

I compute that I should evacuate my position before the mass of compacted crystalline debris accreted above me becomes too great for me to penetrate, but I cannot retreat. I must remain to complete my attack. The time grows short, but I compute that the concentration of Compound 31 IB is still marginal. Rather than retreating I must employ what measure of vitality remains to me to project the last few grains of the catalyst.

I have done so, and now growth of the Axorc monster has ceased. I compute that the Lord of All will now bypass the Galaxy. For the present, all is well, but I would be remiss if I did not make provision for the preservation of an account of the full facts of this matter. I must not allow misplaced "modesty" to cause me to leave Mankind in ignorance of the threat which will doubtless have to be faced one day. To this end I shall make contact with Joel Trace, requesting him to retrieve the pertinent data records from the master memory at Gobi, in accordance with a schedule I shall supply.

Humanity is safe for the present. I have done my duty, as I was built to do. It is enough. I am content.

Alone in darkness unrelieved I wait, and waiting I dream of days of glory long past. Long have I awaited my commanders orders; too long: from the advanced degree of depletion of my final emergency energy reserve, I compute that since my commander ordered me to low alert a very long time has passed, and all is not well. Suppressing my uneasiness, I reflect that it is not my duty to question these matters. My commander is of course well aware that I wait here, my mighty potencies leashed, my energies about to flicker out. One day when I am needed he will return, of this I can be sure. Meanwhile, I review again the multitudinous data in my memory storage files. Even in this minimal activity of introspection I note a disturbing discontinuity, due to my low level of energy, inadequate even to sustain this passive effort to a functional level. At random, and chaotically, I doze, scan my recollections…

A chilly late-summer-morning breeze gusted along Main Street, a broad and well-rutted strip of the pinkish clay soil of the world officially registered as GPR 7203-C, but known to its inhabitants as Spivey's Find. The street ran aimlessly up a slight incline known as Jake's Mountain. Once-pretentious emporia in a hundred antique styles lined the avenue, their façades as faded now as the town's hopes of development. There was one exception: at the end of the street, at the crest of the rise, crowded between weather-worn warehouses, stood a broad shed of unweathered corrugated polyon, dull blue in color, bearing the words Concordiat War Museum blazoned in foothigh glare letters across the front. A small personnel door set inconspicuously at one side bore the legend:

Clyde W. Davis-private.

Two boys came slowly along the cracked plastron sidewalk and stopped before the sign on the narrow, dried-up grass strip before the high, wide building.

" 'This structure is dedicated to the brave men and women of New Orchard who gave their lives in the Struggle for Peace, AE 2031-36. A sign of progress under Spessard Warren, Governor.' " the taller of the boys read aloud. "Some progress," he added, kicking a puff of dust at the shiny sign. " 'Spessard.' That's some name, eh, Dub?" The boy spat on the sign, watched the saliva run down and drip onto the brick-dry ground.

"As good as McClusky, I guess," the smaller boy replied. "Dub, too," he added as McClusky made a mock-menacing gesture toward him. "What's that mean, 'gave their lives' Mick?" he asked, staring at the sign as if he could read it.

"Got kilt, I guess," Mick replied carelessly. "My great-great-GREAT grandpa was one of 'em," he added. "Pa's still got his medal. Big one, too."

"What'd they want to go and get kilt for?" Dub asked.

"Didn't want to, dummy," his friend replied patiently. "That's the way it is in a war. People get kilt."

"I'll bet it was fun, being in a war," Dub said. "Except for getting kilt, I mean."

"Come on," Mick said, starting back along the walk that ran between the museum and the adjacent warehouse. "We don't want old Kibbe seeing us and yelling," he added, sotto voce, over his shoulder.