Peter Hamilton - Fallen Fragon

He told his AS to establish a link to Sebastian Manet, the Norvelle's captain.

"Can you disable the Koribu?" Simon asked. According to his tactical plot, the starships were only eight thousand kilometers apart.

"We should be able to saturate its defenses between the six of us," Sebastian Manet said. "I would like to wait until it's farther away from the lifeboats and spaceplanes. They could be damaged by the defense missiles, or the Koribu's detonation."

"I don't want it detonated. I want it disabled."

"We don't have that kind of capability."

"Why can't you use the kinetic weapons? Target the compression drive section."

"The Koribu will simply use its nukes against them: nothing can get through that kind of defensive bombardment."

"We must have more kinetic missiles than they have nuclear explosives."

"We do. But Captain Krojen was in the last lifeboat to escape. He's confirmed the goal of the hijackers. They're about five minutes away from going FTL. We'd need to fire at least eighteen salvos to soak up their defensive capability and be certain of achieving a hit; that would take forty-five minutes to an hour. We won't even be able to get the first salvo to them in time."

"Use the gamma soak on them."

"That projector takes about fifteen minutes to deploy."

Simon let out an infuriated grunt.

"Please," the doctor implored. "You must remain calm. I'll have to sedate you otherwise."

"You even come close to me again and I'll have you thrown out of the airlock," Simon told him. "Track it," he ordered Sebastian Manet. "I want to know where they're going. And begin the power-up sequence for Norvelle's compression drive."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'll dock with you in another seventeen minutes. As soon as I'm on board, we're following them."

* * *

Simon had gone to sit in the helicopter's cabin to receive the rush of data that his personal AS had profiled for him. Information on the Koribu hijack attempt was sparse, but sensor data from the starship showed him the intruders progressing down the axial corridor, loading Prime as they went. Atmosphere began venting from the cargo section. Lifeboats ejected.

And there was nothing he could do about it His only option was to order one of the other starships to open fire with nuclear weapons. Not only would that wipe out the entire crew and obliterate a multitrillion-dollar starship along with the nearby spaceplanes, it would also kill the alien. Nothing would be gained, and everything would be lost. Besides, he wasn't entirely sure the other captains would obey such an order.

A change-of-status icon blinked up within the DNI's display grid. His personal AS always kept him updated on security matters concerning his clone siblings no matter what crisis he was dealing with. He expanded the icon and read the script that came scrolling out with a growing sense of dismay.

"What do you think you're doing?' he asked the SK2.

The response and short argument that ensued completely validated his consternation. There were precedents for settling arguments among Roderick clone siblings, but he didn't know of any situation when one of them had been acting in such an unstable manner. In his current state the SK2 probably wouldn't accept any kind of ruling that restricted his authority.

Then the question became irrelevant when the SK2 cut the link. "Damn him!" Annoyance turned to fury when his personal AS told him that Memu Bay had been isolated from the global datapool. A second later the AV88's communication circuit lost the satellite link. Simon tried to re-establish contact through the other helicopters parked on Arnoon's central meadow. There was no response from the satellite. He used his bracelet pearl. It could detect the satellite's beacon, but there was no contact.

Not only had the SK2 commandeered the mission, he'd also isolated a clone sibling in a hostile area. That invalidated his authority entirely. Simon shook his head wearily. Assuming my Board brothers ever find out. Legitimacy and political maneuvering weren't exactly his primary concern right now.

Jacintha was sitting at a long wooden table inside the snowbark pavilion. She looked completely relaxed as three Skins stood guard a discreet distance away.

"You have a magnetic sense, and you're a clone," she said as Simon walked up to her. "How fascinating. Life on Earth is obviously a little more complex than we thought."

He indicated the bench on the other side of the table. "May I?"

"Please."

"Did you hear all that?"

"Loud and clear, thank you."

"Whatever viewpoint you have, the outcome is not good. My clone sibling is ... unwell."

"I think crazy is the word I'd use."

"He's traumatized, and still in a considerable amount of pain, which is affecting his judgment. He was inside Josep's blast radius."

"Is that supposed to make me feel guilty?"

"I'm illustrating cause and effect."

"You invaded our planet. This is the result."

"I refuse to shoulder the entire blame. Your actions have consequences, too. Neither of us has emerged from this confrontation with much credit."

"No," Jacintha admitted with reluctance. "But we do have a starship. And the alien will be returned home."

"I hope that its society is well armed. My clone sibling will not stop until he has obtained their nanonic technology."

"The dragons don't need armaments. And any threats he makes against them will be completely ineffectual."

"Dragons?" Simon recalled the elaborate carvings he'd glimpsed on the A-frames.

"Our name for them," she said.

"I see. Well, just knowing where these dragons live will give him a dangerous victory. If he doesn't obtain nanonics on this flight, he will return there. Are you so certain that humans will never obtain the information? If not by force, then by trade or diplomacy. After all, the dragon allowed you to have it." He could see the uncertainty creep into her mind. "If that possibility exists, you have to help me."

"Help you do what?"

"Help me to ensure it isn't my clone sibling who acquires it first."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I believe that nanonic systems should be introduced to the human race, but only on an equal-access basis. That's one of the main reasons we've been so cautious. If you or your clone snatches it first, it would be misapplied. You know it would."

"Anything that is used in a way you don't personally agree with is by definition misapplied. That's why human culture evolved the way it did, so that the majority can influence future development. Everyone has a voice—a small one, admittedly, but a voice nonetheless. Or do you mistrust the entire human race?"

"Please don't try to twist this. You personally, Zantiu-Braun as a whole, would misapply the technology. You would treat it as a monopoly to increase your own wealth and influence, and very likely your military strength as well."

"Of course we'll apply it to our advantage. But you don't know what our goals are. I should say my goals, for I in all my hundreds of individual selves am the one who originally formulated our policy and ensure that it's carried out."

"All right, I'm curious, what goals? To invade and conquer more planets?"

"No. Asset realization is not sustainable in the long term, or even the medium term. Today's starflights are the ignominious end to a noble dream that is slowly winding down to its natural conclusion."

"The noble idea being?"

"Giving you what you have. A clean start on a fresh world. It's a desire that's hardwired into many humans. It comes from our impetuosity and curiosity, the wanderlust gene. But it also has roots in the dissatisfaction with the society in which we live. How much easier it is to move and start anew than to rectify the institutional, even constitutional, mistakes of a monolithic social system. Between them, those motivators were enough to launch the first wave of colonies. It was always going to be financially nonviable; the compression drive technology just isn't capable of supporting the dream. But still we went ahead. There are a lot of successes, worlds like Ducain, Amethi and Larone: all independent and prosperous stakeholder democracies. We even have a host of semisuccesses like Thallspring, in debt on Earth but fully self-sustaining. Personally, I actually rate Santa Chico a considerable success—albeit in its own unique fashion."