Koban 6: Conflict and Empire Read Online Free Page B

home. They can do something else destructive.’ It’s the something else destructive I’m thinking about. It can be done at Meglor just as well as at Wendal, and it would clearly benefit us if we can destroy as many Stranglers we can find there.
    “By the way, I’d consider Tet’s suggestion to take three damaged clanships with us merely a guideline. There is probably a dozen of them on K1 waiting for hull repairs, which already have the T-cubed software mods and can travel fast enough to go with us. However, I don't know how many basic AI’s we can beg borrow or steal to operate them. There’s no shortage of Prada communicators to give them our instructions, in or out of Tachyon Space, and to hear their reports.”
    Thad was taken aback. “Damn, man. Did you just come up with all of this?”
    “No, of course not, you dullard. I was hoping for a bigger mission to Wendal if I could convince Tet and Stewart to let us go there. I never got a chance to make my case. The only thing that changes for me now is the destination. And however many of the ships we can take from K1. Not all of them can be made airtight, none of them will have advanced stealth, and some probably don’t have full weapons or missile capability. However, we only need three made airtight to test the atmosphere’s effect on Decoherence bombs. Any others we take with us are bonus damage delivery systems.”
    Thad imitated Mirikami’s lip tug. “Hmm. I was going to fly the Ripper on this mission. Now I think we’ll take your ship, the Sneaky Bastard, so I can be free to operate my own drone. I like your idea, so you get to drive the command ship. Sneaky is our motto, Bastard is our embodiment, and we won’t ask them to expand the mission. That way nobody will tell us no. We’ll ask for forgiveness, not permission. Let’s work on those dirty little details.”
     
     
    ****
     
     
    The scientists were meeting in the Marine Lab that Vince and Sarah had established in the coastally located Hub City dome. It had taken a couple of days to arrange for all of the desired participants to assemble. Those days gave the two researchers time to gather and organize their findings on kuttlefish.
    Coldar was there because the Torki had assisted the two marine researchers in their underwater observations, providing them with powered subsurface craft that could follow the subjects of interest. Because the Torki had a small coastal colony next to Hub City, those citizens gave them the results of their own direct observations and recordings of animals the two researchers studied. Max Born had arrived with a technician, along with Rafe and Aldry, and Blue came largely out of curiosity.
    The Torki, when suspended in water, didn’t find the Koban gravity very objectionable, although they limited their time ashore, and they were not fond of the spring and summer warmth. Coldar was acutely uncomfortable on land today, not having left Haven very often to visit Koban. Accordingly, he was partly submerged in a large and cool marine sample tank for his comfort.
    Blue was likewise ill suited for Koban’s gravity, although he had the advantage of occupying the body of a former mindless Raspani, one who had lived on Koban as a Krall meat animal. He retained a sturdier musculature than did an average member of his species.
    Torki and Raspani scientists had never studied genetics with the aim of discovering how to change their DNA to add desirable new traits. This was a dangerous seeming sort of science, particularly when applied to your own species. Apparently, only humans had gone far beyond simply understanding genetic problems, first learning to cure those problems via DNA repair, and eventually incorporating corrective genes in their own bodies.
    Then they took the next step, modify their own genes for enhancing existing features. On Koban, they took the tremendous risks of adding genes never found in a human’s genome, to add features no human had ever possessed. This