The Extinction Switch: Book three of the Kato's War series Read Online Free Page B

orderlies bowed low towards him. “You honor us with your presence, Master,” everybody present said in unison. Seung Yi looked around, fixing each person briefly with his eyes, showing no emotion.
    He walked to the nearest bed, and stretched out his hands. The woman handed her baby over immediately. Seung Yi exited the ward, still holding the baby, with the other men in tow. The door had barely closed, when the other women said: “Blessed are you! The Master has your baby!” She beamed.
    Outside, Seung Yi held the infant up so his face was level with his own, using his fingers to support the newborn’s head. Tiny eyes stared back, unfocused. He turned to Tai Zu, standing to his left. “What is a human life worth, Zu?”
    “Um… it’s an interesting question, Master.”
    “I hold that its value is measured by its industry, Zu,” Seung Yi said. “The bloated masses on Earth have machines to do practically everything for them. That branch of the species has lost its drive to achieve, in its comfort and complacency. We, on the other hand, worked for everything we had. And then they destroyed it.” The last words were laden with fury. Both the others nodded. “The old Entara is no more. However, we now have the opportunity to gain an entire planet of our own. Death has led to rebirth, as seems to be the natural order of things. Though we are few in numbers now, we will be able to expand almost without limits once we have the room. Within generations, Zu, our industrious population could number in the tens of millions. And every one of them will be worth a thousand Earthlings.”
    “Quite so, Master,” Zan Tang said. Both men looked at Tang coolly.
    “The Extinction Switch is an instrument of natural selection, Master,” Zu said.
    “Indeed it is,” Seung Yi said. “It came from the minds of brilliant men whose backs were against the wall. The very survival of Entara was at stake. And yet those minds produced something which will ultimately rebalance the species.”
    “History will ultimately thank us,” Tai Zu said.
    Seung Yi’s eyes narrowed, as he looked back at the baby. “The result of the cull of Earth will be a pure, tenacious species, with the drive to colonize the galaxy.”
    “W…what cull, Master?” Zan Tang said. “Besides the billions that have already died?”
    Seung Yi turned to him. “A few decades after we have settled in on Mars, and caught up to Earth technologically, the Extinction Switch will be used again. This time, in full.”
    Tang looked aghast. Silence reigned for a long moment. Then, Seung Yi said: “You are dismissed.”
    The other men bowed their heads, and then headed back to the elevator. Once they were gone, Seung Yi walked down the corridor, with his back to the ward, until he was no longer in view. The baby’s tiny arms flailed. The man cradled the infant in his left hand, and put his right forefinger up. The baby grabbed it, though his fingers barely wrapped around it. Seung Yi smiled. He playfully pinched the baby’s nose. “My blood runs in you,” Seung Yi said. “You will know a better life than any Entaran before you.” A few more moments passed. Seung Yi then returned the baby to his ecstatic mother, and exited the ward.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
    Crash
     
    Five minutes prior to landing in Lyon, the captain’s voice was heard over the intercom: “The French Government has temporarily suspended all public transportation between major cities, in response to the current civil unrest.” Kassandra, Annabelle and Antonio looked at each other in horror. “This is to prevent suspected agitators from propagating violence, until order is re-established. So, it is with our deepest apologies that we must announce connecting flights will not be available from Lyon, effective immediately.” A chorus of anger immediately filled the cabin.
    “Oh no,” Annabelle groaned. “We have to get to Paris.”
    “It’s outrageous!” Antonio growled. “I