The Kabul Incident: A Weir Codex Novella Read Online Free

instinctively backed away from the blustering robot-men.
    “Data shows an increase of friendly casualties by a factor of three with a frontal assault. The chances of hostiles retaliating with the chemical weapons on local citizens also increase by nearly forty-seven point three-one percent,” countered Cestus calmly. “Covert entry reduces collateral damage down to zero. Of the two of Prime Designates assigned, I am far more qualified to take point.”
    Lieutenant Arias seemed to share Gauss’s incredulity. “Best guesses put the number of hostiles at thirty armed men or more. How do you propose to stop them on your own, Designate Cestus?”
    “Kill them.”
    “You arrogant little prick!” A vein throbbing on the forehead of Gauss seemed on the verge of rupture.
    Fifteen pairs of battle-hardened US Marine hands gripped the weapons slung over their shoulders. They all had seen first-hand the sort of devastation both cyborgs were capable of creating and none of the soldiers were ready for a display.
    “Lieutenant?” Sergeant Height’s voice seem to raise two octaves in concern. He wasn’t sure there was enough firepower on the entire base to take down one of the pissed-off cyborgs let alone two.
    “Agent Talborg, get your man under control ay-sap,” ordered the mission’s military officer, sweat beading up across his brow. Lieutenant Arias’s hand hovered just over the dark gray grip of the Beretta nine-millimeter pistol holstered high on his right hip.
    Before the thirty-something woman could respond, a voice squeaked out from the rear of the gathering.
    “Abraxas agrees with Cestus’s recommendation.” The lilt and twang intruding upon Brazier’s voice did little to reinforce the air of authority he’d hoped to throw out. Nothing killed a man’s self-confidence more than twenty pairs of eyes all aimed at him.
    Gauss visibly deflated. Although every fiber of the cyborg’s being wanted to protest, both he and Agent Talborg had received notification from the artificial intelligence system back at Project Hardwired in the United State at the same instant Brazier did. They were all linked to the same information in real time and it was useless for the mechanical-eyed soldier to argue—impossible considering the override instructions coded into his brain. There was no way for one of the Prime Designates to rebel against his programming. At the merest hint of trouble, one of the on-site monitors, or even Abraxas-1 itself, could initiate a shutdown protocol to stop the cyborgs in their tracks. Having seen what kind of damage creatures like Gauss and Cestus could do terrified Brazier down deep and knowing shutdown was a couple of keystrokes away let him sleep better at night.
    The thought of another Prime going rogue like Designate Siege was a horrifying thought.
    “Fine,” spit Gauss, moving towards the plywood exit door, making sure to force his way past the unmoving form of Cestus along the way. “You just wait until a new hotness comes along, Weir…then I guarantee we’ll have words.”
    If Brazier didn’t know better he would have sworn Cestus shot a quick grin out after the vanishing Gauss. But the reaction was gone as fast as it appeared, leaving the Engineer unsure it had existed at all.
    With Gauss removed from the room, the tension quickly evaporated.
    “All right, boys. Rack out. Birds head out at oh-four-hundred,” A wave of the lieutenant’s hand sent the rest of the group of tan camouflaged bodies scrambling out of the thin-walled building the company had been assigned by military command as their base of operations.
    A sideways frown from Brazier silently asked Sergeant Height what about the civilians. The entire trip had been a whirlwind for both Brazier and Talborg, and neither one was exactly sure what to do next. Bouncing his eyes back and forth between the increased amount of work implied by helping the two government agents and the rather insulting smells wafting over from the DFAC,