Deserter Read Online Free PDF Page B

you could do for a test?”
    Kris chuckled, then, as honor required, gave her teenage response. “A test is a test. What you put on the test is what matters, not what you put on a pillow.”
    Tru scowled as she always had, then shook her head. “My suggestion to Alnaba is that we put this in someone’s personal computer who could sleep on it. See what their computer and their sleeping mind can make of it.”
    “So, you’re going to upgrade your Sammy with self-organizing circuitry.”
    “Sadly, I can’t afford it.” So, why was Tru grinning?
    “You didn’t come up with this idea about the time I sprang for Nelly’s last upgrade, did you?”
    “No. Actually, I came up with the idea shortly after you first saw a computer with self-organizing circuits. You’ve never been one to pass up the latest computer whizbang.” Tru’s grin was once again unrepentant.
    “And where did I pick up this bad habit?”
    “Yes,” Tru pouted, “but us old retired folks can’t keep up with every new bit of this and that. I’ve had to learn to live on a budget.”
    Kris knew she was being finagled by the one person in human space who knew where all her fins were to agle .
    “Tru, it might be fun to crack some Three technology, but just three hours ago I was nanoseconds away from being blown to quarks. I can’t have Nelly down with a Three-induced headache.”
    “And you won’t. Sammy and I have come up with a multiple buffer approach that will keep what’s going on around the chip from slipping over into your main processing.”
    “ Will or should? ” Kris demanded.
    “Young woman, you really should talk to whomever was your teacher. You are far too paranoid about modern technology to survive in this modern world.”
    “That’s exactly who I am talking to. I recall a certain trig exam where I ended up with nothing but my own ten fingers to count on when my pet computer got into a do-loop chasing the value of pi.”
    Tru chuckled. “You will agree, that was a learning experience.”
    “Yeah, right! And one I never intend to repeat.”
    “Why don’t you have Nelly look at the buffers Sam and I worked up?”
    “Nelly?” Kris said.
    “It might be interesting,” Nelly said slowly, as if inviting Aunt Tru to go on.
    “Can’t hurt us to look,” Kris agreed. For a long minute she could feel the silence from Nelly as the computer concentrated on the data transfer and adjusted to the new systems.
    “They go in very smoothly,” Nelly said, “and they include a new interface as well as three levels of buffer between me and the stone. I should be able to view anything going on in any one of the buffers and block it from causing me or you any harm. There is also a smart new recovery mode that would allow me to quickly bring more of my capacity on-line if I did have a major systems failure and had to recover.”
    “You want to try this?” Kris said, before remembering that want was not a word you used with a computer.
    “I think it would be fun to find out how to build new jump points between the stars,” Nelly answered.
    “Looks like Nelly has organized some interesting circuitry for herself,” Tru drawled. “Bet my Sammie would like to see the specs for them.”
    “Yes,” came in an eager voice.
    “Enough, already.” Kris sighed. “Yes, I’d love it if we could build our own paths rather than being stuck on the ones the Three left behind.” The Paris system came immediately to mind; its scattered jump points almost got humanity into a war. And it wasn’t as if she and Nelly would be doing anything important for the next month. Why not do something extreme? Kris gave her aunt Tru a sigh. “You owe me for this one.”
    Tru grinned.
    “So, what do we do?”
    Tru flipped a button on the picture she’d been holding, and it ran through a process for implanting the stone onto Nelly’s central processing area. “We’ll use a different-colored dollop of self-organizing gel. That should let it build not only