Doom Star: Book 03 - Battle Pod Read Online Free PDF

land on Earth. If that happens, our demise shall be swift.”
    “Your holographic image was unsettling, but hardly—”
    “I have another clone,” Blanche-Aster whispered.
    Hawthorne sat very still, and he noticed movement on the farthest wall, a tiny spider slowly crawling toward the ceiling. For a moment, he wondered if it was a mechanical listening device, a new type of spy-stick. Another clone was news, and he realized how difficult it must have been for the Madam Director to tell him this.
    “My second clone arrived from the Neptune System three weeks ago,” Blanche-Aster said. “The holovid was brought by her. I request that you speak with her.”
    “…that can be arranged.”
    “If you let the cyborgs land on Earth, General, we are doomed. I assure you that neither you nor your bionic men will be able to control them. They will quickly see that Yezhov will give them the freedom of operation they will want. They will help engineer Yezhov’s rise to power. That rise can only occur over your corpse.”
    “What do you suggest I do?”
    Madam Director Blanche-Aster grimaced. “What I would now do if I were in charge. Blast the cyborgs in their pods before they can unload.”
    “Murder them?”
    “Yes!”
    “Because you fear them?”
    “Because we’ve created our own aliens, General. Because they will supplant us in ways that would make the Highborn seem benevolent.”
    Hawthorne stood up and strode to the window. The harsh lights showed the granite cracks in the tunnel. Water dripped there. They lived like moles because of the Highborn. Cyborgs—he recalled the bio-tanks. Programmed human brain mass ran the bio-tanks. Why should these cyborgs be any different? What was the real reason behind the Madam Director’s request?
    “When can I speak with your second clone?” he asked.
    “In an hour if you desire it. I brought her along with me to Central American Sector. She’s waiting in the city.”
    Hawthorne regarded the Madam Director. “I’ll speak with Captain Mune. Let us say, two hours from now.”
    “Wonderful.”
    “You will remain my guest during that time. Hm. To make it easy, I’ll have you stay here on my bullet train.”
    The Madam Director smiled grimly. “That you’re so suspicious raises my hopes that you’ll understand the danger. We must not compound our errors.”
    General Hawthorne thought about that. Then he inclined his head and took his leave.

-5-

    “I don’t recommend this, sir,” Captain Mune said.
    General Hawthorne and the bionic soldier stood outside the cell where Blanche-Aster’s second clone waited. A vidscreen showed the clone sitting at a table. She was young, with short brunette hair, a thin face and a long, supple body. She wore the brown uniform of a habitat farm-worker. Unlike the Madam Director’s other clone who had been a bodyguard, this one had a fervent manner. She tried to maintain indifference, but her gaze slid about the cell. She seemed nervous. She either twitched fingers, her shoulders or blinked too rapidly.
    “This clone is a PHC Outer Planet’s Intelligence operative,” Hawthorne said.
    Captain Mune adjusted the controls of the vidscreen. It showed a modified x-ray image of her body. He zoomed to the base of her skull, to a tiny black dot there.
    “It’s artificial,” Captain Mune said.
    “Did the Madam Director send you the clone’s medical specs?”
    Captain Mune nodded. “According to them, the implant was fused in her skull before she spaced out to Neptune. It’s a neural-charged explosive.”
    Hawthorne recalled the neural inhibitor Ulrich had once stuck to him.
    “Its purpose is what?” Hawthorne asked.
    “The specs say the clone can will the device to explode. The Madam Director has gone to great lengths to ensure that no one can turn her clones against her.”
    “Has the explosive been tampered with?” Hawthorne asked.
    “We haven’t been able to establish that,” Captain Mune said.
    “You think it