Origins: The Reich Read Online Free PDF

take me on account of this…deformity!” Tomal shouted in his defense.
    “I’m sorry to hear about your leg,” Hastelloy interjected before Gallono could get going in earnest, and promptly changed the subject.  “To your earlier point, time is running out.  Based on last month’s scan results of this solar system, it appears the Alpha base on Mars has regained the technological ability to launch solid fuel rockets into space.  What’s more, the readings detected evidence of a thermonuclear detonation. 
    “Pfft, nothing’s changed,” Gallono vented.  “We all knew it was close to happening, that’s why we provoked this Great War; to accelerate the rate of technological advancement for these humans.  That way we can take out the Alpha’s Mars base once and for all before they have the ability to attack us.”
    “Are you kidding? It changes everything,” Tomal challenged.  “This is a race without a consolation prize, and now we’re behind; very far behind.”
    “How much time do you think we have?” Hastelloy asked his science officer.
    “They will need to miniaturize such a weapon, marry it to an interplanetary rocket, and devise a way to properly guide it there. It is hard to say, but I would give it perhaps fifty years.  Maybe less, but certainly not more,” Tonwen offered.
    “Then why are all of you sitting around this blasted table and not out in the world doing something about it?” the fifth and final attendee of the meeting asked in a half joking tone as he stepped onto the balcony.
    Hastelloy glanced over to find Valnor looking like a malnourished stick figure wearing a tattered peasant overcoat.  He carried a small potato sack over his shoulder with the meager contents of an extra pair of shoes, one change of clothes, and a mostly eaten moldy loaf of bread.  Gallono was mired in the active fighting and as such, Hastelloy expected him to look the worst for wear, but Valnor took the prize hands down.
    “My God, are things really that bad on the eastern front?” Hastelloy asked as he pointed up and down Valnor’s frail stature as evidence.
    “Worse, but I’m not at the front any longer.  I’m back in Moscow where there simply isn’t enough of anything to keep people alive,” Valnor reported.  “When winter comes this year and there is no fuel oil for warmth or food, I see things ending very badly for the Tsar and his privileged elite.”
    “That will shift a lot of German soldiers toward the western front to sandbag against the tidal wave of American’s you promised me earlier,” Gallono warned.
    Hastelloy dismissed the notion with a grunt.  “The Russians aren’t firing many shots at this point anyway, and besides, it’ll take time and resources the Germans no longer have to move them.  No.  Barring something profound happening, the Great War will come to an end next year when the American forces arrive and tip the scales to the Allies favor. 
    “The problem for the five of us, and by default the twenty million Novi soldiers still housed in the Nexus, and every human on this planet for that matter, is that this war will have happened without any significant technological advancement.  We need to reach the point where we can launch nuclear or fusion weapons at the Alpha base on Mars before they can visit the mischief upon us first.  After three years of global warfare, the only steps toward that goal are open-air bi-planes flying overhead with pilots dropping bombs by hand as a means for targeting.  I think the five of us can come up with a plan to do better than that.”
    “In essence, we have less than fifty years to guide Sigma species in making a quantum leap forward in flight, rocketry, and physics to suit our needs.  I need suggestions on how to accomplish that, and at this point the gloves are completely off.  I want any ideas you have, no matter how conflicted they might be with our noninterference directive,” Hastelloy asked.
    “We can always