Shadows of the Gods: Crimson Worlds Refugees II Read Online Free PDF Page A

also know we must learn more about the First Imperium and its technology if we are to survive. My whole team will volunteer, and I have it on good authority that many of the Marines would also come along if allowed.”
    Compton sighed. Marines…that has to be Connor Frasier . It wasn’t much of a secret the elite Marine had become quite taken with Ana Zhukov, ever since he’d shed his armor to save her life on the enemy Colossus. And Zhukov and Cutter were research partners, the two most gifted scientists in the fleet.
    But it wasn’t that simple. Compton had no desire to see scientific teams chewed up by half-million year old security bots, or to send a detachment of his Marines into harm’s way, but if that had been his only worry he would have relented to Cutter’s requests long before. But there was more, a far deeper concern.
    “And what if one of these worlds retains a long distance transmission capability? What if blundering around in the ruins triggers some warning, not just to local security bots but to an active base…and brings another enemy fleet on us? The Colossus is gone, Hieronymus. We have only our own ships, low on ordnance and repaired the best we could on the run with the parts we still have left. We are not ready for such a fight…and we would not survive it.”
    “You know secrecy cannot protect us forever, Admiral.” Cutter was tense, determined to change Compton’s mind. “We are playing Russian Roulette with every jump, just waiting for the day we again encounter the enemy. Stealth is fleeting, and sooner or later, the First Imperium forces will return. And we must be ready. Ready to face them, to defeat them. And knowledge is the way we will achieve that.”
    Cutter paused, pulling his hand across his forehead, wiping away the perspiration. “Admiral, we have made great progress with the artifacts collected on the last planetary excursion…and from the data we retrieved from the Colossus. If we can obtain more, I am sure we are close to a whole series of breakthroughs. Weapons, data systems, power generation…and more sophisticated ways to control the enemy, advancements that will make my original virus seem like a child’s toy.” He paused again. “Sir, running can only buy us time in small increments. But adapting their technology can save us, free us from our flight and give us the tools to end the First Imperium threat once and for all…not only for us, but for those back in Occupied Space too.”
    Compton stared at Cutter with a pained look on his face. He wanted nothing more than to cut the reins on this brilliant scientist, to let him run wild and develop the systems and tech needed to truly match the First Imperium. But he just couldn’t. Not now. Cutter was a genius, but like most with ability as extraordinary as his, he found it difficult to appreciate factors outside his work. He could accomplish what he wanted, Compton was sure of that. Given time, Cutter would no doubt learn how to adapt First Imperium tech and produce remarkable advances. Unless the enemy tracked down and destroyed the fleet first.
    And even if Cutter cracked the mysteries of First Imperium technology, how much could the fleet put to use? How many new systems could it produce? And how quickly? Compton had his people bending over backwards to build jury-rigged missiles to fill his empty magazines, and the entire program was moving at a snail’s pace, despite the fact that the fusion technology employed was over two centuries old. What could his makeshift production facilities do with highly advanced First Imperium designs?
    “I understand everything you are saying, but I simply cannot risk it. I’m sorry, Hieronymus. I truly am. No one appreciates the implications of what you could do with more First Imperium technology like I do. But now is not the time. Perhaps soon, when we have reason to believe we have eluded our enemy.”
    Cutter stared back. He had a disappointed look on his face, but then