Pegasus (Part 112)

I gulped down what was left of my drink and followed him. Tabitha didn’t bother finishing hers.

We went to one of the side walls where he pressed a well disguised button, Part of the wall opened up revealing a silver lift. We got in, and it immediately closed behind us.

The man inputted a long line of numbers. My heart skipped a beat. Our friends outside would be of little use. The lift took what seemed to be a few minutes to reach its destination. The doors opened revealing a large, comfy sitting room. I walked forward before feeling a strike to the back of my head.

It must have knocked me unconscious, because the next thing I know is my eyes are closed and I feel a massive headache. The kind where you wonder f you would be better off dead. I open my eyes to an unfamiliar room. It is very small, with white walls. I am tied down to a wooden chair in front of a door, that is the only piece of furniture. Instinctively, I roar out but it is muffled.

“Tabitha, Tabitha.”

There is no response. This is not good.

The seconds turn to minutes and then hours before I finally hear the sound of footsteps outside

Pegasus (Part 111)

It didn’t take long for that first drink to turn into two, then three. I knew one of the myriad of men would eventually bite and they did.

A burly, bald man dressed in fading clothes came over to us. He addressed us in English.

“What has brought you two here? I caught a word or two of English being spoken between you. I haven’t heard it being spoken in years.”

Tabitha looked at me wide eyed. I took the initiative.

“You don’t get away with too much around here. And where did you learn it? You seem quite fluent.”

“My mother is from Aruna V. She insisted we use it to communicate. And you never answered my question.”

“No, I didn’t. We’re here on business.”

“What kind of business?”

“We need to get a package onto the Emperor’s habitat, and we’re prepared to pay big.”

I let him glance at our bitcoin balance.

He murmured something to himself and then left to go to a backroom.

I could feel the sweat on my brow and took another gulp.

Then the man returned and said to follow him. We got up, leaving what remained of our drinks. It was action time.

For We Are Many (Bobiverse) by Denis E Taylor

Hello dear readers, I have just finished reading the second book in the Bobiverse series by Denis E Taylor. For those that may have forgotten, I gave the first one five stars out of five (We are Legion We are Bob). The sequel is not always on a par with the original though.

Bob Johansson didn’t believe in an afterlife, so he signed up to be resurrected after he had died. Little did he realize that it would be as an Artificial Intelligence or replicant, and that life would far outlive his biological one. Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets trying to save the last remnants of humanity after a disastrous nuclear war. Something that’s increasingly feeling like a real prospect these days.

Each Bob copy has its own variability in character due both to the copying process and their own unique experiences once they separate. The relationships between the Bobs themselves is one of the things that makes this novel so special.

What follows is an intriguing tale of exploration, love and friendship over space and time.

Amongst the various sub stories, one Bob becomes a Sky God to a primitive species doing everything possible to ensure its survival.

Another Bob fall in love with a woman he can never touch.

“The Others” are the adversary in the book, who are stripping the surrounding star systems of life and material to create their own Dyson Sphere. Who finally wins is left to the next novel and I for one, can’t wait.

This gets another five stars out of five from me.

Pegasus (Part 110)

Yeah she had a point. I needed to give them something useful to do, or at least keep them occupied.

“I need the rest of you to keep guard across the street. If things kick off, we will need you.”

Casey pouted her lips, while Leanne’s eyes rolled.

Chrissie then spoke.

“Come on girls. It can’t be excitement all the time.”

Tabitha and I headed into the modern-looking building. The automatic doors opened as we approached. I was relieved it was pub on the first level as I had hoped. It had a wooden and leather decor. It smelled of tobacco.

I turned to face Tabitha.

“What would you like?”

“A drink, really? Don’t we have something to do?”

“We need to fit in, trust me.”

“Whiskey with red lemonade for me.”

I went up to the bar.

“Conas ata tu?”

It was the first time someone had spoken in my tongue for quite some time.

“An mhaithe ar fad. Ba mhaith liom Guinness agus uisce beatha.”

Having secured the drinks, we went to one of the round tables in the centre so that we could both observe, and be observed.

It was mostly military aged men in the bar, and many couldn’t resist a peek at Tabitha’s long legs.

Pegasus (Part 109)

It was difficult to make headway but I persisted. Every now and then, I would glance behind me to make sure I didn’t lose the others. They followed closely behind in a line to take advantage of every step forward I made.

The wall of people was made up of people from throughout the system. There was every hue of skin color – white, black, purple and orange, you name it. Humans were evolving to their various habitats, and some were starting to not look like humans at all.

There were large shopping malls on each side, followers by floor after floor of apartments and offices.

The streets that had been chocked by people, gradually became easier to navigate, and I soon broke out into a brisk walk.

I heard Chrissie comment about the thinning crowd from behind, but I was just anxious to reach our destination. I would look up the majestic, tall buildings, that seemed to rise up forever and ensure that the next was getting closer and closer till the light started to dim.

We had arrived.

There was little point in us staying as a group. It would complicate the matter of building trust.

I turned around to the rest.

“Tabitha, myself and you will head into that place called Toibins.”

Then Casey interjected.

“And, what are we supposed to do?”

Pegasus (Part 108)

As we left the ship, we stepped onto a platform that led to elevators on the wall. Chrissie walked ahead of us and pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then we heard a whizzing sound coming from below; it grew gradually larger. Then someone saw the elevator just before it arrived,

An artificial voiceover speaking in Irish told us to take a ticket, to remember where our ship was parked and that it would bring us to ground level. Hearing that the ancient language once more made me feel warm inside. I took the piece of pink paper and put it in my wallet.

Much to my surprise, I felt nothing on the way down. The opaque doors stopped you from seeing any movement also. The doors opened and we walked out to a packed street and a cacophony of sounds. People brushed up against our shoulders as they tried to get past. Large buildings looked almost magical as they stretched upwards. I realised I was feeling queasy, and took a moment to get my bearings. We needed to go towards the centre of the city, and see if we could do some sort of deal to get to the Emperor’s habitat.

In one direction, there was definitely an increased density of buildings.

“This way,”

Pagasus (Part 107)

A large electronic sign pulsed FAILTE as they drew closer.

“What does that mean?” asked with a frown.

“Welcome,” I replied.

“It’s Irish. The main language here,” Tabitha added. Her eyes were wide open.

“We need to find a set down area. Somewhere close to the centre, I reckon,” I continued.

The bustling city surrounded us as the ship sailed between the tall buildings. People thronged the choked city streets below us. Even the air tunnels that connected some of the taller buildings looked at their capacity.

I saw a “Parcail” sign in blue down the side of a building in the distance.

“Go there,” I said pointing at the building in question. It’s a dull monochrome grey without any windows.

As we approach, we get a message in Irish suggesting we allow the autopilot to take us in. Once I translated, Tabitha pressed the button to accept.

The ship then went into an ascent, before hovering over the top of the building, where we could see the stars again.

Then the ship descended. Ships of varying sizes were docked up against the wall. Then an empty space appeared, and the ship moved forward before it jerked slightly as it was clamped into place.

“Right, we’ve docked and the thrusters have all been switched off. Time to go,” Tabitha commanded.

Pegasus (Part 106)

The bridge went silent as our ship descended into the back of the convoy, the habitat growing ever larger in our translucent screen. For the first few moments, Tabitha looked warily into my eyes.

Then the sound of chatter started coming in and out over the comms –

  • Come in Delta V, come in Delta V. State the nature of your business
  • Delta V here. Delta V here over. We are transporting Lithium 95 over Code 415356 over
  • You are cleared Delta V. Your convoy is to proceed

“That’s all yall have to do to get in?”

The intricacies of my calculations were lost on her. They had flown into one of the most corrupt parts of the Empire, and had taken advantage of it. The code provided was too short to be anything other than criminal. It avoided the financial pain of them having to pay their own.

They were now approaching the thin red atmosphere of the habitat.

“Buckle up,” Tabitha commanded.

Everyone complied without hesitation.

The ship began to vibrate.

Leanne and Casey held each other’s hand.

Then it stopped, and our target city of ten million souls appeared in the distance—a sea of skyscrapers jutting up to heights almost out of the atmosphere.

Pegasus (Part 105)

It took several hours to reach the complex. But the wait was worth it.

“What are they?” Tabitha asked as it finally came into view. Chrissie beat me to the punch.

“They are extremely heavy laser cannons. This is probably the most fortified and well-armed habitat in the system. Aren’t we the crazy ones to be going there?”

“We’ll be okay,” I told them but they both looked at me with a frown.

Casey and Leanne entered the cockpit. I was quickly learning that patience was not their strong point.

“Are we nearly there yet Mum?”

“It’ll be another while love.”

This whole plan I had concocted relied on reaching the city of Kolkata V on the habitat. It was the only low-security settlement, the only one we had a reasonable chance of setting foot on.

Sweat began to drip from my brow as the habitat grew larger in front of us.

I saw a convoy of merchant ships and told Tabitha to fall in right behind them, hopefully making ourselves less conspicuous.

“What is this place?” Casey asked.

“Hell,” I replied.

“You’re so dramatic,” Casey replied.

“If they want us dead, then that’s what we’ll be. And it will be over in a flash.”

Pegasus (Part 104)

The Taurus V Military Complex was legendary, an almost mythical place. It was a spherical rotating habitat with a habitable surface area equivalent to Africa’s. It was home to the Emperor’s most loyal, best-paid, well-armed battalion. They were called the Blue Core and numbered over thirty million soldiers. Their armor consists of over one hundred thousand tanks, four thousand dreadnoughts, thousands of heavy lasers, and artillery pieces. The Space Core is required to transport them to battle, a cautious Emperor wary of giving any of his forces too much power.

They regularly carried out war games on the habitat, which was very close to the real thing often resulting in thousands of casualties. They were easily replaced in a large empire.

The Blue Core was infamous for its role in many battles such as putting down the Lunar Rebellion and the Comotose Habitat conflagration.

Still, it was the massacres that they were best known for. Men and children were murdered, the women were raped first. Any habitat that dared to resist. A thoroughly delightful bunch.

And I was now on a spacecraft veering through space right toward them. Because their corruption was also legendary. That was the weakness we were going to be depending on.