"William C. Dietz - By Force of Arms" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dietz William)

possessed superior analytical abilities, and who if the truth
be told was just plain smarter.

The navcomp scanned the data, registered the machine
equivalent of surprise, and checked to ensure that it had
arrived at the correct conclusion. Then, certain that the
information was correct, Henry experienced a profound
sense of horror. What were the odds? Millions to one? That


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the Hoon would randomly choose that particular set of
coordinates?

No, much as the AI might want to believe such a hy-
pothesis, it couldn't. Henry's memory had been plundered
shortly after capture. Now, for reasons known only to it,
the alien intelligence had approached Long Jump. The nav-
comp had witnessed similar visitations during the previous
year, and none of them had been pleasant. Entire civili-
zations had been snuffed from existence, species left near
extinction, and natural resources looted to feed the fleet.
Slowly, reluctantly, Henry returned with the news.

Jepp listened to the report, asked to hear it again, and
felt an almost overwhelming sense of joy. He'd been right!
God had a plan. Why else would the Supreme Being direct
the fleet to Long Jump? The very planet from which Henry
and he had lifted so long ago?

14 William C. Diets

The human literally danced around the compartment,
chortled out loud, and slapped the robot's alloy back.
"Here's our chance. Alpha! We'll minister to the godless
and build the flock! Praise be to the lord."

"Praise be to the lord," Alpha echoed dutifully.

Henry was silent.

The Hoon transferred a portion of its consciousness from
one ship to another, scanned the orb below, and considered
its options. Yes, it could consume the metal on the planet
below, and thereby fuel the ,fleet, or, and this was more
intriguing, allow the soft body to interact with its peers
and take the food afterwards.