Hayward's Reach

NaShoStoMo #29 - Pax Cyridian

              I tapped into my desk system as I walked by and looked at the reports he flagged in my heads up display. I did not recognize any of these requests. I got to the kitchen and picked up five or six crabs, a local insect delicacy, flash fried and coated in a dusting of sugar.

              "Run a trace on these requisition, please." My computer would put a marker out on them and inform me where the organic components went. It was a bit of a concern because of the quantities being rerouted. Enough for fifteen or twenty Bugs. The components were the organic interfaces used to control or interact with a Bug's system.

              Since many of the systems in our buildings were created with or by or supported by the local insects, any that require our interaction have to be fitted with a control interface. The control interface technology is one of the things we create here.

              The flag came up indicating the resources ended up in a facility at the very edge of the city, about fifty klicks from here, as the dragon flies. Driving will take about one hundred klicks. "Boss, I am going to have to go out there. The system that authorized it requires a personal code to access. I am going to have go during working hours, because they barely have any comm systems out there at all. Its one of the newer installations."

              "Do what you need to Penrose. I have seven new carapaces I need you to look at before you go, though. Can you do it at lunch?"

              I left Ona out to graze and found her sitting in a field, eating into a nest of what we called termites. They resembled Terran termites in that they burrowed underground, and fed on woody materials. But each was the length of a man's arm and had complexes that could spread for miles. They were a primary source of food for Ona's species and one of her personal favorites.

              The park center was a common grazing area and without the constant effort of Bugs, it would grow out of control in a matter of days.

              "Penrose, I found su-mona, want to share?"

              "No thank you, Ona. Will you be done soon? We have a trip to go on."

              "A long one, yes?"

              "Very. Over two hours."

              "Can Ona run?

              "As fast as you like." She hurriedly chomps down the rest of her termites. There is goo all over her face. Wiping it away as quickly as she can she said,"Ona is finished."

              I climbed into the carapace chamber organically crafted out of her mighty exoskeleton. I slid in and she formed a ridge to support my back. I put on my sensor band and could see the road through her eyes. She took off down the road at over 95 kilometers per hour.

              When we arrived at the warehouse, it was mid afternoon, there had not been much traffic, so Ona really could move as fast as she wanted and it had been great to allow her to show off her speed. She was not nearly as fast as roaches who could reach speeds of 150 kph, but only for short bursts. Ona could do what she did all day long. Beyond the edge of the city, her ancestors still roamed free and could be quite dangerous to visitors of our world.

              If you came to live on Cyridian you were given genetic modifiers which made you emit an odor considered unpleasant to most of the more aggressive animals of the planet, and armed with bospor stingers, you were safe from the rest that might still eat you.

              The warehouse was closed up and no staff was available to accept my query for entry. I slid out of Ona and walked up to the wall of the warehouse. The building was created out of the traditional silkstone but it seemed to have other properties. I licked the building and my chemical mods indicated there were traces of other toxins on the outside of the building. I was immune to anything the planet had to offer. I had to be to work with the number of toxic insects we handled to do our jobs. I found the toxin to be a strange one because it was not found in most of the local insects to the area.