The Compleat Bolo

176

(scout report to Axorc, Lord of All)

this lowly one offers with apologies the following anomalous observation, as recorded by a robot autoscout unit operating one parsec in advance of the effective line of progress:

76013-incident report zm3374-forward sensors detect energy flow in the ninth quadrant, high-resolution pickup shows a lone being of baroque form at work on a small ore body, i projected a fine-focus a

"-damned skeeters! Maybe I should take a few time units to null this whole sector." while the full significance of this is unclear, it is plain that this new life form considers my most potent weapon a mere nuisance.

in order to avoid the threatened nullification, this unit withdrew to observe passively with the intention of determining the nature and sensitivities of the alien being, however, the said alien at once closed with this unit and subjected it to a.001-millisecond scrutiny over a full spectrum of energies (note my own "fast" reading capability requires.003 milliseconds for a full-depth search and analysis), the alien is quick indeed.

i responded to this impertinence by subjecting the creature (a featureless ovoid of the approximate bulk of a class one Penetration Unit) to a full offensive battery fire, which was ineffective, curious though that datum is.

the alien uttered a.007-nanosecond burst on its outgoing beam, interpreted as, "It burped. Rude beggar. Perhaps I should collect it and examine its interior workings." i of course withdrew to the main body to file my report thereby thwarting this alien in its insolent intent.

above forwarded without comment by this lowly one.

177

(emanation from the dark crystal Axorc, 1000 light-years from Terra)

THESE HYPOTHESES ARE OF THE UTMOST INDIFFERENCE TO MY EXALTATION, AS THE COURSE OF AXORC DESTINY IS CLEAR.

YOU ARE DIRECTED TO DISPATCH NECESSARY FORCE TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE AUDACIOUS ENTITY WHICH WOULD INTERFERE WITH MY EXPRESSED WILL. REPORT WHEN A CAPTIVE IS IN YOUR POSSESSION. INTERIM OR NEGATIVE REPORTS ARE NUGATORY.

178

(fragment of tape presented by Bureau Chief Payne, Imperial Intelligence)

"…I'd say old Doc Chin is probably the least imaginative and most conservative man in public life today. Well, maybe not the most, but he's no wild-eyed visionary. I do say so, dammit, and any dumb SOB who wants to disagree isn't worth-"

The recording device was smashed at this point, but you get the idea. And it's the same thing in every tavern, pub, bar, and faculty cocktail lounge in the Empire. And nobody can say who's right.

179

(address to the Senate by Lord Senator Prill)

"It's well known that it required the combined imaging capabilities of every data-retrieval system on the planet for the Bolo known as Caesar to resolve this thing, so riddle me this: Why do we still delay the long-overdue neutralization of this monstrous machine that the misguided military have loosed among us? Any man who had flaunted every lethal-classification security regulation in thus linking the separate data banks would be executed without hesitation.

"Yes, I know all about the public confessions-nay, boasts-of the madman Trace, but even if this rather curious communication were to be unhesitatingly accepted as genuine-and there are many of us who recognize a brazen hoax when we encounter it-if it were genuine, I say, it remains a physical impossibility for one man to have penetrated our top-security installations to effect such a linkage,

"Our course is clear! Kill the Bolo!"

180

(report on the Late News)

It appears Lord Senator Prill's intemperate, rhetoric has not been without effect. At this hour a Special Session of the Parliamentary Committee on Imperial Issues is sitting to consider the proposal sponsored by no less a personage than Lord Senator Lazarus, retired but still vigorous enough to demand an immediate kill order.

181

(Mott-Bailey, Strategic HQ, to Wolesley)

"No, Field Marshal, I ca

182

(Field Commander, Fortress Luna)

As far as we've been able to determine (using the full capacity of the orbital surveillance stations, plus the emergency relay facility), since ignoring the command to self-destruct the Bolo has taken a position inside the giant Farside crater Hugo, whence it has discouraged all attempts at close surveillance by promptly firing on any moving object appearing over the Lunar horizon, as it warned it would do at the same time that it resumed its urgent demands for immediate and appropriate response to the a

183

(fragment of tape, via audio communication monitor, Wing B to Wing D, Hexagon)

"… Lord Senator Prill is demanding, 'What would constitute an appropriate response to a nebulous threat on a scale so great as to be indistinguishable from a natural force?' "

"Needless to say, no competent response was forthcoming from the Council, so we may regard milord's query as rhetorical. But what are we going to do? Off the record, Jerry, I'm at a loss. Come up with something, fast."

184

(pro tern Science Advisor Adler to Georgius Imperator)

"It is our considered conclusion, Your Excellency, in view of the inexplicable behavior of the unfortunate Admiral Starbird and his crew, based on exhaustive study of all data collected by whatever means-special attention being given to the findings of the Oort Probe, which was of course unma

"Life Two is inherently incompatible with Life One, if I may so term all organic life with which we have heretofore been familiar, including the lichens from Charon, and is thus a plague with which there can be no accommodation, since both Life One and Life Two, by their basic natures, must possess the material and energy of the known Universe in order to survive. There can be no division of spheres of influence, since the continued existence of either would be a canker eating forever at the vitals of the other.

"We prefer that Life One be the survivor, in which we assume we have Your Majesty's concurrence."