The Trilisk Supersedure Read Online Free Page A

potential sources of harm. All within expected limits,
boundaries, ranges. Recommend team proceed with caution.”
    Cilreth
rolled her eyes. “Duly noted.”
    By next
time I’m going to have this thing mastered eight ways from extinction so I can
know what the hell I’m getting into.
    “Thanks,”
she said. “What’s the name of your ship?”
    A
series of clacks and thumps came back.
    Oh
right.
    “Ah, I’ll
call it Thumper ,” she said, continuing Telisa’s streak of humor.
    Cilreth
turned her attention toward the planetary approach. The landing procedure was
completely automated, of course. Cilreth had stubbornly looped requirements for
her approval into every step, in an effort to become more familiar with the
spacecraft. With her approval, the Clacker launched its landing “feet”
down toward the surface ahead of its descent.
    Detachable
feet for a spaceship. I never would have thought in a million years…
    The
landing feet were small metal platforms that arrived ahead of the ship, scouted
the area, secured themselves to the surface in a landing geometry that their
scans indicated could support the weight of the ship, and then accepted the
ship’s landing struts. The system enabled the massive bulk of the ship to
settle on almost any surface.
    She
watched a feed from one of the remote feet as a huge sphere of black metal and
carbon descended from the sky onto the rocky yet richly vegetated world of
Chigran Callnir Four.
    When
the ship made contact, she had it send out a message to the rest of the crew:
Magnus and Telisa.
    “We’re
here. And Shiny says: many dangers, proceed with caution.”
    I’d
better get into my gear. Those two will be out there in no time. She
sniffed the air. It’s still not quite right in here. Sigh. Another problem
waiting for me when I get back.
     
    ***
     
    A flat
metal landing pad detached from the underside of the Clacker and
established itself below the ship to receive those embarking onto the surface.
It was the size of a small building, more than enough to hold the Terrans and
their machines. Once the pad settled, three large tubes extended from the belly
of the ship. The tubes started to disgorge six-legged scout robots. Each
machine had a roughly spherical body with four sensor bulbs spaced across the
equator and a weapon mount on the top. Magnus had given the machines a quick
spray of red paint to match the rock of the local terrain. The scouts floated
gently down onto the detachable landing pad; then they started to move off in
all directions.
    Telisa
emerged from one of the tubes. Like the scout robots, she floated gently down
onto the landing pad. She walked toward the edge of the pad as Magnus descended
behind her. She took a careful step out onto the surface of the planet.
    Magnus
stepped out onto the rocky ground next to Telisa. She had a pair of binoculars
in her hands. An attendant sphere picked them up and lifted the optical sensor
high above the ground. She closed her eyes to see its input clearly in her
personal view. It showed a close-up of the remains of old buildings through the
alien vegetation. The buildings looked like collections of cubes glued together
and made of a homogenous material of the same color as the reddish rocks. She
judged they might be constructed in a manner similar to adobe or brick houses.
    “So
this is how it’s going to be?” Magnus said. “We come down here and hoof around,
taking all the risks, while High Lord Shiny looks down on us from orbit?”
    Magnus
put on an air of frustration, but Telisa saw through it. He was just
complaining for the sake of complaining. She knew he was actually as excited as
she was to be back on the ground on a new world.
    “Think
of him as our rich employer,” Telisa said. Magnus laughed.
    A small
army of scout machines explored the area around them. Magnus had brought an
even twenty of them to map the landscape ahead of any in-person exploration.
The Clacker ’svast cargo bays held ten more in