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    Less than Human
    Less than Human
    Less than Human
    Ebook41 pages28 minutes

    Less than Human

    By Zoë Blade and Aiko Frikki

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 27, 2013
    Less than Human

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      Book preview

      Less than Human - Zoë Blade

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of Less than Human, by Zoë Blade

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

      ** This is a COPYRIGHTED Project Gutenberg eBook, Details Below **

      ** Please follow the copyright guidelines in this file. **

      Title: Less than Human

      Author: Zoë Blade

      Release Date: August 12, 2009 [EBook #29675]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LESS THAN HUMAN ***

      Produced by Al Haines

      Less Than Human

      A short story by Zoë Blade

      © 2008 Zoë Blade. Distributed under a Creative Commons

      Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

      From the roof of the legal bookstore, I have a clear shot at my target, Jon Russell. He's sitting down at a table outside a café where Chancery Lane meets Fleet Street, sipping a cardboard cup of coffee. I briefly ponder how ironic it seems that he's actually bought a drink; it must be for show, although there's no way that he can tell that right now he has a very specific audience.

      Even in the sunshine, the guiding beam of my tripod mounted rifle is brightly illuminating a thick circle of skin on his neck, just below his white beard, but even if any of the passersby can see infrared as well as I can, they won't have time to do anything even if they notice it. My eyes are already over two years old now, but they were expensive enough at the time to still be considered detailed even by today's standards. With their magnification, I can see the circle of light on his neck clearly, growing steadier with every passing second as a familiar cocktail of drugs calms my metabolism.

      I try not to let the laser's fan distract me. The guidance beam's one thing, but the main laser, the one that generates the lethal pulse, gives off heat like you wouldn't believe. With the midday sun shining straight down on me, the laser needs all the cooling it can get, and the fan sounds like someone's standing next to me, drying her

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