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    Fluidity
    Fluidity
    Fluidity
    Ebook270 pages3 hours

    Fluidity

    By Frank Carey

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    About this ebook

    Adam was not happy with the woman who created him. Her constant demands to terminate life forms on a whim grated on his nerves. Then she had the audacity to put him into stasis until she decided what she would do with his parts. What was a GELF supposed to do?

    Life in the Ranu Diplomatic Corps is never boring. Meeting new races, getting kidnapped, being brainwashed, and dealing with planetary disasters are all just part of the job for the diplomats of the corps.


    Buy Fluidity today and see if you're ready to join the corps.
     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFrank Carey
    Release dateMar 23, 2019
    ISBN9781386222279
    Fluidity
    Author

    Frank Carey

    Frank Carey has been formally writing and publishing works of science fiction since late 2013. Over the years prior, he had dabbled in various forms of writing including haiku poetry, but that all changed when he and his wife, Jo, decided to try their hand at writing and self-publishing. Since then, he has written and published a collection of flash fiction and short stories, two anthologies, a pentalogy, and a trilogy. All his work, to date, has been in the science fiction genre. Most of his stories take place about two centuries in the future when Earth joins the League of Planetary Systems. Many of his protagonists are strong females. He is an inveterate pantser who believes the story will go where the story wants to go. Frank’s background includes degrees in physics and extensive work as a scientific programmer and technologist.

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      Book preview

      Fluidity - Frank Carey

      CHAPTER ONE

      I woke up surrounded by armor-clad bipeds pointing heavy ordnance at me. Looking down at me were three eyes on stalks. Following the stalks down, I saw they were attached to a mass of tentacles. I leapt off the table transforming into my defensive mode before I hit the ground. I stood there, a large, black hydra-like creature trying to look dangerous while the armored ones did something to their weapons that filled the room with an ominous hum. This was bad, and I didn't even know why it was happening.

      Everybody, take a damn breath! the tentacled one said as two of her eyes tracked me while number three kept an eye on the troops. What's your name, boy?

      How do you know I'm a boy?

      Because you were a male Storen when we found you. Are you a boy?

      Yes, that is how I self-identify.

      Good. Now, what is your name?

      Adam.

      Is Zoe Muntz your mother?

      Zoe Muntz is my pain-in-the-ass creator. I doubt she could be anyone's mother, at least I hope she's not.

      I like you already. Do you know anyone named Monica?

      Nope. What's a Monica?

      A friend of mine. She looked at a particularly large armored one who had wings and a tail. Commander, give us the room, please.

      Are you sure, General?

      Yes. Now get.

      In moments I was alone with the one they called General.

      Adam, my name is General Spent, and you are aboard the League Space Patrol Cruiser Ilya.

      League... League of Planetary Systems. Zoe hated the League... Why am I here?

      We found you stored inside a stasis chamber we found in one of Zoe's labs. Our scans showed a normal Storen, so we defrosted you. You can imagine our surprise when you turned out to be a fluid...

      I'm a failed prototype infiltration unit Zoe put together...

      Who said you were failed? You fooled the best scanners in the League. Hell, we didn't even detect your nanobots.

      Nano-whats?

      Nanorobots. You do have nanorobots don't you?

      I shrugged. You got me? All I know is I can change shape, read DNA, and sometimes enter computer systems with my consciousness. The hows and whys are for people with much higher pay grades.

      You said Zoe called you a failure. Why would she say that?

      Because I told her to go to hell when she asked me to kill someone. I'm not a performing seal that barks on command. I'm a plarking sapient, and I let her know where she could put her orders.

      Would you have killed this someone if Zoe had asked nicely?

      I took my black snowman form while thinking hard about the question. I don't have a clue since I've never been in a situation that required it. I find Zoe's lack of empathy to be disturbing, and I informed her of that fact in no uncertain terms.

      How would you like a job?

      What kind of job?

      One that makes use of your mimicry skills.

      That would be nice for a change.

      Good. Now, let me introduce you to some people, she said as she took me by the arm and led me out into a strange, new world.

      ###

      Monica, Callie, Dayna, Alin, Vessa, and Arelle sat around a table inside a secure conference room in the League Space Patrol wing of Orinoco station and waited for their boss, General Spent, to arrive. Though all of them were of different species, they were in fact sisters created by the late Doctor Zoe Muntz. The six of them were shape-shifting, highly-weaponized, genetically-engineered life forms known as fluids.

      Anybody got a drink? Arelle asked.

      Or a deck of cards? Vessa added.

      Everybody, calm down, Monica, their de facto leader, ordered. The general said she'd be here in a few minutes and that she had something important to tell us.

      What, pray tell? Alin asked sweetly.

      We don't know, Callie replied. Callie was the group's de facto second in command. She just told us to round the rest of you up and get our asses to this room and wait for her arrival, so we wait.

      A knock at the door was followed by General Spent and a Storen visitor stepping into the room and locking the door behind them.

      ###

      The general and I joined six ladies in a secure meeting room somewhere in what the general called Orinoco Station. I smiled as she made introductions. I'd like you all to meet Adam. Adam, this is Monica, Callie, Dayna, Alin, Vessa, and Arelle, she said as she pointed to each woman. Ladies, Adam is, for lack of a better term, a male fluid."

      Excuse me, General, Monica said quietly. A male fluid? That's not possible. Zoe said she could only make girls.

      The bitch, may God rest her soul, lied to you, I said as I morphed into a black, multi-tentacled hydra—a fluid's defensive form. The other six followed suit, then quickly returning to their original forms when I did the same.  We stood there and just stared at each other while Spent watched with a pair of her tentacles crossed.

      We think Adam is your prototype, she said to the sisters.

      Zoe considered me a failure, so she shoved me into a stasis tube until she figured out how to recycle my parts, I informed them.

      Why did she think you were a failure? Alin asked.

      Because I told her to kiss my black fluid ass when she ordered me to kill someone. Like I told the general, I found her manner offensive.

      And that's why she considered you a failure, Monica said.

      That's when she called me a failure and threatened to end my miserable life. My pièce de résistance was when I broke her favorite bobble-head dashboard ornament. By the by, I hear she's dead.

      Yeah. She met someone who built better GELFs, Vessa replied.

      Adam, are there any others like you? Callie asked

      I looked down at the floor for a moment, not sure how I should answer. I chose the truth. Yes, several that I know of. All of them are male and all are infiltrators like me. They were built and trained for deep cover assignments. Zoe was a bit paranoid at times. She sequestered us from each other so that we wouldn't band together against her.

      And where are these gentlemen? Monica inquired.

      Out on assignment. And before you ask, I don't know where they are. All I know is that there are five of them.

      Are you strykerized? she asked.

      What's that?

      Dayna turned into a very shiny robot, then formed a nasty-looking machine gun attached to the top of her right forearm just behind her wrist. A girl can never be too careful, she quipped.

      No, not that I know of. As far as I know, the six of us boys are purely organic.

      Ladies, Sir, I have duties to attend to. I will leave Adam in your care until I return. Feel free to show him the station. Adam, do you need anything for now?

      No General, I replied. Ma'am, thanks.

      For what? I haven't even given you an assignment yet.

      It doesn't matter. Just thank you for the opportunity.

      You’re welcome. Monica, see me to the door. I will talk with you all later. Good day.

      I watched them walk to the door where the general stopped and said something to the woman before stepping out of the room. Monica returned and offered me a seat while the others sat around me. Aren't you going to ask about what she said? Monica asked.

      I figured she told you to keep an eye on me. She's still not sure I can be trusted.

      You're good. That's exactly what she said. Does it bother you?

      God, no. It would have bothered me if she hadn't said it. Hell, I don't even know if I can trust me.

      Yeah, we had that problem for a while, but everyone came around. Feel like a tour?

      Yeah. That would be great, I replied. And it would be great to get to know these people who seemed to be like me. It felt good to no longer be alone.

      ###

      We fluids can be best described as sapient, nanorobotic-enhanced non-differentiated, protoplasmic, genetically-engineered life forms whose natural state resembles that of the Blob of the movie of the same name. Retaining a form—say a basili—requires a little effort in combination with a little concentration which means we revert to our blob selves when we're exhausted. Therefore, I am now laying inside a galvanized steel tub doing my best impersonation of a puddle of inky-black water, all because I agreed to join the patrol as a member of her team. General Spent may run the patrol, but Monica runs us right into the ground.

      Would you like a pillow? the Task Master asked as she leaned over my tub. Monica had chosen to remain in her human form while she worked us to death. I hear she learned workout technique from a basili patrol member named Mersa. I need to have a talk with this Mersa woman.

      No, ma'am. Just taking a short breather, ma'am.

      Perhaps a blankie? she sneered. I hate it when she sneers.

      No, ma'am. Just need a second to absorb some precious O2...

      Well, I hope you brought some for the rest of the group!

      What the hell is she talking about?

      Now, get your lazy arse out of that tub and give me 50!

      I shot out of the tub, transforming into human form in mid-air before landing on all fours so I could immediately perform 50 push-ups while the rest of the group practiced hand-to-hand combat fluid style: Five people punching, kicking, and chopping each other in a continuous shifting of partners, positions, and styles is a sight to see.

      Atten-hut! a voice barked from the doorway. Everyone, including Monica the Conqueror, came to an abrupt halt and went to attention.

      General Spent slid into the room followed closely by a pair of werewolf-like Lysans—one a male in an LSP captain's uniform and a woman in a business-appropriate black pencil skirt and jacket ensemble. I've so wanted to try a Lysan mimic, but I hadn't been able to touch a member of the species since being defrosted.

      At ease. Monica, we need to talk to you and Adam. You can dismiss your sisters.

      You heard the General! Dismissed!

      After they left the room, Spent made introductions. Captain Tanoh Ohnat, Agent Elsa Sandor, this is Agent Adam and Commander Monica.

      First Monica and I shook hands with the two Lysans. This allowed the two of us to mimic them at a drop of a hat.

      Show them, Spent said as if reading my mind. In a breath, the two of us became Lysans. Unlike Monica who could do variations on the look at the expense of accuracy, I was a dead ringer for the captain down to variations in the colors of individual hairs. At times, Zoe was a real stickler for details.

      Damn! Captain Ohnat exclaimed as he reached over and touched the collar of my uniform.

      Impressive, Agent Sandor noted.

      We returned to our previous forms and waited.

      I'll let Agent Sandor explain, the general said.

      We have been tracking a smuggler outfit led by Captain Reg Ozuna and his wife and first officer, Tern Ozuna. Recently, a number of items went missing from a depot on Tralaska, and we think the Ozuna's are involved with transporting some of them to a buyer on the edge of League space.

      Agent, what kind of items are we talking about? I asked.

      Weapons, mini-power plants, and ecoforming equipment destined for the Lysan home world, she replied. The ecoforming equipment was to be shipped out to the site of a future colony on the edge of Lysan space.

      It's the ecoforming equipment we're worried about, the captain noted. It's special.

      Expensive special or destructive potential special? Monica asked.

      The latter. Ever hear of a sodbuster warhead?

      Ouch, I said.

      You've heard of it? Spent asked. Since when? You've been out of the freezer less than six months and sodbusters are top secret.

      Zoe loaded the entire Cube database into my brain as part of an experiment in instant teaching, so I know about sodbuster missiles, how they work, and how they can be deactivated.

      Then explain it to us, Adam, the general ordered.

      It's a missile that causes a chain reaction which reforms all surface material of a planet into the building blocks of life namely carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, and a plark-load of trace elements. Once the reaction is complete, fusion-powered factories produce an atmosphere while the surface is seeded with algae and other organisms. Within twenty years, a viable biosphere is formed, ready for the introduction of more complex life forms.

      And that's the problem, the General said. Adam, what happens if a biosphere already exists on the planet in question.

      It is destroyed and recycled. Once the reaction starts, there is no stopping it and no reset. It would be the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

      Which is why we need to find it and retrieve it, Captain Ohnat said.

      Adam, we have a Storen crewperson being held in the brig on assault and attempted murder charges. It seems that Mr. Watlow Greer has a penchant for violence. You will mimic him and use your identity to get a berth on the Privateer Torsan Rift under command of Captain Reg Ozuna and his wife. Once aboard, you will find said sodbuster and anything else that went missing, then contact us for further instructions. We may want you to follow said device to its delivery point to determine who the buyer is and what they plan on doing with it.

      Yes, General.

      Monica, you will be Adam's handler on this trip and liaise with Agent Sandor and Captain Ohnat. Your sisters will be brought into the fold as needed.

      Yes, General.

      Let's go meet Mr. Greer and get this party started.

      CHAPTER TWO

      I stepped into the hold to check on our next delivery and found it surprisingly empty. Computer, lights, I ordered.

      Two crates sat in the middle of the room: One marked Portable Fusion Power Plant and the other Sodbuster.

      I shook my head. To think of the damage the contents of one of those crates could do to a planet was mind boggling.

      With a quick look around to make sure I was alone I opened the Power Plant box and dropped a few drops of nanotracker fluid onto the machinery inside. Now, any Space Patrol ship could track the plant. Sealing the crate, I repeated the process on the sodbuster.

      Isn't technology wonderful?

      After a quick check of the crates' packing straps, I turned out the lights and exited the room.

      The PA system blared, This is the captain, prepare for landing, as I stepped into the main passageway. I walked over to an intercom station. This is Crewman Greer. Hold six is secure for landing.

      Roger that, Greer, the first officer, a Canuran female named Tern Ozuna who happened to also be the captain's wife, replied. Have you ever run comms?

      Yes, mistress. I'm rated for EM, FTL, and hypercomm, ma'am. The real Greer is, but I have read all the manuals.

      Good, Jorge has the flu, so you've been promoted. Get your furry arse up here.

      Aye, mistress. I'm on my way.

      I reached the bridge just as we dropped out of other-space into real-space. As I sat down at the communications station, a planet came into view on the forward view screen. It was a typical Goldilocks-zone planet except it only had one landmass surrounded by one ocean. Another difference was the large desert dab-smack in the center of the landmass.

      Welcome to Tarkus. Comm, hail the planet on frequency-6, the captain ordered.

      I requested a link and immediately received a reply, so I flipped a few switches to create a secure connection between the ship and whoever answered. Captain, I have a Mister Wrenshaw on the line.

      On screen, the captain replied. Wrenshaw, this is Captain Ozuna of the Torsan Rift. I have your delivery. Do you have my money?

      An image of the love child of an Alturan and a human appeared on the screen. From the neck down, Wrenshaw was a biped with long, lean limbs. It was his head that gave one pause. the general's head was covered with writhing tentacles which also covered his chin. Honestly, I don't have a clue whether he can consciously control those things or not. I so must shake this guy's hand and get his pattern. It's my thing, you know.

      Straight to the point, Ozuna. I'm transmitting coordinates. Meet me there in one hour. Snartch out.

      A set of coordinates appeared in the comm data buffer, so I forwarded it to the navigation system. Captain, coordinates received and forwarded.

      Very good, Mister Greer. Tern, take us down.

      Aye, Captain. Mr. Greer, ship-wide, she ordered.

      Ship-wide, aye, Ms. Tern, I replied after throwing a switch.

      Landing stations! All hands to landing stations. Helm! Take us down!

      Aye, First Officer, the helmsperson replied. In moments we were entering the atmosphere. On our way to our destination, we passed over a city surrounded by craters caused either by one hell of a meteor storm or a nuclear war.

      Once we were clear of the city, the helm took us down to a large open landing area in the middle of a desert. We touched down and secured the drive system before First Officer Ozuna ordered the crew to begin unloading the cargo. After getting permission from the boss, I headed down to help—and make sure I didn't miss tagging any crates.

      When I brought the two crates out, I saw the captain and first officer talking to the Tarkian I saw on the view screen. Around the ship were several huts and a whole lot of desert. What was missing were other people and other ships. In fact, there was no sign of anything or anyone visiting here recently. No tracks, no thruster burn marks, no coffee cups, not even a nutribar wrapper. This must be what it was like when a wreck survivor sets foot on a deserted island in the middle of an uncharted ocean. Come to think of it, while I was at the comm station I hadn't heard any ship traffic, as if we were alone in the sky. Now that was odd to say the least.

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