Man-Kzin Wars XII by Larry Niven (books you have to read .TXT) 📕

“I think so.” She climbs off me and walks over to a small table next to a door to grab a protein pouch.

The door next to the table opens and knocks Pocket back. Paz steps through with a towel on her head and looks around the door. “Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry.”

Soft chirps of laughter call out from behind the door as Paz closes it and reveals Pocket with her face covered in the orange liquid from the protein pouch. The door must have forced her to squeeze it all over herself. Paz and I join in on the laughter, and after a few minutes, we settle down, and Paz sets the girl down on her bed to clean her off.

I stand to join them by the bigger bed. Paz tosses the dirty towel into the bathroom and turns to me. “Thank you for being here last night, 80. Your presence made me realize that I'm not alone.”

“I'm here too,” Pocket sputters out with a hint of jealousy.

“I know you are, sweetie.” Paz smiles at her. “Us girls are going to stay together.”

It's great to see that Pocket has warmed up to her so well. Paz will do a better job of caring for her, especially with all the responsibility that Farouk dumped on me.

As if reading my mind, Paz grabs my shoulder. “I know the burden Farouk has left you with, but you can do this.”

“He said you'd be able to give me information,” I respond, my heart warmed by her encouragement.

“I do, but there is someone who is better served to help you that way.” She walks me toward the door. “Go back down the hallway and make your first left. The door to your immediate left will be a scientist that will have all the information you need. Her name is Brianna, and I told her yesterday to expect you to come by at some point.”

“Okay.” I each for the door handle, but Pocket runs over and throws her arms around my legs.

“Do you have to go?”

“Yes, but I'll come back to visit again.” I pat the top of her head.

“Like a lot, a lot.” She smiles up at me as she lets go.

“A lot, a lot.” I smile back at her and then look up to Paz.

She grabs the door handle from me and pulls it open. “Door is always open for you. Come whenever you want.”

I step through and head down the hallway toward Brianna's room. I find the appropriate door and knock. After a few long moments, I try again. I'm about to walk away when the click of the door turns me around. Standing at the door is a tall woman with a youthful face. Her glasses cover half of her face, and her hair is as red as blood.

“So, you're that drone.” She looks me over.

“80,” I snap back.

She looks down both directions of the hallway to ensure no one can see us and then steps back into her room. I follow, and she locks the door behind us. Her room has one bed and a table, but it's hard to find anything else because of the mess covering every inch.

“Just kick stuff out of the way,” she says as she climbs over to the table. She grabs a tablet from the table and turns on a monitor on the wall.

“Paz said you might have some information for me.” I step as close to her table as I can.

“Yes, yes. Both she and Farouk have spoken to me.” She opens up an image with many words on her tablet, and it shows up on the monitor. “Listen, because I need to go teach a class to some Genesys.”

“Okay.” I stand back and look up at the screen.

She digs in and abbreviates everything she knows. There are a group of scientists at this compound that want to stop the Ragnarok. They call themselves the Mutineers. They have been corresponding with each other in secret, and not long ago colluded with the outsiders to bring down the compound. It's why the last attack was the most effective to date. The Mutineers provided the outsiders with weapons and lab-made explosives to make the attacks more destructive.”

Like Farouk, she believes in attacking everything but the Genesys. She stresses the importance of having them all alive if Rene triggers the Ragnarok.

“Why not get rid of Rene?” I ask.

“He has multiple backup plans in place if he were ever killed.” She looks at me as if I’m an idiot for asking that. “A lot of those plans are automated and would not be able to be reversed. With him still alive, we can at least monitor what his thoughts are toward the timing.”

“That makes sense.” I try to think of what some of the automated failsafes are and if they could be shut off.

Brianna stands and steps over her mess toward the door. “You need to go into the city and talk to a man named Petros. He leads all of the attacks from the city. You need to tell him we put you in charge of coordinating any of the attacks from now on.”

“I'll do that now,” I state with confidence.

“One last thing.” Brianna grabs my hand and places it on the screen of the tablet. “Say your name.”

“What?” I look down at my hand on the tablet.

“I've hacked into the system to be able to give you security clearances to all of the doors. Say your name.” She’s clearly frustrated.

“80,” I stammer.

“Close enough.” She taps on the screen, and a blue line scans my hand. When it finishes, she tosses the tablet on her bed. After opening her door, she checks both ways down the hallway once more. “Be careful in the city. They don't know that you are coming or who you are.”

“Okay.” I step through the door.

“Meet me here again tonight. We'll take more time to discuss plans.” She closes the door and heads down the longer part