Read The Legacy of Earth (Mandate Book 2) for Free Online

started turning up in major cities about ten years ago, attracting a lot of attention around the time when all the government secrets were being massively leaked to the public. Surely you saw them on the news?”
    “They thought it was a hacker group,” Reilly said, “ONI, that is. That was their best theory at the time. We know now, of course, that it was a Seerva AI. I had a friend at ONI who trusted me with some classified cases, due to my relationship with a . . . um, never mind the details.”
    “ONI?” Locke inquired.
    “Office of Naval Intelligence,” Cyril said.
    “So this guy here, Phix? What’s the story?” Reilly asked.
    “It’s fully functional. I mean, that’s why it’s strapped down,” Phix said.
    “Whoa! Why didn’t you say so?” Reilly said, stepping back from the table.
    “Keep your panties on,” Phix said, which drew a violent stare from Reilly. “There’s no operating system. It’s in a low-power RFC state. And, there’s no point fiddling around in here,” he said, slapping the skull and abdominal panels closed, “because I don’t have any idea what makes this thing tick.”
    Reilly mentally counted to ten, eyes on the ceiling. She was considering whether to keep Phix on the crew at their next port. They didn’t have another engineer, but he was too socially inept to be on a small ship with a small crew. She finally said, “What do you mean?”
    “I mean,” he said, staring at her chest—which caused Reilly to roll her eyes and fold her arms—“that the electronics and motors are a complete mystery. Nothing inside this thing makes sense. It might as well be animated by evil spirits for all I know. And, before you say anything, I have an engineering degree from Cal-Tech and worked on the software for the SF-100, so I know what I’m talking about.”
    And now you’re on this crappy little freighter with us, Cyril thought, so what does that say about your fancy degree?
    “So, can it be powered up?” Reilly said, running out of patience already.
    “Didn’t I just explain that? Jesus Christ on a skateboard—”
    Reilly looked at Cyril with a dumbfounded expression. “You really are an unbelievable prick, Phix. You know you have to live with other people here, right? This isn’t your personal fucking ship, is it?”
    Cyril laughed. “Maybe I should call Jazdie over—”
    “That’s quite alright!” Phix said, and he looked across the hold toward the suit locker. “Dammit, I should have stayed at Kepler! What was I thinking, coming out here on this piece of junk . . . with you back alley dumpster diving—”
    “ Jazdie , can you—”
    “ Okay ! God dammit !” Phix squealed, “fucking—”
    Reilly leaned her head back and laughed loudly. When she was done, Jazdie and Locke had returned and everyone was staring at her. Reilly said, “You just won’t shut-the-fuck-up, will you, Phix? You just can’t help yourself, can you? How did you ever work on a government contract? No, never mind, I don’t care.”
    Jazdie was suited up with full EVA gear, with the faceplate raised. “Did I miss something?”
    Reilly was fuming. She poked Phix in the chest. “Listen to me, you prickly son-of-a-bitch. You’re going to monitor the engines, and the reactor, and our control systems. And if anything goes wrong when we encounter that bastard out there,” and she pointed toward the bulkhead, “I will personally put you out the airlock with the rest of the trash. It won’t be murder because you can’t kill a little piece of shit, can you?”
    Reilly looked around. “I won’t lose any sleep, either. I have no qualms about it. You’re becoming a threat to this crew, endangering out lives. If you don’t step up and get with the program, you might not survive long enough to make it back to port.”
    Phix skulked away in the general direction of the engine room, swearing under his breath.
    Locke shook his head and smiled as Phix left. “Unbelievable. Now you have me