Harvester 7 by Andy Lang Page A

the Diurians I will get
plenty of opportunities to hunt and fight."
    Maulik smiled
inside, for weeks he had felt a growing concern over the upcoming
contact, yet sat inside Kressa he felt protected and
invincible.
    "Play Kressa,"
he laughed, "This is your time... have fun."
    ***
    Over the six
weeks that followed Maulik noticed a subtle change in Kressa, she
purred more, her purring reminded him of the scale rattling that
his lizard displayed, it was a joy the creature felt to see him, it
was then that he fully understood that the brain of Kressa was
animal, an L4 animal, the same level as his pet, it was the
computer that boosted her intelligence and understanding, yet deep
down she was an affectionate animal that drew comfort from his
attentions and company.
    "How good are
your shields?" He questioned one day as they approached the first
harvesting planet.
    "Adequate,"
she replied dismissively, "With my agility and instincts I really
don't need them," she explained, "They actually cloud my judgement
a little so I don't raise them unless I have to."
    "I wouldn't
want to think you put yourself in any danger." he stated.
    "I will never
risk your safety." she replied instantly.
    "That's not
what I was thinking, my concern is for you, not me."
    "I know
Maulik," she replied quietly, "I just find it surprising that you
are worried for my safety, I am after all only a ship, there are
hundreds more exactly like me on Watuma."
    "That is where
you are wrong," he flashed her a grin, "To me you are much more
than just a ship... you are my friend."
    Maulik felt a welling emotion inside Kressa that shook him,
the word friend had affected her deeply, and with a sense of urgency he
changed the subject.
    "Do you have
any data for planet X7997?" A rapid stream appeared but Kressa
remained silent. "We arrive tomorrow and I want to know about the
atmosphere, will it be dangerous for you to enter?"
    Quickly she
analysed the data stream, "Maybe a small risk of hull ionisation,"
she stated, "But with shields on minimum that can be
prevented."
    "Good," he
replied with enthusiasm, "Because I want to take a trip down there
and watch the harvester drones in action, I also want to make a
survey. I want to see for myself how the ecosystem has recovered
since the last harvesting fifty years ago."
    "I will enjoy
that," she purred, and clung to the word friend.
    ***
    "How is the
ionisation?" Maulik requested a status report as they burst into
the thick lower atmosphere.
    "Zero," she
chuckled, "But I feel like I'm looking through frosted glass."
    "Seriously?"
    "Don't worry."
she chuckled again, "I'm joking, I can see perfectly well."
    "I can see my
Kressa is developing a sense of humour." he grinned, and felt the
purring return.
    "Now let’s
start on the largest southern continent, there are five drones
working there, let’s check on their progress."
    It took less
than a minute for Kressa to pick up the activity and they hovered
above the action. Two of the small remote drones were working a
grid pattern across a dry yellow brown savannah. As they passed
below Maulik felt the vibration from the shock waves directed at
the planet’s surface, shock waves that stunned or killed selective
life in their path ready for the collectors that followed close
behind.
    The drones
were nothing more than modified pulse cannons but rather than fire
plasma they fired sound, it was a good system that worked well
regardless of the world that they visited, all of the selected life
forms were rendered unconscious or killed, and felt no pain.
    The collectors
on the other hand were a work of art, state of the art. They housed
banks of bio-filters and processors, super computers that
constantly evaluated the classification level of the raw protein
below lying either dead or stunned, the computers were selective,
all life from L2 and above was harvested, yet L1 life was never
killed and only partially collected, L1 was the least appealing
protein source but that was irrelevant,