The Independent Worlds (The Sixteen Galaxies Book 2) by William Drayman Page A

frequency. They ended up on the scene when they shouldn’t be there. The department weeded these ones out with dedication, and Justin had terminated a couple himself.
    No, the best operatives were like him; remote, dispassionate, and efficient. He had the ability to separate a target from a fellow human being in his mind, and see them as one would a cockroach or a fly. The reason was simple enough; his brother.
    He flicked through the plans of the house again, it was only three years old and was an off-the-shelf design. The building company had happily supplied a set of drawings upon Justin Wilson’s request for a quote. There was a hall cupboard, under the stairs. The plans showed a power outlet on the wall outside the cupboard, but he’d need to do a reconnaissance to confirm that.
    First up was a trip to Peter Somers’ office to check his schedule; a quick look at his diary should tell Justin everything he needed to know. Once he had confirmed a night that the family would be home together, it should be a quick in and out, hang around long enough to see a news article confirming the deaths, and then jump on the next plane home to England.

5
    Kestil’s base, Present Day
    Kestil regarded the hologram of Prestern with a warm smile. “At last, my friend, I speak to you directly.”
    Prestern nodded. “So, your machine did its job?”
    Kestil’s smile faded. “Indeed it did, Prestern; but the news it gave me is grave. The Sixteen Galaxies does not just allow its ships to be run by AI; the whole society is commanded by one.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Kestil spread his arms wide. “All their ship AIs, all their planetary ones, all their council buildings; they’re all linked together into one huge AI. They call it The Entity.”
    Prestern rubbed his chin. “Do they, indeed? This is unexpected.”
    “It’s more than unexpected, my friend. It’s downright monstrous. A whole society of planets governed by a damned machine. The intellect that thing must have will make it a formidable opponent. They have created a tactical nightmare for us with that monstrosity, no doubt about it.”
    “I shall give this matter some thought. Anything else?”
    Kestil sighed. “I wish I could say no, I really do. However, the fact is, they have used this Entity abomination to create a new being. It’s called a Starchild, of all things. Not only that, but…” Kestil trailed off at the look on Prestern’s face.
    “What did you just say?” Prestern whispered; his face drained of all color.
    In the time since Kestil had first met Prestern, over all the time they had forged an entire planetary society together, he had never seen his friend this way. Good grief, he thought, he looks terrified .
    “Prestern, what is it?”
    The older man shook his head. “This can’t be. They…they can’t have; I destroyed all the records, all my work, everything. They can’t have, they…just can’t have.”
    Kestil frowned at his friend’s image. Even though it was only a small hologram, he could just about smell the fear emanating from it. “Prestern, you’re not making any sense. It’s just a name, that’s all. If you were working on something similar I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”
    “ NO! ” Prestern yelled at him. “This is no coincidence, not at all.” He looked around him as if to search for something. “The Starchild project was a total secret; nobody knew except me, nobody! ” Prestern stood for a moment, and then raised a finger, which Kestil saw trembled. “How is this Entity thing constructed? Does it encompass every AI in the Sixteen Galaxies, hmm?”
    Kestil shrugged. “From what my AI tells me, yes, it comprises every AI they have.”
    Prestern laughed, but it had a maniacal edge to it. “Oh, they really have done it to us, my boy. The building AI; the damned building AI! It would have seen it all; my experiments, my surveys, the early prototypes…” Prestern took a moment to compose himself. He took a