"And pray to the One True God we don't need them." Urfa shivered. "Or the millions of temporary housing units we're moving Across. We have another year to track them before we go into panic mode . . . maybe."
Helios
Office of the ArcHelios
". . . hold them in the collection centers until the merge zone is established. Then we'll shift the captives through a gate and walk them into the merge zone from the other side. We'll all have one last chance to get younger and healthier. The newly Merged will return to our world, and be transported to the Far Gate and into the Wilderness World where we will be starting over."
Nikostratos nodded. "And other teams will be doing the same with livestock, I presume?"
The Technos shook his head. "No sir. The animals will be driven directly from here to the Wilderness World. There is no need for them to merge. We will, of course, take gate machinery through. Once we have working power plants there, we can raid elsewhere for more livestock. Many people, such as yourself, sir, who are currently young and healthy may prefer to not Merge."
Nikostratos nodded thoughtfully. "That is a good point. I am actually fertile now, no reason to risk that." Of course, that's with a slave from another World, not my wife. "Especially any fertile women may wish to not merge again. And the children, of course. Excellent point." Although if Hecuba could be persuaded to Merge with Sissilia . . . No, Hecuba will choose some high class and very young woman for this.
"We've located five possible Worlds to raid, and two Wilderness Worlds. The scouts are comparing the Wildernesses. We may, in the long run, keep both, but we'll start with one, to minimize the Gate switches. Now that we've eliminated the Blasted World as our final merge, we have more time to perfect our plans. The Beast World would certainly be interesting—the merge will kill all those hideous creatures, but the air is thick and humid. I hope we pass it by. The Savage World has a much nicer climate, and humans to merge with. But I prefer a more civilized and technically educated Damos for merges. The High Tech World would be best. But even if we don't merge with them, that technological world will be quite easy to raid for mergees."
Nikostratos nodded and turned to the third man present. "ArcAlexos?"
The Commander of the Armies nodded. "My teams are ready. There's little point in snatching people immediately. When the Merge nears, we'll start harvesting the targets we've picked out. We're going to include Mergees from several Worlds, for genetic variety, but we think the more technically advanced Worlds will yield more evolved intelligence types. We will therefore seek out akademies of higher learning on two or three Worlds, and make our plans to pluck the healthiest looking students. We will begin, on your authorization, the process of picking which two of five possible Worlds we'll raid first."
"You have it. This is the time to start picking specific targets for raids."
What I'm Reading
Psychic Undercover by Amie Gibbons. I haven't decide yet if I like mixing FBI Crime Fiction with Vampire Romances. If you like both, give it a try.
A Fatal Stain by Sarah Hoyt. This is a "Cozy Mystery," a fun fast read with an absolute minimum of gore. I'd recommend starting the series at the start with Dipped, Stripped and Dead.
Children of Steel by John Van Stry. Raj is a sentient leopard man, a created species with a huge debt keeping him indentured. Hired out as a pilot/technician/soldier, he's headed off world to fight space pirates and marauders across the galaxy.
About the Author
I was born and raised in California, and have lived more than half my life now in Texas.
Wonderful place. I caught almost the first bachelor I met here, and we’re coming up on our thirty-seventh anniversary.
My degree's in Geology. After working for an oil company for almost ten years as a geophysicist, I “retired” to raise children. As they grew, I added oil painting, sculpting and throwing clay, breeding horses, volunteering in libraries and for the Boy Scouts, and treasurer for a friend’s political campaign. Sometime in those busy years, I turned a love of science fiction into a part time job reading slush (Mom? Someone is paying you to read??!!)
Directorate School was my seventeenth novel, and first in the spin-off series, of which this is the fifth story. I've six more in the works.
I've got two new books in the Wine of the Gods Universe under way, and then a third "Zoey Ivers" book in the Doors series. And three stories that aren't connected to anything else. So I may try to squeeze in a few more titles before the end of the year.
I need to find the time to get more books out in print, new covers . . . I need to find the time to invent a time machine . . .
Email pamuphoff@gmail.com to join the mailing list for notifications of new releases
Other Books by Pam Uphoff
Wine of the Gods Series:
Outcasts and Gods
Exiles and Gods (Three Novellas)
The Black Goats
Explorers
Spy Wars
One Alone
Comet Fall
A Taste of Wine (Seven Tales)
Dark Lady
Growing Up Magic (Four Novellas)
Young Warriors
God of Assassins
The Fiend
Empire of the One
Warriors of the One
Dancer
Earth gate
Mages at Large
Art Theft
Triplets
Sea Wolves
Bad Karma
Dark Side of the Moon
Cascades
Olympian
Embassy
Rael
On the Run
God of the Sun
Cannibal World
The Directorate Series
Directorate School
A Tale of Three Interns
Trouble in Paradise
First Posting
Surveillance
The Lawyers of Mars
Fancy Free
Writing as Zoey Ivers
YA Cyberpunk Adventures:
The Barton Street Gym
Chicago
Fantasy:
Demi God