Datasets:
BlinAI
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Testo

Dataset card Data Studio Files
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The Trofts' arm membranes fluttered. "You are in no position to trade anything."
"How do you know?" Jonny countered. "Only your captain can make that assessment."
The Troft hesitated. Then, slowly, he raised a hand to a collar pin and let loose with a stream of catertalk. Another pause . . . and the communications box ...
Jonny pursed his lips. It was a question he'd been working on since the Trofts first came aboard . . . and he had yet to come up with a really satisfactory a...
There was a long pause. "Repeat, please. You offer me my own demesne-ship?"
"That's right," Jonny nodded. "From this ship I have the power to destroy yours. For obvious example, a hard starboard yaw would tear out the boarding tunnel...
His captors' arm membranes were fluttering at half-mast now. Either the room temperature had risen dramatically or he had indeed hit a sensitive nerve. "Comm...
"The ability you claim is nonexistent," the box said. "You are not in control of that ship."
"You're wrong, Commander. My companion and I are in full control here."
"You have no companion. The soldier hiding in the dining-area ventilation system has been returned to his quarters."
So the other Marine had been found. "I'm not speaking of him."
"Where is your companion?"
"Nearby, and in control. If you want to know any more you'll have to come here and negotiate the trade I've suggested."
There was another long pause. "Very well. I will come."
"Good." Jonny blew a drop of sweat from the tip of his nose. Perhaps it was just getting hot.
"You will reveal your companion to us before the Ship Commander arrives," one of the guards said. It didn't sound like a request.
Jonny took a careful breath . . . prepared himself. "Certainly. She's right here." He gestured to his left, the arm movement masking the slight bending of hi...
And he ricocheted off the ceiling to slam to the deck behind the four guards, fingertip lasers blazing.
The communications box went first, fried instantly by a blast from his arcthrower. Two of the guards' guns hit the deck midway through that first salvo; the ...
With the translator link down his words were unintelligible, but none of the aliens seemed to mistake his meaning. All remained frozen where they stood or sa...
He heard them coming down the boarding tunnel long before they actually appeared: ten to fifteen of them, he estimated, from the sound. Hidden in an emergenc...
The door caught the nearest Troft full in the back, jolting him forward and clearing just enough room for Jonny's rush to get him through the phalanx unhinde...
And then, for a long moment, the corridor was a silent, frozen tableau.
"All right," Jonny said as his breath returned, "I know you don't apply the idea of hostage to yourselves, Commander, so we'll just think of this as a matter...
Still no one moved, the twelve laser muzzles forming shining counterpoint to the arched arm membranes spread out behind each of them. "I told you to drop you...
The Troft leaning against him stirred slightly in his grip. "They have no concern for my life," the translator voice said. "I am not the Ship Commander, mere...
Jonny's mouth went dry. His eyes swept the circle of Trofts, the steadiness of their weapons an unspoken confirmation of the other's words. "You're lying," h...
"They will not shoot," the Troft in his grip said. "You are a koubrah-soldier from the Aventine world, and if killed you would merely fight on until all aboa...
Jonny frowned. "How's that?"
"You need not deny the truth. We have all heard the report."
What report? Jonny opened his mouth to ask the question aloud . . . and suddenly he understood.
MacDonald. Somehow they'd heard about MacDonald.
He looked at the circle of Trofts again, seeing their rigidly stretched arm membranes with new eyes. Determination, he'd thought earlier, or perhaps rage. Bu...
"To what end?" the same flat voice came from the direction of the boarding tunnel. Jonny turned his head to see another middle-aged Troft walking slowly towa...
"That of protecting my world, Commander," Jonny told him. "By diplomatic means if possible, military ones if necessary."
The other said something in catertalk, and slowly the circle of laser muzzles dipped to point at the floor. His eyes on the Troft commander, Jonny released h...
"Perhaps," the commander said. "You spared the lives of the Trof'tes in your control center when you could as easily have killed them. Why?"
Jonny frowned, realizing for the first time that he had no idea why he'd handled things that way. Too long in politics, where one never killed one's opponent...
"Koubrah-soldiers were created to kill."
"We were created to defend. There's a difference."
The other seemed to ponder that. "Perhaps there are grounds for compromise," he said at last. "Or at least for discussion. Will you and your companion come t...
Jonny nodded. "Yes . . . but the companion I mentioned won't actually be there. She's an insubstantial entity we humans call Lady Luck."
The commander was silent a moment. "I believe I understand. If so, I would still invite her to accompany us."
Turning, he disappeared into the boarding tunnel. Hesitating only a moment, Jonny followed. The escort, weapons still lowered, fell into step around him.
He was back on the Menssana side of the tunnel four hours later when Wrey and Tarvn were brought aboard. "Good evening, gentlemen," Jonny nodded as their Tro...
"What the hell happened?" Wrey asked, his bewildered tone making the words more plaintive than demanding. "No questioning, no demands-no talk, period-and sud...
"Oh, there was talking, all right," Jonny said. "Lots of it. That hatch secure? Good. Captain, I believe the drive repairs are finished, but you'll need to c...
Tarvn's eyebrows arched, but all he said was, "Got it," before heading forward at a fast trot.
"What's going on?" Wrey demanded as Jonny started to follow. "What do you mean, there was lots of talking?"
"The Ship Commander and I had a discussion, and I convinced him it was in his best interests to let us go."