《Grimes 017 Journey's End 》作者：- A. Bertram Chandler【EPUB】

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In quotThe Sleeping Beast January 1978 Captain Grimes the Baroness andBig Sister encountered Brardur—a sentient alien spaceship—and inself-preservation destroyed it/him. Now big Sister picks up the pieces andtakes her passengers to—JOURNEYS ENDA. BERTRAM CHANDLERIllustrated by Richard OlsenTHINGS WERE a little better aboard The Far Traveller after the Brarduraffair. There had been the danger shared by the Baroness and Grimes—andwhen it came to the showdown Big Sister had been loyal to the twohumans rather than to one of her own kind. She had told Grimes quotYou maybe a son of a bitch but youre my son of a bitch.quot She had sided with herfellow female the Baroness against the aggressively masculine electronicentity from otherwhen.There was a three-sided conference in the Baronesss salon. The Baronesswearing her usual filmy white translucence that revealed more than itconcealed was reclining seductively on her chaise longue. Grimes wasthinking as he had thought so many times before You may look but youmustnt touch . . . But the hated Drongo Kane had looked and touched.What did Drongo Kane have that Grimes hadnt His own ship for a startand a sizeable fortune and the sort of amoral raffishness that would makea far greater appeal to an El Doradan aristocrat than Grimes bourgeoisrespectability. Grimes much as he hated it was resplendent in his purpleand gold livery. Big Sister as always was no more than a voice from thegleaming rococo playmaster. The golden robot butler was in attendancewith a crystal pitcher of what Grimes was bound to admit were probablythe finest dry Martinis in the known universe.The Baroness looked at Grimes over the gold rim of her goblet. She saidquotWe had a narrow escape.quotGrimes said quotOur civilisation had a narrow escape Your Excellency. That . .. thing on the rampage could have done untold damage.quot He took a sip fromhis glass. quotI shall be making a report to the Survey Service of course as allcivilian shipmasters are required to do regarding any unusual events duringa voyage. I shall recommend—speaking as a one-time officer of theService—that Big Sisters action be rewarded by the Federation. There is noprecedent for the award of decorations to robots but there has to be a firsttime for everything. The Galactic Star of Honour