Free Ascendant Sun: A New Novel in the Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro Page B

are either unfamiliar or too dated for me to work with.

Excitement brushed Kelric. Can you get back my link to Bolt?

Define Bolt.

The JGP12 computer node in my spine.

I can replace 84 percent of the corrupted code in the JGP12 node. However, it also has physical damage I cannot repair.

My meds can carry out your instructions, Kelric pointed out. The boundaries separating hardware, software, and biotech had long been blurred. With a Jagernaut, who could say where machine left off and human started? Some experts questioned whether Jagernauts were even Homo sapiens , suggesting they formed their own species. Kelric didn't buy it; he was perfectly capable of breeding with other humans. Still, he obviously had aspects to his physiology most humans lacked. If the Corona interfaced with those systems, it could direct physical as well as software repairs within him.

If I use your nanomeds, the Corona answered, it will draw them away from the repair of your body, allow the mutations freer reign, and possibly encourage more.

Surely it won't be too serious for a few minutes.

It will take far more than a few minutes to do repairs. The Corona paused. Even then I cannot guarantee the results. I would advise against prolonged redirection of your med series.

Kelric didn't want to risk slipping back into a critical state. Doctor Tarjan's help had bought him more time, but he still needed treatment. He had to accomplish his goals before his systems started to fail again.

Do you have other suggestions for fixing my node? he asked.

Yes. Replace the JGP12 with JGPP146+ local neural node cluster.

They put entire clusters in humans now? That had been too risky in his time. The idea of a network in his body, with who knew how much more power than Bolt alone, both intrigued and disconcerted him. However, unless procedures had changed drastically, he doubted be could simply request such an upgrade.

How would I get the cluster? he asked.

You must proceed through ISC channels, with appropriate clearances.

No surprises there, unfortunately. Go ahead with whatever upgrades you can safely do, then. Turning his focus to Bolt, he thought, Allow access to the Corona . Normally he wouldn't have to tell Bolt; the node should be following the exchange and would know to let in the Corona. With Bolt's damage, though, he wasn't sure of anything about it right now.

Proceeding, the Corona thought.

Although Kelric could no longer access Bolt's chronometer, he knew his accelerated exchange with the Corona had taken only a second or two, if that long. Maccar was watching him with an appraising gaze.

Software upgrade complete, the Corona thought. Proceeding to psiware.

At first Kelric noticed nothing unusual, only a sense of mental pressure, as if his head were underwater. Then, with no warning, pain stabbed his head like a lance.

"Ah—!" He pressed the heels of his hands against his temples.

Warning, the Corona thought. Errors in neural sectors 53AF, 93—

Stop the upgrade! He gritted his teeth, trying not to shout the words.

Stopped.

Can you fix the damaged sectors of my brain? Kelric asked.

No. I'm deleting the partial copies of the replacement code.

"Commander?" Maccar asked. "Are you all right?"

Kelric took a breath. "Your ship's EI and my biomech web have a slight incompatibility." Some "slight": The portions of his brain that interfaced with the psiber capabilities of other computers had taken damage when his ship crashed on Coba. His brain needed as much work as the rest of him— if he wasn't past repair.

"Can you operate with the Corona system?" Maccar asked.

"Yes." A person needed no unusual neurological abilities to use the console's mundane cyber functions. It did require a direct mind-to-machine interface, however. Implanting such an interface in a human being was no trivial procedure, and the training to master its uses required clearances and connections available to very few people.

Activating the console's