Free The Amazing Tales of Wildcat Arrows by Dara Joy Page B

eyes shooting daggers at SpinDrift flashed across her mind.
    She gulped.
    Wildcat was sure to be angrier over this stunt—if they lived long enough for him to find out.
    "I think I'm going to be sick." Lucky clutched her stomach.
    Kerreth decided he was in a room full of
quackle-plucker
jobs.
    Minmei interrupted his analysis with the worst assessment he had ever heard out of the 'mouth' of a computer.
    "SLOWHAND-SAN, THE MASTERSTROKE 6000 HAS A TWO TIER AI; PRIMAL AND INTELLECTUAL THE COLLECTIVE AI IS DESIGNED SO THAT ITS INTERNAL PROGRAMMING CORRUPTS AS IT APPROACHES CRITICAL RADIUS FROM ITS ASSIGNED SOURCE."
    "I know; big badda-boom."
    "AFFIRMATIVE. BUT THE FAILSAFE APPEARS TO ONLY BE WIRED INTO YOUR INTELLECTUAL AI."
    Lucky perked up. "What is the significance of that?"
    None
, as far as Kerreth was concerned. His gonads were not going to detonate.
    Stupidest thing he ever heard.
    Still, he listened dutifully all the same. He had to find out if his assessment was coming out on the positive side.
    "THERE IS NO FAILSAFE IN SLOWHAND-SAN'S PRIMAL AI. IF THIS PRIMAL AI IS ACTIVATED, IT SHOULD OVERRIDE THE INTELLECTUAL AI AND ALL OF ITS DIRECTIVES INCLUDING THE FAILSAFE."
    "Sounds logical." Lucky tapped her chin. "That doesn't sound too difficult, either."
    "IT IS NOT SIMPLE. HIS PRIMAL MUST BE
FULLY
ENGAGED AT THE PRECISE TIME THAT SLOWHAND-SAN HITS CRITICAL RADIUS FROM SLIDE. IF THIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED, THEN HIS FAILSAFE WOULD DISENGAGE."
    "And just how does his primal AI become engaged?"
    "SINCE HE IS A PLEASURE DROID, INTENSE SEXUAL ACTIVITY WOULD OCCUPY HIS PRIMAL SIDE."
    "Oh, hell no." Lucky groaned.
    A slow grin revealed Kerreth's white teeth. He chuckled an annoying sequence:
Heh
. Pause.
Heh
. Pause.
Heh heh heh
.
    "BE WARNED: A TOTAL SEXUAL IMMERSION MUST BE ACHIEVED AT THE EXACT TIME THE FAILSAFE IS PREPROGRAMMED TO DETONATE. AT THAT POINT, HIS PRIMAL AI MUST HAVE COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER HIS DIRECTIVES."
    Kerreth wondered if he should be insulted. "Minmei, are you saying I can't have sex and think at the same time?"
    Lucky guffawed. "Geesh, he
is
just like a real man, isn't he?"
    Spin chortled with glee.
    "SLOWHAND-SAN, YOU MUST BE COMPLETELY INVOLVED IN WHAT YOU ARE PHYSICALLY DOING AND FEELING TO THE POINT THAT YOU CAN THINK OF NOTHING BUT WHAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING."
    "I get it."
    "You can
feel
?" Lucky was surprised.
    "So I'm told." He smiled mysteriously.
    "MASTERSTROKE 6000'S WERE DESIGNED TO EXPERIENCE AN EQUIVALENT SENSATION TO TOUCH. THEIR CREATORS THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE THEM MORE RESPONSIVE."
    Pause.
    "TEE-HEE-HEE."
    "No doubt it does." Lucky looked him over and wondered. He feels, he thinks… he slices, he dices. Is he self-aware?
He did ask me for asylum
…
    Spin clasped his claws to his chest. "Looks like you two have to get lively together or else this ship and everyone in it is history." He sighed. "What do you say to that, Lucky?"
    "I say we're all gonna die."
    SpinDrift was aghast. "You can't mean that!"
    She grimaced. "I am not the one for the job."
    SpinDrift's beak fell open. "You're the
only
one for this job."
    "I'll second that." Kerreth was really enjoying this. In fact, since he had stumbled onto these two, he had had to fight to keep himself from laughing himself sick.
    He hadn't had so much fun in a long time. And he liked it.
    "YOU NOW HAVE FORTY POINT ZERO MINUTES UNTIL COMPLETE ANNIHILATION."
    Kerreth looked askance at the girl. If anyone could engage him, she could. Those sweet pink lips were making him primal all right. Perfect for the task at hand.
    If
he was forced to attach credibility to the wild plan.
    That mixed-up excuse for a computer system had pulled that fail-safe dross out of its corrupted files.
    Thermo-nuclear balls.
    Uh-huh.
    And those two brain splinters believed it.
    He wondered just how far Red would go with the crazy scheme. The trouble was that he was sparked by her. Every time she came near him, his heart beat faster. There was a crackle of electricity between them;