SODIUM:5 Assault Read Free Page A

door opened to a room full of Kurtz soldiers laid out in stasis pods. I had to resist the temptation to kill them all, it would have been easy. Even though they were my captors, I was not viewed as a threat, which had left security lax. If the time came for hostilities, the more familiar I became with the ship, the better chance of survival I would have.
    I continued on to each room on the innermost hall before coming to a control room with two Barhoo standing at terminals. With the wisp of the door opening they each turned and with their four eyes looked at the naked Human standing in the doorway. I had a moment of panic before they each turned back to their console and continued with their work.
    The Barhoo followed orders and they had been given no orders about protecting the ship from the enemy. My instinct was to turn and run, but something in my head told me to go in and investigate. I walked slowly over behind the Barhoo to observe what it was they were working on.
    As they each maintained focus on their tasks at hand I looked at their consoles over what I guessed were their shoulders. As I watched patiently it became evident that they were monitoring the Sodium fusion power plant. They continued to work as if I was not there.
    Watching the Barhoo work while largely being ignored gave me a confidence that I was not expecting. I reasoned that perhaps I was viewed as being in a higher position and as such they would continue working until instructed otherwise. I decided to put my theory into question.
    Using the Kurtz language I ordered the Barhoo on the left to step back from its console. After a short hesitation it took a step back. I then asked it to move over to the corner of the room and stand facing the wall. Again, it did exactly as I instructed. My next command returned it to its workplace to continue with its pre-assigned tasks. It complied.
    I stood watching for several minutes before the idea popped into my head that I could ask questions of the Barhoo. The first question was for their names and ranks. The Barhoo on the left was Koorie and was a Baaker, which was third from the top of the seven Barhoo ranks. Only Barhoo with the top three ranks were allowed into the air spaces on the mega-ship. The second Barhoo was named Wallop and was also a Baaker.
    The two Baaker performed identical tasks with a monitoring system. It highlighted failures to synchronize to the Kurtz officer of the deck. After two such synchronization failures the Barhoo failing to input the proper commands was executed and a replacement brought in. I then realized that was the execution I had witnessed so many years before as I was floating through the walls when I had first come aboard.
    I imagined that humans would not fare well at doing such menial tasks where the consequences of a mistake were so high. We were too easily distracted by our thoughts and dreams to maintain the level of focus needed to watch a monitor for hours on end, each and every day. The Barhoo had no days off, no holidays, no vacation, no sick time. If you were unable to perform your shift you were executed and another Barhoo replaced you.
    I asked about their culture and of what they did in their off hours for entertainment to which I received blank stares. They had no concept of entertainment. They were a simple race of workers that followed orders. They awakened from sleep, ate, worked, ate again and then returned to sleep. Work was their entire existence. It was all they knew and all they had ever been taught.
    I then began to ask questions about the Kurtz to which they were hesitant to answer at first. The Kurtz followed orders and rules just as the Barhoo, but they would spend their off hours in the bar or entertaining one another in their quarters. The more questions I asked the sorrier I felt for Hershen, Koorie and Wallop. Their lives were nothing more than a miserable existence on a mining ship. They would spend most of their lives, if not their entire lives,