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Terminal Peace (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse, Band 3) - Softcover

Buch 3 von 3: Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse

Hines, Jim C.

 
9780756412814: Terminal Peace (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse, Band 3)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0756412811 ISBN 13: 9780756412814
Verlag: DAW, 2023

Inhaltsangabe

Now in paperback, the third and final book of the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse follows a group of unlikely heroes trying to save the galaxy from a zombie plague.

Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos and her team were trained to clean spaceships. They were absolutely not trained to fight an interplanetary war with the xenocidal Prodryans or to make first contact with the Jynx, a race who might not be as primitive as they seem. But if there’s one lesson Mops and her crew have learned, it’s that things like “training” and “being remotely qualified” are overrated.

The war is escalating. (This might be Mops’ fault.) The survival of humanity—those few who weren’t turned to feral, shambling monsters by an alien plague—as well as the fate of all other non-Prodryans, will depend on what Captain Mops and the crew of the EDFS Pufferfish discover on the ringed planet of Tuxatl.

But the Jynx on Tuxatl are fighting a war of their own, and their world’s long-buried secrets could be more dangerous than the Prodryans.

To make matters worse, Mops is starting to feel a little feral herself....

Hilarious and heartwarmingly human, Terminal Peace is the can't-miss conclusion to a sci-fi trilogy of unsung heroes, cleaning up the galaxy one mess at a time.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jim C. Hines has published more than forty short stories as well as numerous fantasy and sci-fi novels, including the humorous Jig the Dragonslayer trilogy; the Princess series, which re-imagines traditional fairy-tale princesses as butt-kicking action heroines; and the Magic Ex Libris series, about a centuries-old secret society dedicated to the use and control of book magic. In 2012, he won the Hugo for Best Fan Writer.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Human beings, once the worst of their feral instincts have been cured, are an undeniable military asset. However, the recent decision to allow the humans of Earth to govern themselves is the most tentacle-knotting foolishness to come out of the Alliance Judicial Council in decades.

Humans are little more than animals. I say this not out of malice or racism. Indeed, I'm quite fond of human beings. But after years of study, I've found them to be an evolutionary quagmire of inefficiency. Scientifically and objectively, humans are a primitive species.

They have redundant lungs and kidneys, but only a single brain or heart, as well as seemingly "optional" organs like the appendix. Even more absurd is their reproductive system. Half the species keep their genitalia on the outside of their bodies! Then there's the human gastrointestinal tract, an evolutionary abomination if ever there was one.*

Recently discovered research from the Library of Humanity suggests one of the greatest threats to human health in pre-contact years was their own immune system. Much like humans themselves, their immune system was vicious and undiscerning. It attacked external pathogens with moderate efficiency, but assailed the host body as well.

A sampling of human immune disorders includes arthritis, diabetes, lupus, gastrointestinal inflammation, multiple sclerosis, and countless more. While human medicine was able to manage many of these diseases, their physiology was a disaster waiting to happen. The so-called "Krakau Plague"-an inaccurate and offensive misnomer-was but the latest in a long list of pandemics to ravage this primitive world.

Indeed, one could argue that the Krakau Plague resulted in a stronger, more resilient breed of human. Just as Krakau government has produced a stronger, more stable human society.

-From "A Defense of Krakau Oversight in Human
Evolution and Government" by Krakau
physician Aberdovey Bells

--

*The human GI tract is more than seven and a half meters long. Despite this absurd length, humans regularly emit foul-smelling exhaust as a byproduct of inefficient digestion. Krakau biochemists have tried for years to reduce these emissions through a carefully controlled diet, but their efforts have met with minimal success.




Contractors and specialists from the Krakau Alliance had completely overhauled the EDFS Pufferfish, including "human-friendly" upgrades to the medical facilities. Brand new medtanks gleamed like oversized aquariums beneath light strips designed to mimic the spectrum of Earth's sun rather than Dobranok's. The walls and storage lockers were a gentle blue instead of the sandy brown the Krakau preferred. Cheerful images of baby Earth animals with encouraging text decorated the ceiling.

None of it eased Captain Marion "Mops" Adamopolous' impatience. Every minute she spent here, lying in what the Krakau called "a perfectly balanced restorative medical bath solution," brought them one minute closer to interplanetary war-a war with Earth at its center.

She stared up at the picture of a kitten clinging to a tree branch with its front claws. The text, in Human, read, Continue dangling in your present location!

"How long?" she asked for the sixth time.

Azure turned so one large eye faced Mops. "I'm analyzing your test results as quickly as I can."

Mops dug deep, scraping for the last dregs of patience. Azure was young for a Rokkau, roughly equivalent to a human in her late teens, and while she was a genius when it came to biochemistry, that didn't make her a trained physician.

Azure stood a bit over a meter tall, her cylindrical body resting on thick, snakelike limbs. Four long, dexterous tentacles paged through the medical information displayed on the wall-mounted console. One of those tentacles was slightly shorter and skinnier than the rest. Mops had shot that one off eight months ago, and it hadn't quite finished regrowing.

Thick, overlapping shells covered most of Azure's body. Like the skin beneath, the shells were mostly black with irregular splotches of blue.

The ever present salt-and-alcohol smell of Krakau antiseptics threatened to give Mops flashbacks to the first time she'd woken up in a medtank. That had been years ago, on Earth. Antarctica, though she hadn't known it at the time. She hadn't known anything. No language, no identity, no idea who or what she was. No memories, save for nightmarish flashes of hunger . . .

Back when Mops had been in charge of Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation, she'd tried everything to minimize that smell. Odor-absorbing minerals, upgraded air filtration systems, air-freshening sanitary scrubs . . . nothing worked.

She turned onto her side. A painted gorilla grinned down at her from the wall. Colorful writing arched over the creature's head like a rainbow: Have you groomed your dental protrusions today?

"I'm not sure about the artwork."

"I'm told the style is designed to mimic the dcor of an old human medical facility specializing in tooth care. Are the posters not comforting?"

"I don't think 'comforting' is the right word." In fairness, Mops doubted anything would bring much comfort today.

Azure hummed and clicked to herself as she pored over a computer console. "Perhaps a trained doctor would be better for these tests. The Alliance has-"

"I don't trust the Alliance with this." Bad enough the Krakau-and, to be fair, their Rokkau kin-had been behind the infection that transformed humanity into shambling, near-unkillable monsters all those years ago. The Krakau Alliance claimed to have searched for a cure, but the truth was, they wanted the monsters. What they called a cure was just enough to turn the monsters into obedient soldiers in their war against the Prodryans.

And then, four months ago, Mops had discovered a Krakau admiral working to infect and weaponize other races. To deliberately do to them what an accident of biology had done to humans.

Mops wasn't alone in her distrust of the Alliance. These days, only escalating Prodryan aggression kept the whole interplanetary organization from crumbling like wet sand. She wasn't sure how much longer that would be enough.

"You don't trust them, but you trust me?" Azure's stuttering clicks were the human equivalent of wry laughter.

"Why not? You haven't attempted any acts of bioterrorism in eight months."

Azure waved a tentacle. "That was the impetuousness of youth. Who hasn't incapacitated a ship and tried to wipe out a planet's population when they were a child?"

"Some of us spent our youth trudging about a ruined planet, eating anything that moved." Fortunately, Mops had no memories of those years before the Krakau had "cured" her. "Speaking of children running wild, how long has it been since you called your mothers?"

"Three days." The translator on Azure's beak managed to convey her eye-rolling exasperation, though Mops wasn't sure if it was directed at her or at Azure's parents. "They got matching shell-etchings last month: three-color line art of silver wave-skimmers perched on coral blooms." At Mops' blank expression, she explained, "Wave-skimmers are like shimmering dragonflies. They mate for life. The coral blooms are just pretty."

"That sounds nice," said Mops.

"It's embarrassing. They're old enough to be grandparents. Do you know what they said to me when I asked about getting an etching, back on the lifeship? I thought they'd burst an air bladder . . ."

Azure's skin darkened. One large, black eye continued to watch the console. The other shifted to focus on Mops.

Mops braced herself. "What is it?"

"I've finished comparing your test results to Alliance diagnostic criteria." Azure's lower limbs undulated with distress. The melody of her...

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Verlag
DAW
Erscheinungsdatum
2023
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0756412811
ISBN 13 
9780756412814
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
368
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DAW
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