Well, at least it's less likely than outright execution; I'd prefer that, he thought.
Stretching, he rose and took a last puff on the cigarette, letting the breeze ruffle through his hair like a woman's slender fingers. Off to the left the smoke of the escort-warship had a ruddy tinge from the fires of her furnace, only visible in the hours of darkness. He flicked the butt away, and it was a tiny meteor toward the water that slapped with thousandfold hands at the hull.
And whatever comes, it doesn't really matter. I'm obeying the Spirit that made all-his gesture took in the night and the horizon.
i am not god, Center said; there seemed to be a troubled overtone to its monotonous internal voice, i cannot guarantee a desirable result, i can only indicate actions whose results are most probably beneficial to human society, optimization for you as an individual would be a completely different calculation.
'I am the Sword of the Spirit,' Raj whispered, raising his arms to the arch of stars. Once men had traveled there. 'And I will obey that Spirit-whatever the cost.'
