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a solo piece including prepared
guitar and laptop. Free improvising, noise and dramatic form
makes this horror story very impressive with unbelievable
pictures of extraterrestrial landscapes.
A
military spacecraft lands on an unexplored planet to
determine the whereabouts of a lost crew. A rescue mission
in search
of its sister ship is beset by "the black cloud"—a
swarm of ferrous insects, which, it is supposed, evolved
in a runaway cybernetic war with the more traditional,
humanoid robots. The ferrous flies eventually won this
evolutionary battle because of their non-localization
and their interchangeability. The swarm consists of millions
of identical flies, yet they comprise a single intelligence.
Thus you would essentially have to destroy them all to
destroy the cloud; anything less would have little effect.
“…The
Invincible moved across the outermost quadrant of the
Lyre Constellation. The heavy cruiser was propelled through
space by photon drive. It was the largest ship at the
disposal of the space fleet based in this section of
the universe.
The ship's complement numbered eighty-three men, presently asleep inside the
hibernation tunnel. The flight distance was sufficiently short for it not to
have been necessary to resort to full hibernation; the men were simply kept
in deep sleep, body temperature regulated so as never to fall below 50 degrees
F. Within the cruiser's control, centre only the automats carried on their
work.
Dead centre in the direction finder hung the disk of a sun not much hotter
than an ordinary red dwarf star. The moment the sun filled half the screen
the space-drive automatically cut off. For a while dead silence reigned throughout
the ship. The air-conditioning system and the computers functioned noiselessly.
The slight vibration ceased when the photon stream no longer emerged from the
spacecraft's stern. This stream had been like an infinitely long sword, sheathed
in darkness, thrusting the cruiser ahead through the vastness of space. The
Invincible was still coasting along just under the speed of light; rigid, deaf,
and seemingly without any life aboard.
Tiny lamps on the instrument panel reflected the dish glow of the distant sun
looming large on the central video screen. Now the magnetic tapes started moving.
Programmed coded strips crept slowly into the intake slots of a series of instruments.
Sparks flew from the transformers; and the current flooded into the supply
network, accompanied by a faint hum that was not heard by any living thing.
Electro-motors overcame the resistance of long dried-out lubricating oil and
started humming. Their low roar soon changed into a high-pitched moaning sound.
The auxiliary reactors pushed cadmium rods outwards; magnetic pumps squeezed
liquid natrium into the cooling coils; a mild tremor ran through the ship's
stern. Faint rattling noises came from inside the hull as if swarms of tiny
animals were busily scurrying about scratching the metal walls with their sharp
little claws. This was the sign that the repair robots had started out on their
rounds, checking the solidity of the braces of the ship's framework; making
sure that the hull had not been damaged anywhere and that all seams were still
welded tight. The entire ship came to life, filled with myriad noises and activities
. . . only the crew had not yet awakened...” |