Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley Page A

against supporting Viktor Ingram's insurrection then went underground to actively work against the coup. That and his political efforts at reconciliation while arguing forcibly for the new Accord policies had persuaded Theo that he was a man of integrity and substance. In addition, just as Theo had had his years in the wilderness after the failure of the coup, so too had Holger been forced to quit politics after the injury that led to his lower-body paralysis. Yet in later life, both found themselves back in the thick of it.
    And Sundstrom's mysterious information source troubled Theo. The Enhanced were the living results of a short-sighted genetics programme shut down twenty years ago, most of whom worked on research programmes of one kind or another. Redesigned cortexes and synaptic connectivity had given them astonishing mental abilities, but they suffered from a corresponding lack of social intuition that made it hard for them to deal with ordinary people. Theo had only met a few in his time, but he knew from reliable contacts that the Enhanced were essentially looked upon by government departments not just as a kind of intellectual resource but as a badge of prestige which, once acquired, was retained for as long as possible. The president was supposed to be above this kind of bureaucratic jostling,which made Theo wonder how much political risk he might be taking if he was using Enhanced help.
    Before long the road passed into the woods, their overarching branches interweaving to form a leafy tunnel through which spears of sunlight lanced to touch the road with gold. This was a sparsely populated area, and apart from the occasional spinnerbus taking visitors back and forth, Theo saw no one else. When he came to where the road crossed a steep-sided gully, he stepped off the verge and sat down on a weatherbeaten bench overlooking the crevice. Moments later heavy footsteps approached through the undergrowth and an overalled Rory sat down heavily beside him.
    'You're not exactly a woodsman, Rory.'
    'Aye, well, I was never any good at all that creepi about and hidin', Major - canna stand the bugs.' As if to make his point he vigorously waved away a few hovering insects. Theo grinned.
    'Let us hope we don't need to head off into the wilds,' he said. 'Anyway, what have you learned?'
    'Right, Ah got tae the Hyperion early this morning and sure enough, more graffiti. The manager and his boss were practically tearing their hair out so when Ah turn up wi' my handy cleaning sprays and sponges they put me to work straight off.'
    Theo frowned. Such vandalism was almost unheard of on Darien, yet since the arrival of the Heracles more and more had been cropping up, mainly in Hammergard and nearby towns. Then yesterday, the Knudson Ecumenical Church and the Chernov Brothers distillery had both been defaced shortly before Ambassador Horst was due to arrive, which was why Theo had sent Rory on ahead earlier, pre-equipped.
    'What did it say? Any reference to these personal AIs?'
    Rory's eyebrows went up. 'Oh aye! Stuff like "Machine-lovers leave Darien", "No Al-slaves here", "The only good AI is a deleted AI", that kinda thing, along with "Darien for Dariens" and FDF logos.'
    FDF stood for 'Free Darien Faction', a previously unknown group clearly intent on stirring up resentment and unrest, neither of which Theo was strongly opposed to, provided it was for a good reason. But the FDF was appealing to the baser instincts of parochialism and prejudice, and with yesterday's breaking news about the use of AI implants by the Earthsphere ambassador and others, a dose of fear was stirred into the mix. No doubt Horst's visit to the site of the colonists' triumph over a deadly AI enemy was meant to counter such adverse popular opinion.
    He'll never get that imp back in its bottle, he thought. The only positive tack he could take is to meet the distrust head-on, but he doesn't seem to have the steel for it. Wonder what advice he's getting from this AI