Behemoth

Behemoth
Watts, Peter
Published : 2007
Type(s) : Novels, Science Fiction
Source : http://www.rifters.com

Behemoth
2About Watts:
Peter Watts is a Canadian science ction author and marine-mammal biologist.  Starsh
(2000)  Maelstrom
(2001)  Blindsight
(2006)
Copyright: www.feedbooks.com

Contents
Author's Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Creative Commons License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Prelude: 'lawbreaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
I ß-Max 11
1 Counterstrike 12
2 The Shiva Iterations 20
3 Outgroup 22
4 Huddle 30
5 Zombie 35
6 Portrait of the Sadist as a Young Boy 41
7 Condence Limits 43
8 Cavalry 48
9 Nemesis 53
10 Portrait of the Sadist as an Adolescent 56
11 Bedside Manor 60
12 Boilerplate 64
13 Portrait of the Sadist as a Young Man 69
14 Fire Drill 73
15 Family Values 76
16 Portrait of the Sadist as a Free Man 82
17 Confessional 87
18 Conscript 96
19 Portrait of the Sadist as a Team Player 102
20 Automechanica 109
21 Gravediggers 115
22 Striptease 119
23 Frontier 124
3

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424 Groundwork 126
25 Harpodon 130
26 The Bloodhound Iterations 138
27 Without Sin 142
28 Baptism 155
29 Tag 160
30 Fulcrum 169
31 Incoming 173
II Seppuku 176
1 Dune 177
2 Nightingale 185
3 Condom 192
4 Gehenna 195
5 The Trigonometry of Salvation 203
6 Migration 209
7 Karma 214
8 DisArmor 220
9 Stargazer 228
10 Sleeper 234
11 Parsimony 242
12 Corral 245
13 Turncoat 248
14 Crash 254
15 The Skill of the Chase 258
16 Remedial Ed 261
17 Decirculate 263
18 Paranoid 269
19 Matryoska 274
20 Basement Wiring 279
21 Splice 283
22 The Hamilton Iterations 289
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523 Toggle 292
24 Fleas 297
25 Firebreathers 301
26 In Kind 308
27 Expiration Date 316
28 Bastille 320
29 Empath 334
III Epilog: Singular Hessian 345
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Author's Note

Acknowledgements
The usual gang of suspects, without whom I could never have pulled this off:

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Creative Commons License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 You are free:  to Share—to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work
 to Remix—to make derivative works
Under the following conditions: 
 Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.




Prelude: 'lawbreaker

Behemoth
11war, the war that Guilt Trip should have rendered impossible.
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Part I
ß-Max 13

Chapter
I Counterstrike
"The world is not dying, it is being killed.
And those that are killing it have names and addresses."
— Utah Phillips

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Chapter
II The Shiva Iterations

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Chapter
III Outgroup

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26An isolation membrane. Erickson's been quarantined.
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Chapter
IV Huddle

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33Alyx snorts. "Boys? I don't think so."
"Girls then. Either way, you should be out getting laid, not stuck down here."
"This is the best place I could possibly be," Alyx says simply. www.feedbooks.com

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36"What, you mean that's just the
tip?" Garcia says.
"Looks like a fucking stiletto," Nolan buzzes softly. www.feedbooks.com

Chapter
V Zombie

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38Lubin doesn't comment.
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Chapter
VI Portrait of the Sadist as a Young Boy

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Chapter
VII Condence Limits

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47She succeeds, with difculty.
She sits up, grimacing. www.feedbooks.com

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Chapter
VIII Cavalry

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53She turns back to Seger. "You heard him."
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54Clarke leans against the bulkhead to take some weight off her injured leg. "You
know Grace. She and Gene are—" www.feedbooks.com

Chapter
IX Nemesis

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56"Rogue squid. Rudder got me."
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pet?" www.feedbooks.com

Chapter
X Portrait of the Sadist as an Adolescent

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60TheraPal waited patiently.
"Everything's ne," Achilles said at last. "Except when I want to..." www.feedbooks.com

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61He knows. He knows. I'm afraid he knows...
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Chapter
XI Bedside Manor

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63"For being sick?"
"He thinks they did something to him."
Clarke remembers. "What exactly does he—?" www.feedbooks.com

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64Clarke shrugs. "Rifters aren't big on social skills."
And you really ought to know www.feedbooks.com

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65"Whatever the corpses gave him, it's spreading."
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Chapter
XII Boilerplate

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68"I'm aware of that."
"So we can't let this escalate. Not without at least some evidence." www.feedbooks.com

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Chapter
XIII Portrait of the Sadist as a Young Man

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74His Dad would have been proud. He was a good Catholic boy after all.
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Chapter
XIV Fire Drill
She wakes up lost at sea.

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Chapter
XV Family Values

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79Maybe it would have,
Rowan muses now. www.feedbooks.com

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81Millions of years ago."
Jakob Holtzbrink clears his throat. www.feedbooks.com

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83The buck stops back there.
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Chapter
XVI Portrait of the Sadist as a Free Man

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88Something bordering on hatred, even.
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Chapter
XVII Confessional
Jerenice Seger wants to make an announcement.

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91behavior as a wet sample, but without the attendant risks."
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92"They admitted it up front. They didn't have to."
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93"And Gene?" Clarke asks.
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94Same goes for Grace's little science-fair project with the blood."
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95know what
I'mgonna do." www.feedbooks.com

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97she recognizes it.
It's Lubin. www.feedbooks.com

Chapter
XVIII Conscript

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99"I'm
serious ." www.feedbooks.com

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100A white-eyed shadow slips like an eel between two boulders. "...
bright..."
She dials down the light. "Better?" www.feedbooks.com

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102"Some kind of disease?"
"Some kind."
"And you...you think the corpses did..."
"I don't know."
"...leg hurts..."
"Sorry..." www.feedbooks.com

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Chapter
XIX Portrait of the Sadist as a Team Player
Alice Jovellanos's denition of apologywas