A rogue security bot believes itself to have been responsible for a massacre, and is determined to find out the truth of the matter. Like Dumarest’s search for Earth, this seems to be an efficient way of thrusting the protagonist into a series of otherwise unrelated adventures. In this book, having barely survived its experiences in All Systems Red and left the comfort of its armour behind, the rather neurotic SecUnit hops on an unmanned research vessel heading the right way. The vessel’s piloting construct is much more intelligent than expected, but the ART, as the SecUnit calls it (short for Asshole Research Transport), comes to share the SecUnit’s love of trashy serials like Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, and then takes an active interest in the SecUnit’s mission. They work together on both the cover mission (a contract to protect a group of polyamorous techs whose research has been stolen) and the covert mission (visiting the scene of the massacre). Their friendship is very sweet, and their combined abilities mean that they meet every challenge in an interesting and novel way. The novella leaves plenty of mysteries in the air, about the SecUnit and its new, surprisingly powerful buddy, so there’s more to look forward to, but it tells a good self-contained story. We’re used to utterly competent heroes in science fiction, and the SecUnit is definitely that when it comes to a fight, very enjoyably so, but it is also intensely anxious in social situations: every great hero must have a weakness. It’s all very entertaining. Stephen Theaker ****
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