SHIVA IN STEEL

Another yarn about the berserkers, intelligent machines programmed by the vanished Builders to seek out and destroy organic life (Berserker Fury, 1997, etc.). Claire Normandy, commander of a military base on the remote, airless planetoid Hyperborea, receives a message from HQ warning her that a spy may try to infiltrate the base. Just then civilian Harry Silver shows up, requesting repairs to his ship. Silver, however, reports battles in an adjacent sector with berserkers that are showing ominous new capabilities, perhaps even humanlike intelligence. Silver, no spy, is proficient and experienced and willing to help, but he insists on being told the whole story—and naturally he has his own agenda to pursue. More absorbing skirmishes along the man/machine interface, set forth with wit, energy, and discernment.