NABC Book 3: Chapter 47: Foreboding
Book 3: Chapter 47: Foreboding
Book 3: Chapter 47: Foreboding
Riker
December 2240
Sol
Bill stared into space, slowly twirling the glass of whiskey in his hand. I’d managed to tempt him with a scan of one of the more recent vintages from Vulcan.
Funny, Vulcan had become the acknowledged expert in alcoholic products, real or VR. Howard’s company—well, the Brodeur family’s company—was even financing construction of some AMI-controlled starships to start trade routes between systems. I privately thought that might be a little premature, but I guess life goes on, even with the threat of an alien menace. In any case, the project gave people something positive to focus on, so what the hell.
“It’s not bad,” Bill said. “Original Bob would have approved. And he’d have slowly gotten tanked without realizing it. I think this would sneak up on you.”
I grinned at the image. “Yeah, pretty sure.” I hesitated, and shifted in my chair.
“Granted. But how much of that is just us being on edge?”
“As many as we can build. Send them in at all kinds of angles and speeds.”
Bill stared into space, silent, for several milliseconds. “It does actually sound like a no-downside kind of plan. What the hell, let’s talk to Mario. It’s up to him, in the end, but I bet he’ll go for it.”
* * *
“I can do that.” Mario nodded in thought for a moment, then looked at us. “I’ve got autofactories about a quarter-light-year out, ready to pump out more replacement monitor drones if the Others get uppity again. Something like what you describe would be dead easy.” He rubbed his chin. “Little bit of a pain to get everything into position, but we’ve got the time, I guess. If the Others suddenly make an appearance, you’ll have your answer anyway.”
I nodded in agreement. “Good. And, let’s face it, we might see nothing but more Dyson Sphere construction, but if we find a massive fleet of death asteroids and cargo vessels being prepped, I’d kind of like for it not to be a surprise.”
Mario grinned at me. “Got it. I’ll get started.”