Colonel, we've still got a lot of work to do out there. If you want, I can drop you off-wait a minute." He cocked his head slightly, listening intently to his earphone. "Williams here. You sure? Okay, stay with it-I'm on my way."
He keyed the drive, and the drudgeship swung around toward one of the banks of lights. "What is it?" Holloway asked.
"The jackpot, maybe," Williams said. "Someone's spotted what looks like a piece of alien ship outside the scavenger area."
Two other drudgeships were already there when they arrived, their remote analyzers drifting across the fragment's surface. "What have you got, Scotts?" Williams asked, touching a switch and pulling off his headset.
"Looks like a hull plate, Lieutenant," the other's voice came over the cockpit speaker. "A piece of one, anyway. Got some electronic fragments or something on the underside, too."
"What got it, a shrapnel line?"
"Looks more like expansion shock to me," Scotts said. "Probably flash-heated by a close-in warhead explosion and popped at the seams. I'm picking up some odd dust here, too-could be the same stuff. We'll scoop some of it up."
Holloway peered out at the milky-white plate, only slightly scarred except near the edges where it had broken. "One plate and some dust," he commented. "Must be one very sturdy hull material."
"All that, and more," Scotts said. "I want a copy of the stress-test report when it comes in."
A third remote had drifted in to join the other two now at the hull plate's surface. "What haven't you done yet?" Williams asked.
"Bakst is looking at the edge structure; I'm trying to get an angle on those electronics," Scotts said. "We haven't tried composition yet."
"Okay, I'll run that," Williams said, keying in the program. "TheJutland ships took a shot at this before the shooting started," he added to Holloway, leaning over in his seat to peer into the remote's display. "Didn't get 'em anywhere; but then, they were eight klicks away and trying to read through a heat-dump spectrum. Let's see if we can do a little better now... well, well. Bingo."
"What?" Holloway asked.
"It's not a metal alloy at all," Williams said, straightening up again. "It's a ceramic."
"A ceramic?" Holloway echoed. "I've never heard of a ceramic this tough."
"Me, neither," Williams said. "I guess we're hearing about it now."
"I guess we are," Holloway agreed. "And that explains why the radar-triggered missiles the force kept throwing never went off. There weren't any large masses of metal for them to lock on to."
"I don't think there were even any small ones," Scotts's voice came from the speaker. "You're going to love this, Lieutenant. These electronics things on the underside? No metal in 'em."
"Not even power lines?"
"If they're here, I can't find them," Scotts said. "All the filaments they've got running in and out are just optical control fibers. No idea how the power's getting in."
"Could they be using a Djadaran electron-tunneling effect?" Holloway asked.
"Not unless they've come up with a way to make it a lot more efficient than the Djadar ever did," Williams said. "How about it, Scotts?"
"I don't think so," Scotts said slowly. "Scan's still running, but so far I'm not reading any semiconductors, either."
"No metalsor semiconductors?" Williams frowned. "All right, I give: whatis there?"
"Throw your guess in with mine," Scotts said. "All I'm getting is the optical fibers plus some complex geometric shapes of unknown composition."
"Crystalline?"
"Or amorphous," Scotts said. "The analyzer can't seem to make up its mind on that one, either. We could try taking an interference reading."
"Not worth the effort," Williams said reluctantly. "We're just supposed to find this stuff, anyway-it's up to the geniuses on Edo to figure out what the hell it is. Pull your remotes back and I'll take this piece in. You and Bakst start a search of the area, see if you can find any more pieces. I'll swing a couple more ships over to give you a
He keyed the drive, and the drudgeship swung around toward one of the banks of lights. "What is it?" Holloway asked.
"The jackpot, maybe," Williams said. "Someone's spotted what looks like a piece of alien ship outside the scavenger area."
Two other drudgeships were already there when they arrived, their remote analyzers drifting across the fragment's surface. "What have you got, Scotts?" Williams asked, touching a switch and pulling off his headset.
"Looks like a hull plate, Lieutenant," the other's voice came over the cockpit speaker. "A piece of one, anyway. Got some electronic fragments or something on the underside, too."
"What got it, a shrapnel line?"
"Looks more like expansion shock to me," Scotts said. "Probably flash-heated by a close-in warhead explosion and popped at the seams. I'm picking up some odd dust here, too-could be the same stuff. We'll scoop some of it up."
Holloway peered out at the milky-white plate, only slightly scarred except near the edges where it had broken. "One plate and some dust," he commented. "Must be one very sturdy hull material."
"All that, and more," Scotts said. "I want a copy of the stress-test report when it comes in."
A third remote had drifted in to join the other two now at the hull plate's surface. "What haven't you done yet?" Williams asked.
"Bakst is looking at the edge structure; I'm trying to get an angle on those electronics," Scotts said. "We haven't tried composition yet."
"Okay, I'll run that," Williams said, keying in the program. "TheJutland ships took a shot at this before the shooting started," he added to Holloway, leaning over in his seat to peer into the remote's display. "Didn't get 'em anywhere; but then, they were eight klicks away and trying to read through a heat-dump spectrum. Let's see if we can do a little better now... well, well. Bingo."
"What?" Holloway asked.
"It's not a metal alloy at all," Williams said, straightening up again. "It's a ceramic."
"A ceramic?" Holloway echoed. "I've never heard of a ceramic this tough."
"Me, neither," Williams said. "I guess we're hearing about it now."
"I guess we are," Holloway agreed. "And that explains why the radar-triggered missiles the force kept throwing never went off. There weren't any large masses of metal for them to lock on to."
"I don't think there were even any small ones," Scotts's voice came from the speaker. "You're going to love this, Lieutenant. These electronics things on the underside? No metal in 'em."
"Not even power lines?"
"If they're here, I can't find them," Scotts said. "All the filaments they've got running in and out are just optical control fibers. No idea how the power's getting in."
"Could they be using a Djadaran electron-tunneling effect?" Holloway asked.
"Not unless they've come up with a way to make it a lot more efficient than the Djadar ever did," Williams said. "How about it, Scotts?"
"I don't think so," Scotts said slowly. "Scan's still running, but so far I'm not reading any semiconductors, either."
"No metalsor semiconductors?" Williams frowned. "All right, I give: whatis there?"
"Throw your guess in with mine," Scotts said. "All I'm getting is the optical fibers plus some complex geometric shapes of unknown composition."
"Crystalline?"
"Or amorphous," Scotts said. "The analyzer can't seem to make up its mind on that one, either. We could try taking an interference reading."
"Not worth the effort," Williams said reluctantly. "We're just supposed to find this stuff, anyway-it's up to the geniuses on Edo to figure out what the hell it is. Pull your remotes back and I'll take this piece in. You and Bakst start a search of the area, see if you can find any more pieces. I'll swing a couple more ships over to give you a
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