been delivered.
In the final hours before the attack struck us, Welter pulled me aside for a huddled
conversation on this very topic. Marvin was in the control center, tweaking the holotank
settings. His metal arms snaked out in a dozen directions. Some supported his central
mass, while others held aloft cameras or worked tools.
“I don’t like it, sir,” Welter said quietly, nodding toward Marvin.
I glanced toward Marvin, who scanned us with a half-interested camera before turning
back to the work at hand.
“Explain yourself, Commander,” I said.
“He knew when the attack was coming. He stashed himself in the single spot aboard
the station where the EMP wave wouldn’t reach him. Then, he comes out full of nanites,
the very substance we need. Next, we use his software to program our PD systems.”
“I understand your thinking, and you make a strong case, but—”
“That’s not all, sir,” Welter said. “The enemy knows what we have and where it is.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because they’re going to arrive less than an hour before our reinforcements do. You
can’t tell me that’s just a coincidence.”
“You think Marvin told them?”
“Didn’t he just ‘discover’ how to use the rings to make transmissions? Isn’t he the
only one who really knows how to do it? Who else ratted us out to aliens in remote
star systems?”
I sighed. “You have a point. But I don’t see what we can do about it.”
“We can pull the software on the PD systems and disconnect that self-built robot.”
I shook my head. “We’ve got nothing to put into the PD lasers. We don’t have enough
human gunners and we can’t train new software. We’re out of time.”
Commander Welter frowned at Marvin suspiciously. “Is that all you’ve got for a solution?
We’ll just have to wait until we see how this all plays out?”
I nodded. “That’s right. If Marvin has ratted us out, we’re all as good as dead. That’s
just how it is. I understand how difficult it is accepting our situation, but try
to be a realist. We’re out of time for second guesses.”
Welter looked at me oddly, and raised his eyebrows. “I have another possible solution,”
he said quietly.
“Talk.”
“Let’s retreat from the base. We’ll leave everything on automatic and evacuate.”
I stared at him. “You want to bail out on this station?”
“If we are compromised, we’re going to lose anyway. My way, no one dies. If we aren’t
compromised, I still don’t like our odds. Let the enemy chew on the station. We’ll
come in with the fleet and clean up afterward.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I knew you wouldn’t. It’s your call, sir.”
I turned away from him and approached the holotank. I had to give his idea serious
thought. I certainly didn’t want to abandon the battle station, but I didn’t want
to fall for an enemy trick twice in the span of a few days—and die a fool.
“Marvin,” I said, “we need to have a private little chat.”
“I’m heavily engaged at the moment, Colonel,” he replied.
I warranted the attention of only a single camera, and that gave me a fleeting glance.
The rest of them were hard at work at the base of the holotank, which he had opened
to the guts.
“What are you doing right now, anyway?” I asked.
“The holotank is made of somewhat specialized nanites,” he said. “They have color
variance and can light up like tiny LEDs. These are looking rather dull, being generic
replacements, I’m making adjustments to the—”
“That’s great, Marvin,” I said. “I’m sure in the coming battle they’ll be highly visible
and helpful. But I need to talk to you right now .”
Three cameras steered my way. “Very well, sir.”
I left the bridge and Marvin slithered and scraped after me. He currently resembled
a very large slinky with attached trashcan-sized segments. His arms whipped and strained
to drag himself over
In the final hours before the attack struck us, Welter pulled me aside for a huddled
conversation on this very topic. Marvin was in the control center, tweaking the holotank
settings. His metal arms snaked out in a dozen directions. Some supported his central
mass, while others held aloft cameras or worked tools.
“I don’t like it, sir,” Welter said quietly, nodding toward Marvin.
I glanced toward Marvin, who scanned us with a half-interested camera before turning
back to the work at hand.
“Explain yourself, Commander,” I said.
“He knew when the attack was coming. He stashed himself in the single spot aboard
the station where the EMP wave wouldn’t reach him. Then, he comes out full of nanites,
the very substance we need. Next, we use his software to program our PD systems.”
“I understand your thinking, and you make a strong case, but—”
“That’s not all, sir,” Welter said. “The enemy knows what we have and where it is.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because they’re going to arrive less than an hour before our reinforcements do. You
can’t tell me that’s just a coincidence.”
“You think Marvin told them?”
“Didn’t he just ‘discover’ how to use the rings to make transmissions? Isn’t he the
only one who really knows how to do it? Who else ratted us out to aliens in remote
star systems?”
I sighed. “You have a point. But I don’t see what we can do about it.”
“We can pull the software on the PD systems and disconnect that self-built robot.”
I shook my head. “We’ve got nothing to put into the PD lasers. We don’t have enough
human gunners and we can’t train new software. We’re out of time.”
Commander Welter frowned at Marvin suspiciously. “Is that all you’ve got for a solution?
We’ll just have to wait until we see how this all plays out?”
I nodded. “That’s right. If Marvin has ratted us out, we’re all as good as dead. That’s
just how it is. I understand how difficult it is accepting our situation, but try
to be a realist. We’re out of time for second guesses.”
Welter looked at me oddly, and raised his eyebrows. “I have another possible solution,”
he said quietly.
“Talk.”
“Let’s retreat from the base. We’ll leave everything on automatic and evacuate.”
I stared at him. “You want to bail out on this station?”
“If we are compromised, we’re going to lose anyway. My way, no one dies. If we aren’t
compromised, I still don’t like our odds. Let the enemy chew on the station. We’ll
come in with the fleet and clean up afterward.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I knew you wouldn’t. It’s your call, sir.”
I turned away from him and approached the holotank. I had to give his idea serious
thought. I certainly didn’t want to abandon the battle station, but I didn’t want
to fall for an enemy trick twice in the span of a few days—and die a fool.
“Marvin,” I said, “we need to have a private little chat.”
“I’m heavily engaged at the moment, Colonel,” he replied.
I warranted the attention of only a single camera, and that gave me a fleeting glance.
The rest of them were hard at work at the base of the holotank, which he had opened
to the guts.
“What are you doing right now, anyway?” I asked.
“The holotank is made of somewhat specialized nanites,” he said. “They have color
variance and can light up like tiny LEDs. These are looking rather dull, being generic
replacements, I’m making adjustments to the—”
“That’s great, Marvin,” I said. “I’m sure in the coming battle they’ll be highly visible
and helpful. But I need to talk to you right now .”
Three cameras steered my way. “Very well, sir.”
I left the bridge and Marvin slithered and scraped after me. He currently resembled
a very large slinky with attached trashcan-sized segments. His arms whipped and strained
to drag himself over
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