Grandad’s s-loop is chiming. That’s odd, since this is a secure site. They must have reset permissions to allow calls. Or, Communal did it.
Mr. T: “This is Peter Trollkin. Who is this? Marj? Are you okay? You’re on speaker.”
Marj Findley: “Hello? Hello? I wanted to tell you that Roll is here. He’s a little beat up. I heard him rattling around in the porting room. He’s in a spacesuit for pity sakes! It’s not even Halloween. He won’t take it off. Says he’s got something to do first. He really is quite banged up but I think he’s okay. Nothing seems broken. He keeps pushing me away. I don’t think he has a concussion. But he’s running around like a crazy person.
“His suit is torn up pretty good. He was asking for some duct tape, tearing the place apart looking for some. Now Roll, you just settle down now. Where is it you think you’re going, looking like that? You’re going to kill the queen? What queen? The queen tried to kill everyone you love? I’ve changed my mind. Roll must have a bad concussion. Roll! Well now, he’s gone ahead and ported away. He is definitely going to get a talking-to when I find that boy.”
Mr. T: “It’s so good to hear your voice Marj. I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Marj Findley: “Now, Tee. Why in the world would you say such a thing? Of course I’m okay. We need to find Roll. He’s the one we need to be worried about. Now, if he is okay, I’m not so sure he’s going to be okay for long, not once I get my hands on him, I tell you what. That boy!”
Mr. T: “Don’t worry Marj, Roll is here now with me. I’ve got to run. Talk to you soon.”
Mr. T turned to Roll who was busy working at the computer terminal. “Roll, you’re a mess. You certainly saved the day though. What are you doing at the terminal?”
*EDIC: “The remaining bug blockade ship is still deep. Coordinates, mark +.”
Roll: “I’m locating the High Queen. Would you mind finishing up the duct taping someone? There! The queen has stopped with the evasion tactics and is on a stable vector. She’s as good as dead.”
Mr. T: “Hold on a second Roll. You can’t go anywhere in that suit. It’s not functional. This duct tape job isn’t enough. Rock can go. Or at least put on his suit. What happened to you anyway? Where is Rock?”
Roll: “Rock is probably looking for me in Tacoma. No time to wait. The filthy queen might start evasive maneuvers again. I ported the second bomb too close to the first bomb. Got brushed by the blast wave is all. It must have been quite the explosion.”
Roll took one more look at the terminal screen and he was gone.
Viz: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Roll so angry.”
The minutes drag by.
*EDIC: “New picture. It’s taken a while to obtain confirmation. Time lag issues. We have several new explosions, very deep. Spectral analysis suggests other than nuclear.
“By distance.
“Explosion one, massive, at 5.5 light minutes, just under 99 million kilometers.
“Explosion two, also massive, just over 7.5 light minutes, 135 million kilometers.
“Confirmed nuclear detonation approximately 15.5 million kilometers, 8.5 light minutes. That could be blockade ship six. Imaging to confirm, almost complete. Stand by.
“Confirmed. Analytics has confirmed destruction of bug ship, blockade ship six.
“We have not modeled an explosion of the types represented by explosions one and two. Our AI suggests those had similar yields, in the 5,000 to 10,000 megaton range. Hold, we’re verifying numbers, that doesn’t sound likely. The DoD AI does confirm a 5,000 megaton to 10,000 megaton range.”
*COMMUNAL: “We concur with the DoD AI projected yield analysis. That is the range. Our modeling suggests a 7 gigaton yield plus-or-minus 20%. Or if you prefer, we can use 7,000 megatons. They were certainly matter/anti-matter bombs. The tower structure design suggests a launching mechanism, to reach an optimal height, to maximize the area of destruction. We think the countdown was purposeful, an attempt to elicit terror. Explosions of that magnitude would likely have caused global catastrophe. They would surely have spelled the end of civilization. Perhaps the end of most species, including humanity.”
*EDIC: “We show that all blockade ships have been destroyed. With that, we’re going to call the operation closed. Good job everyone. All analysts level 5 and higher report to conference room Epsilon in 10 minutes. Repeat, level 5 and up, analysts report to Epsilon in 10 minutes.”
***
Rock was fidgety. “Roll should have been back here by now. I’m going to go and look for him some more.” Rock ported off.
We all turned to the back of the room upon hearing Rock. When did he get back? Now he’s gone again.
Roll sounded off next. “Where’s Rock? I’ve been looking for him. Quite the day, huh?”
I almost hit the ceiling. “You need to get a bell or something, to wear around your neck, the way you come and go.”
Para smiled. “Roll! There you are. I’ve made up a partially stolen song for you. Ding dong ... oh, never mind.”
Para went over and hugged Roll. “You’re amazing you know. Communal tells us you saved us all from a global catastrophe. The end of us all. Not to mention killing the queen witch herself.”
Viz joined the hug. “Rock has gone looking for you. Your big brother is worried about you. We have all been worried about you.”
Roll shrugged. “I got a little freezer burned out there in space. They really should make those spacesuits more durable. I just needed some med-cream. The nice folks at Madigan gave me this aerosol breather thing too. I guess there isn’t any oxygen in space. It was gross. I thought my eyes were going
