The message was pretty scratchy, but out of the scramble came a woman\u2019s voice saying, \u201cWhen the stars threw down their spears.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s pretty weird,\u201d I told Firth. \u201cAnd not much to go on.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was unmoved. \u201cIt\u2019s enough for intel. They got a Citherian voice print from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the file name as if it would give me more info. \u201c\u201dWhat is it? Code?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that we know of,\u201d Firth said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of a poem.\u201d In a flat voice, he began reading. \u201cWhen the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see<\/em> and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n I shrugged. \u201cSounds like somebody has a sense of humor at least. The stars are certainly throwing down their spears.\u201d<\/p>\n Firth was uninterested. \u201cIf you say so.\u201d<\/p>\n I gave up. \u201cAll right. So what\u2019s the drill?\u201d<\/p>\n Now he came to life \u201cWe fly to a landing zone at the edge of the Sagitid field, one that\u2019s never been hit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom there we take an intel field buggy with the best rabbit ears in the fleet and make a sweep around the sector with a seeker beam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the meteor shower? For how long?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. How long are we supposed to look?\u201d<\/p>\n He talked as if I was supposed to know the answer. \u201dThe cells in the buggy will last only so long, Bowman. Seven hundred kilometers tops.\u201d<\/p>\n I thought he was crazy. \u201cThree hundred and fifty kilometers each way\u2014in a meteor shower?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m glad to hear\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeven hundred<\/em> each way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat! That\u2019s all the way to the Fabrini Arches There\u2019s not a field buggy ever built that can go fourteen hundred kilometers on a cell.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what intel wants\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody<\/em> to think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re starting to catch on, Lieutenant Bowman\u201d<\/p>\n Next: Episode 5\u2013\u201dOnly Fifty More Kilometers\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Appeal The message was pretty scratchy, but out of the scramble came a woman\u2019s voice saying, \u201cWhen the stars threw down their spears.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s pretty weird,\u201d I told Firth. \u201cAnd not much to go on.\u201d He was unmoved. \u201cIt\u2019s … Continue reading