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.Here, and over the encampment that encircles the exit.”We’d set up a shanty town of bricks from the troop ships all around the single shaft to the outer hull.Much of my marine ground force was stationed there, ready to sally out and do battle on the surface or in space itself.“Hmm,” I said, looking around.“We won’t be able to see much of the interior if we do that.The bubble will be opaque.”We’d managed by this time to pump all of the noxious, corrosive mists out of the central chamber and fill it with breathable air.But it was thin air, and not recommended for human consumption yet.We only had so many gas production units.“I have a solution for that, too,” Miklos said proudly.I followed him to where he’d begun work on his smart metal dome.In the middle of it was a command table.Marvin followed us out of curiosity.The table was exposed to the interior of the big ship.It was strange, being in an open space this big.It was like being on a planet—but you could tell you were enclosed.I felt like a mouse on the concrete floor of an empty warehouse.Miklos had surrounded the command table with what looked like a slurry of melted solder mixed in with hexagonal panes of ballistic glass.As I watched, he tapped a sensitive part on the writhing mess of nanites.They instantly reacted, popping up like one of those dome tents that always gave me fiberglass splinters on camping trips.As they wriggled and unmelted upward, forming walls around us, I was reminded of watching a metal candle melt in reverse.It was impressive.“Not bad,” I said, walking around the structure and looking in through the foot-wide windows.“This is a small mock-up, of course.We’d have to build larger panes.A full control room would require a hundred barrels or so of nanites.”I made a pained sound.“That’s a lot of production, Commodore.”“Come on inside, Colonel.”I looked, and there was a hatch-like door.It wasn’t too sturdy.Once we were in there, it felt like you could pop the whole thing with a sharp stick.“I assume you’ve done the math on this?” I asked.“It will hold up under depressurization?”“I helped in that area,” Marvin said suddenly, appearing at the entrance.He squeezed inside, making it uncomfortably close.“Ah-ha,” I said.“So, you are in on this too, Marvin? I should have known.Let me guess: you became bored with figuring out how to fine tune the weapons and drive systems.”“The essentials of the alien interface are all documented, Colonel.We already have brainboxes that are as good at operating them as I could be.”“Uh-huh.I don’t believe that for a moment.You got bored.But, I’m still liking this.If you’re telling me we can use it to enclose a bridge area, I’m willing to go with it.There is a makeshift feel to it all, but I didn’t give you much time to come with something solid.Hell, I didn’t authorize this project at all.”Miklos cleared his throat and Marvin floated cameras around both of us.“Sir? Do we have your approval to go forward with this project?”“You were planning on doing something similar for the brick village near the shaft to the surface, right?”“Yes, but that would take more time and nanites.”I nodded.“Forget it then.Just build this one small dome for a bridge.Can you get the dome up and safe before we hit the ring?”“Yes,” Marvin said, answering for him.“Absolutely.”“Then you two are on a mission.Do it.”You would have thought I’d given two kids the keys to the candy store.They were both out of there and trotting toward the nanite supplies less than a minute after I gave them the okay.I walked out of the dome, touched it in a sensitive spot, and watched as it collapsed.I thought to myself that I’d have to make sure the thing could identify Star Force personnel when it took commands.It wouldn’t do to have an invading enemy drop our tent on our heads.-24-It was just as we made our final approach to the Sol ring that the Imperials finally spoke up.“There’s a single ship at the ring, sir,” Sarin told me.I dropped what I was doing and rushed to the new command center.All around me, others did the same.“Put up the dome, Commodore!” I shouted.The newly completed pressure-dome inflated itself from all around us.The nanites had been trained to grow from a foot-high mess on the floor, picking up dozens of large hexagonal windows along the way, and rising up to contact one another at the distant top.There was a hole in the roof for a few seconds, like the smoke hole in a wigwam, until it closed itself and vanished.Instantly, the sound changed in the chamber.I could tell I was inside an enclosed space.There was something about that I liked, even if the enclosure was relatively flimsy.“The Imperials are requesting that we open a channel with them.”“Open channel!”On our holotank, a recording began to play.It started with the Imperial anthem which consisted of pompous, martial-sounding music.What followed was a series of images.First, there was the stylized metal eagle, the familiar emblem of the Empire.That rolled away and Crow appeared dressed in a white uniform covered in ribbons, medals and insignia.He was holding the hands of two children, and appeared to be talking to them calmingly.While we watched this, I began to frown and my arms crossed.I could only take so much bullshit, and I was getting past my limit already.I was concerned as they hadn’t even said anything yet.“Approaching transients,” came the message at last, but it wasn’t Crow saying it.He was on the screen, his voice muted.We got to watch as he handed out small gifts to the children, who appeared to be delighted.“You are about to enter Imperial space.Do not attempt to fly through the ring! If you do, your ships will be destroyed.Long live the Emperor.”The image faded.I shook my head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]