We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Marcus

September 2215

Poseidon

I watched the long-range image, which showed the expanding cloud of debris that used to be my Heaven vessel decoy. I’d been lying about my location for several months now, and the Council seemed to have bought it. Three Council security vessels left the area at far too high an acceleration for the cargo vessels they appeared to be. It would seem the Council could be sneaky as well.

I fired off a report to Riker, cc’d to Bill, and saved a backup to my Fortress of Solitude, circling Eta Cassiopeia B. If the Council ever found that, I’d be thoroughly hooped. Fortunately, that was unlikely. The Council still had fewer than a dozen ships, and the companion star simply hadn’t come up in discussions for a long time.

Of course, the Council had obviously been engaging in covert preparations as well, as evinced by the three souped-up and armed cargo ships. Now that they believed me dead, I hoped that they would openly play their hand.

I returned my presence to my android, which was standing at parade rest. As I moved my arms into a more relaxed position, everyone turned to me.

“Well?” Kal said.

I grinned at him. “Three very non-standard cargo vessels just took out my decoy vessel. It would have attempted evasive tactics consistent with its published specs. I’m sure the security personnel are very proud of themselves.”