Book 3: Chapter 44: Debut
Howard
December 2220
Odin
We flew effortlessly through the Odin skies, our wings beating just fast enough to maintain momentum. The manta android bodies seemed to be fooling the local wildlife—prey animals bolted, larger animals circled their young or simply ignored us. Ahead, a flock of blimps moved lazily through a krill field, grazing.
They’ll keep an eye on us, but shouldn’t otherwise alter their behavior as long as we don’t start chasing the juveniles, Bridget messaged to me.
Got it. Observe, but don’t snack.
Hah hah. Funny man.
In typical engineering fashion, I’d been content to build drones and observe from afar. Bridget, the moment she’d heard about Bob’s Charlie android that emulated a Deltan, and Marcus’ experiments with aquatic versions, had suggested we try something similar.
The mantas were a mid-level pack predator, shaped generally like the eponymous Earth fish. As with all Odin life, they contained a hydrogen sac to maintain neutral buoyancy. I had wanted to use helium instead for the androids, but the heavier construction created enough issues without using the less buoyant alternative.