Book 3: Chapter 70: Extermination
Icarus
December 2256 - April 2257
Approaching GL 877
Showtime.
GL 877 was still several light-months away, but at our tau, Daedalus and I would experience it as minutes at most. Comms was receiving periodic queries and updates from local Bobs—probably Mario and his group, still trying to keep tabs on the Others. Incoming messages were barely squeaks to me—the time dilation was far too severe for replicant hardware to overcome. Guppy was handling responses, but I’d asked him not to forward anything to me unless it was an emergency. I couldn’t afford any distractions.
I squirted off a differential backup, just in case. I wouldn’t get another chance.
I dismissed my VR and frame-jacked up to maximum. At this level, I could sense jitter in my perceptions as my hardware attempted to pixelate reality.
As we reached the five light-day point, I ordered Guppy to broadcast a message directing all local Bobs to get out of Dodge. Anyone caught too close to GL 877 in a short while would need a new paint job.
We had planned our approach so that I would come in from stellar north, and Daedalus from stellar south. At six light-hours distance, GL 877 was showing a perceptible disk without magnification. Continuous status updates between Dae and myself ensured that we would arrive at the same instant. Everything was in the groove, and there wasn’t anything the Others could do at this point to divert this delivery.