Book 4: Chapter 20: Just in Case
Marcus
July 2334
Poseidon
Maleb blew out a loud breath and put the tablet down on his already-crowded desk. “Interesting times. But are you sure you aren’t being a little bit paranoid?”
Maleb was the son of Kal and Gina, two of my closest friends from the early days of Poseidon. He took his sheer size from his father and his Polynesian complexion from his mother. I no longer had an urge to tear up when I saw him, but it had been a problem for a while. His parents had long since passed away, and now Maleb was getting on in years, with hair more grey than black. Ephemerals. It was the dirty word of the Bobiverse. But I desperately missed my friends, and had made very few new ones since.
“Probably,” I replied. “All I really have is what Howard told me, and he hadn’t been at the moot, so he’d gotten the lowdown from Will. At this remove, I should consider myself lucky I’ve gotten names right.”
Maleb chortled and picked up the tablet again. “So these Starfleet wannabes might follow through with their threats; and if they do, it might affect us. So what do you want from me?”
“I don’t have anything specific, Maleb. But if I were still in charge of equipment, I’d be doing software audits and changing passwords and maybe increasing physical security. Maybe only to the extent of moving things without announcing it. As it is, well …” I motioned to him.
“Yeah, that’s my job. I get that part. Look, Marcus, I’m not like a feudal lord. I can’t just arbitrarily issue orders to change autofactory schedules. These days, they are an integral part of the economy and heavily regulated.”