We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Book 4: Chapter 20: Just in Case

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.”

“And I get that. But you do have some flexibility in some areas. I just want to put the bug in your ear. Think about it, and if you can do anything in the normal course of your job that might have a secondary goal useful to us … well, it might turn out to be valuable.”

Maleb turned his head slightly and squinted at me. “You’re very carefully not saying something. Is there a potential danger to the citizens of Poseidon?”

“Not physical danger, I don’t think,” I said, shaking my head to emphasize the point. “Economically? Maybe. Look, there’s not much they can do to us in virt. So if something goes down, it’ll be in physical space. Which means you’ll get at least some fallout.”

He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then began nodding slowly. “I have a little more leeway where actual threats are concerned. I’ll still have to tread carefully, but I can at least get a few projects bumped up in priority.”

“That’s all I ask.”

One down, many to go. I wondered how the other Bobs were doing with their contacts.

The common area outside Maleb’s office door was dominated by floor-to-ceiling windows that gave a clear view through New Thark’s fibrex dome. I paused to take in the view, and a few staff members glanced up. It was interesting how society kept evolving. The work-anywhere telecommuting style that had developed in the days after the Mat War had gradually given way to a returning preference for an actual workplace. Seemed people liked being in physical contact with their co-workers, and felt alienated when they were constantly on their own. Of course, rush hour was no longer even a concept for most humans, so the economic and social cost of going to work was nearly nonexistent.

I shook my head to clear the woolgathering and turned my attention back to the view. A mat floated in the calm, impossibly blue ocean at middle distance, with a city hovering just to one side. I could have looked up the name, but didn’t bother. These days, mats were strictly industrial or agricultural locations, usually owned and controlled by specific cities. No one lived on the mats except the occasional self-exiled hermit. The technological defenses kept the ocean predators so completely at bay that a new ecosystem was evolving on the mats based on the lack of predation. Howard’s wife, Bridget, had visited us several times to do studies.

I turned and headed for the transit station. Maleb’s reassurances notwithstanding, the Bobs still had a significant industrial presence in the Poseidon system. We kept it low-key and out of the official economic calculation engines, but it would still need the same review for possible vulnerability.

I sent a message to Guppy, asking for a summary of the audit so far. I’d have to get personally involved soon, but for now, the sun felt good, and the grassy ring around the edge of New Thark called out for my butt to be planted thereupon. ?À?????