Thursday June 23, 2005
Book 6: Resident Mad Scientist — Part V: Instant Replay
Note: While it is not critical to the continuity of our story, it is interesting to discuss the reasons why the Teraport Cage is working so handily this time around. In the timeline remembered by Captain Kevyn Andreyasn, there were three independent anti-teraport systems in effect over Sanctuariat, the House Phica fortress: the local Phican system, a projected system from the very angry company of Bangers, and a global system managed by the Ystreben Office of Let's Not Have Any Foreign Affairs.

This time around the Bangers have no motivation to project such a field, and the Phican system is offline. It was powered by a tiny auxiliary annie-plant which, following the catastrophic damage to the surface installations, auto-rerouted all its output to redundantly powering life-support for a garrison of trapped Phican soldiers. Oh, the irony.

The Ystreban global system, managed as it is by a bureaucracy with more layers than a prize-winning onion, adjusted coverage only very slightly following the explosions at Sanctuariat: the net was tightened over a few lightly-taxed, pork-barrel provinces on the far side of the planet. Thus it is that the Teraport Cage will serve to safely extract everyone in the joint Banger-Tough expedition.

Of course, they will be teraporting onto a P.D. warship engaged in a truly massive battle for the fate of the galaxy, so the use here of the word "safely" may be a tad premature.

Transcript

TAGON: This is perfect.  Anti-teraport activity is low.  We can get everyone out.

TAGON: We have to go no more than about four at a time, though.

PRANGER: So... who do we send first?

TAGON: How about one of your troops, one of mine, and the prisoner.

SCHLOCK: Send me, sir.  Nanny-bag or no, Kevyn's head smells a little gamey.

PRANGER: Ah, yes.  Please let's keep my paycheck from going "gamey."