Sunday November 4, 2007
Book 9: The Body Politic — Part IV: We Kept the Party Hats
Note: The advent of low-profile carbonan armored uniforms in the mid-29th century served to underscore the importance of fire discipline in organizations where those uniforms were standard issue. It became entirely too tempting to tap an officer on the shoulder from fifty yards away to get his attention. After all, shouting takes effort, ammo is cheap, and shooting your CO in the back never gets old.

Transcript

Narrator: Staff meeting aboard the Touch-And-Go.
Captain Tagon: We almost had an enemy super-soldier and a swarm of nanobots loose on the ship. I want to know how this happened.
Doctor Bunnigus: It's my fault. I put that containment rig together. I. . . I should have expected more. The nanobots developed high-density power supplies and plasma cutters. I should have seen that coming.
Doctor Bunnigus: I let everybody down, I'm sorry.
Elf: Bunni, no. You insisted on all those layers of containment, and the last layer held. We should be commending you, not laying blame.
Elf: Isn't that right, Captain?
Captain Tagon: Hmmm. . .
Elf: ISN'T THAT RIGHT, CAPTAIN?
Captain Tagon: Ow.
Captain Tagon: Did you just. . . How did you kick me from clear over there?
Elf: Kick? Who said anything about "kick?"