Sunday April 14, 2013
Book 14: Broken Wind — Part II: Can Full of Sky

Transcript

NARRATOR: Client briefing, Mnei-Oa, aboard Mialhoua-Ua...

TAGON: Your home system is colorful.

HIOEFUA: Not home.  Oafa home is more ancient, long dark, ever lost.  This starcloud is young, fifty-two of centuries.

But yes... starclouds are of fleeting beauty, like the bloomings of Spring on greenworlds.

No... imperfect parallel... correcting...

Fleeting like Autumn, colored brightly, but swift-fading into Winter everlasting.  The star goes out.

TAGON: Well, yeah.  Everything dies eventually.  Especially in my line of work.

TAGON: And back to the subject of work... mine is a small, tactical force, and that station is big.

HIOEFUA: Big, but open.  Wide spaces, wide as worlds.  For straightening the linings-up of your fire.

TAGON: Linings-up... line of fire?

That planet-sized interior is all one interior space?

A centrifugal paradise of ranging, but late infested with heavy-flyers, sharp swarming.  Vermin.  Death-dealing to Oafans.

TAGON: The whole interior surface is high ground.  It will be a nightmare if we're facing an intelligent force with good ranged weapons.

HIOEFUA: No.  Only vermin.  Swarming, flying.  Aggressors, but senselessly.

TAGON: High ground overlooking a target-rich environment.

HIOEFUA: Concisely.

TAGON: General!  It's time to go to work.  Get your team out of orbit.

SCHLOCK: I'm a satellite!