Sunday December 22, 2013
Book 14: Broken Wind — Part III: Exhalation and Exit Strategies

Transcript

NARRATOR: Bristlecone, deep in the stub of a godwall mausoleum...

ELF: This spar is full, Bhuta.  Start queuing those up on the starboard side.

BHUTA: Aye, Commander.

ELF: Captain, we're about twenty minutes from done.

TAGON: Thirty.  Kath suggested we rig exterior lights.  Hotages don't do us any good if the enemy doesn't know we have them.

KEVYN: I still don't like this plan, Tagon.

TAGON: Kevyn, the enemy is afraid of collateral damage.

They don't want to fight in here.  If we bring enough "in here" with us out there we'll be safe.

KEVYN: We can carry maybe a hundred of those cylinders.  Thousands of them were destroyed in the first wave of explosions.

TAGON: Yes, but I'm betting those cylinders had ingots in them, not inscribed foil.

High-res scans show blank caps nearer our entry.  The inscribed caps start right about where we were when the shooting stopped.

KEVYN: I understand the logic, but you're betting our lives on that interpretation of the data.

TAGON: Well, yes.

I'm always betting our lives.  It's how my job goes.

KEVYN: I want to look at all of the enemy's cards, and then re-order the entire deck.

TAGON: That is also how my job goes.