"More than you know, Joe. As you requested, I ran the math. Problem is, I'm not a military strategist, and there are a lot of variables I can't quantify. You promised me we would find the Collective, together."

"Skippy," I laid back on the mattress as best I could. "I keep my promises. Explain how we have a reasonable chance for success, with the crew we have now, and I'll listen. I don't see it. We have nine people right now who are combat ready, two pilots and I need to stay aboard the Dutchman, that leaves six people for action, and two of them specialize in logistics, not infantry. That asteroid was the softest target of our options, right?"

"Mostly likely, yes, the Kristang didn't realize what they had, that's why the items we needed were so lightly guarded."

"Lightly guarded?"

"Comparatively speaking."

"That was your definition of lightly guarded? You had total control of their sensors and most of their weapons, we still ran into a firefight. Even our super hightech combots got slaughtered. Will either of the two other targets be easier to crack?"

"Admittedly, no."

"You're concerned that you can't trust us, that once we get to Earth, we'll never leave, that will be the end of the mission. You think you can't trust us. Put that aside for a minute. Forget about what I said. Your goal is to contact the Collective. Use your god-like processing power. What are the odds you can achieve your goal with the resources we have?"

Another ever-so-short hesitation, maybe longer this time? "Damn it. You're right. I was, perhaps, overconfident, before the raid. Now that I have more extensive data, my analysis is revised. Our current chance of mission success is less than fifty percent. To be accurate, it is twelve percent. That is an unacceptable level of risk."

I was so relieved, I let my head slump back, and banged the back of my skull on the edge of a cabinet. "Crap."

"Crap, like you can't believe my numbers, or crap like, you believe my numbers, and they're worse than you thought?"

"Crap, like I banged my head on this stupid cabinet again."

"Oh. Darn it, no matter how I calibrate my program for reading your voice patterns and expressions, I still get it wrong. You biologicals are maddening sometimes."

"Yeah, like when biologicals develop technology and build smart-ass artificial intelligences."

"I told you, I wasn't built by- oh, forget it."