She motioned to the tablet. “Well, the Sino-Soviet Empire, as usual, is talking like it’s the big guy on the block. Threatening to flatten other nations right and left if they aren’t given the inside line on the alien technology.” She scrolled down. “Preppers, of course, are both outraged and simultaneously gleeful that they’re finally right. The public in general is demanding that the government Do Something Right Now. The Christian Fundamentalist Association has declared the Church of the Return, and in fact the whole alien infection thing, to be a trick of the devil, and an indication of the End Times. They’re urging their members to violence.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, they don’t put it that way. More like, ‘Remember your second amendment rights when dealing with the devil and his minions.’ Hard to misinterpret.”

“They don’t have second amendment rights, anymore,” Will protested. “Not since the New Liberation.”

“Sure,” Tenn said. “But most of ’em still have guns.”

“Of course, those are the anti-alien types,” Lita said. “Then we have the pro-alien types. The Church of the Return, of course. Plus the Communist parties seem to have decided that the aliens will obviously all live in a communist or socialist utopia, and are condemning everyone else for attempting to forestall the inevitable. There’s a Baptist sect that sees this as the Rapture, and are lambasting the other Christian Fundamentalists for their behavior. Great fun all around.”

“Plus,” Aspasia added, “you’ll have the normal, average people who are simply scared out of their minds and reacting badly.”

Seth shook his head slowly. “What the hell are we returning to?”

Lita grinned at him. “Want to go half-ers on that island?”

“Or the mining ship?” Will added.

Seth rolled his eyes. “Maybe we should just phone Captain Jennings and re-up.”

The suggestion was met with groans.

53.Unbelievable

53.Unbelievable

“Son of a bitch! Do we have further intel on any of this?”

Moore waved the transcript of Ivan’s phone call with Kemp as he glared at Lt. Bentley.

“Yes sir, some of it, at least. They’re already pursuing the power source question, obviously. Trouble is, the technology seems to operate at near the same level as the computing—at least based on Pritchard’s comments. We don’t have anything that can examine reality at that level. Possibly the people at the Super Hadron Collider might be able to.”

“But that would involve taking one or more of these nanite things to Earth. Not going to happen.” Moore sat back in his executive chair, frustration written plainly on his face.

“Uh, sir, it actually is going to happen. They’re planning on packaging up a couple of samples for delivery to some labs on Earth.”