Kemp dragged a particular report toward himself with a finger. “Chief MacNeil said he would give you a full report on his findings but, in summary, the arm isn’t a monolithic piece of metal. There’s complex structure in there, sufficient to provide a working appendage. The substance of the appendage consists of countless, for want of a better word, nanites, linked together to form a continuous whole. Like cells, but somewhat smaller, and made of metal.”

Kemp’s voice ran down and he stared blankly at the documents on his desk, until the captain said, “Doctor?”

“Sorry. We amputated. Just below the elbow. Pritchard gave his consent. He agreed that getting a new one grown was a small price to pay. No pun intended. We’ve placed the amputated limb in a sealed sample container, for examination by experts on Earth. Assuming there are experts on something like this.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?”

“I’m not sure of anything, Captain. But in terms of risks, I think the damage is done. If it’s inclined to spread in some way, well, it’s already here. And sample containers are pretty tough—they have to be.” Kemp hesitated. “I think we need to understand this thing, and that means handing it over for analysis. If we toss it out the airlock, someone else will just have to come back and get it, wasting more time.”

“Thank you, doctor. I don’t necessarily disagree. I’ll await the Chief’s no doubt much more opaque report, and I will let you know if I understand any of it. Out.”

Kemp leaned back in his office chair. Holy crappola, what a day.

13.Situation Analysis

13.Situation Analysis

Captain Jennings leaned back with his coffee and looked around the table at his bridge staff. Aiello, Micoroski, and Generus sat with their elbows on the table, gazing into their coffees as if attempting to scry with a crystal ball. MacNeil, on the other hand, was staring into space, a slight frown on his face. Typical of the man, he saw it only as another engineering problem.

“Opinions?”

MacNeil sat forward and waved his arm in front of his face. “I wish we’d thought to save the suit arm. I would like to examine the substance.”

“The crew left it on Baby Rock, partly buried. Heads-up thinking on their part. Didn’t want it drifting around and settling against the ship’s hull.” Aiello looked momentarily alarmed at the thought.

“Or just as important, settling onto the big rock and contaminating our find.”

All heads nodded around the table. An untouchable strike would go from a value of tens of billions to zero.

“On that subject,” Generus added, “has Cirila finished with the assay?”

“Still working,” Captain Jennings said. “But so far, everything is proving out at greater than expected quantities. She’s starting to throw around numbers that make my earlier speech look like the height of pessimism.”