“Correct me if I am wrong, Moertopo, but the strange rubbery material of this electrical information block—”

“A flexipad, Major.”

“A flexipad, yes. The casing itself is integral to the unit, because it helps power the machine, correct?”

“Exactly,” he said. “It’s made of solarskin plastic, which draws power from the light in this room. The warmth of your hands provides a power source, too.”

“Right,” said Brasch, with a hint of actual enthusiasm creeping into his voice. “But to fabricate such a thing, you’d have to factor in advances across a whole range of areas.” He turned back to Yamamoto. “The thinking machines used in the design of this pad, and which control most of the machinery on the Sutanto, they use what Moertopo calls ‘quantum processors,’ and they rest upon multiple generations of antecedent technology. Would I be right in assuming, Lieutenant, that using an abacus to design a quantum processor would prove impossible?”

“You would.”

“With twenty years’ work, I suppose we might just leapfrog our current industrial base up to speed, but—”

“But there are many more pressing problems,” Yamamoto agreed. “These processors, Moertopo?” mused the admiral. “They’re like electrical calculating machines?”

“Much more than that, sir,” interrupted Hidaka. “They are almost like brains. In fact, the Americans who arrived with Moertopo call their computing machines Combat Intelligences, and allow them to make significant decisions.”

“And it was they who decided to annihilate Spruance’s fleet?” Yamamoto asked.

“I imagine they detected a threat and reacted, because their human controllers could not,” Moertopo said before hurrying on to add, “The Sutanto is not equipped with a CI system.”

“Luckily for Kakuta,” said the admiral.

“And we were not fired on,” said Moertopo. “Unlike Kolhammer’s force.”

“Tell me, Lieutenant, what sort of a man allows a machine to make his decisions for him, especially such a fundamental choice as when to flee and when to strike?”

Moertopo struggled to answer. He didn’t know whether Yamamoto was speaking philosophically or demanding a hard answer. When it became evident he was out of his depth, Brasch grasped the opportunity to interpose himself.

“If I may, Admiral Yamamoto, this is the crux of our dilemma. What sort of men could do such a thing? you ask. Whereas I say, what sort of world produced them? What paths led them to their destiny? Moertopo tells us, and the library files on the Sutanto confirm, that the Allied force that arrived here represents a pinnacle of military technology. What we must ask and answer quickly is—how did this come about?

“I would say the question is even more important than determining how they arrived. That they are here is an established fact. How they will change events, is not.”

“I think I understand your point, Major. You are less concerned with artifacts such as rockets than with historical potential. Does the Axis have the potential to prevail in this conflict?”