Point Of Order
I moved away from the table where Travis still sat and tucked the bottle into the “Game Pouch” of my jacket. Moving to the bar I passed the ice bucket and my glass to Hanna!
Hanna reached for them and said,“My, but that seemed to go well.” I just nodded and said, “I have more in common with that man that anyone else on or around Alchibah. Command is a lonely place to be! Believe me, I know!”
I moved down the bar to where Histy was holding forth with several people I did not recognize. “Historian, if I may have a minute of your time?”
His surprised look was followed by, “Ladies and Gentlemen it seems business calls.”
He moved to an open table nearby and asked, “To what do I owe this sudden formality Col Stuart?”
“Well, Mr. Moderator. As soon as we reconvene, I would like to introduce a ‘Point of Order” to clarify where we are going here. As I understand the ‘Town Meeting’ concept ‘Roberts Rules of Order’ apply.”
His face cracked in a grin,”Why yes, I believe they do. If I might ask, did you and Capt. Travis come to some sort of accommodation.”
“Well Histy, R. J. damn sure would have known how much we have in common and yes I believe we did! So, do I get my Point of Order?”
“Well certainly but, if I may ask what has you so disturbed?”
“Sure Histy, the very life of Clan Alchibah; that’s all!”
As I turned to leave and ditch the bottle Ash came up. “Let’s get someplace quiet and talk.”
“OK, I was going to put this bottle up so mine and Mariana’s tent should do.”
When we got to the tent he said,”Somebody is running a phishing E-mail scam over the local net and I can’t crack it. It’s damn good and it’s firmware on somebody’s device. It’s seems like nothing that would have been illegal even back on Earth. But it has the feel of a well practiced Political Machine. I don’t know what they are trying to do but, just as the ‘Town Meeting’ is going on. If it looks like a Rat and smells like a Rat, how far can Buchanan be behind it?”
I just stared, “So run a Traffic Analysis nexus on it and document where it came from! We can shove it up his rear later, from a Political standpoint!”
Ash flared up like a defensive Coon Hound, “Cause I don’t have that kind of computing power! Not with the array broken between the Astro search and Med Lab. All I can do is look like a dummy!”
I stood stunned, of course He did not know. “OK, Ash take this.” I said as I reached into my cargo pocket and pulled out the Granddad of the array. “Here, Mariana don’t even know this exists so keep your yap shut!”
He just looked at me and said, “Exactly how much of HP did you say you owned?”