speaking Arges
appeared next to her.
“Salutations,” said Arges. “I understand that the time has
come to initiate technology transfer? Where would you like to begin?”
Calvin looked at Ryan. “Master Chief, I think you’ve been
very patient. Would you like to start?”
“Yes sir, I would,” he replied. “I’d really, really like to
know what kind of weapons and defensive systems we’re going to get.”
“Give us a moment,” said Arges, and all three Cyclopes
disappeared.
“Maybe you should have asked for something smaller to start
with,” said Calvin with a smile.
“Maybe I should have,” said Ryan, “but I’m getting awfully
tired of the ‘mushroom treatment.’”
“What is the mushroom treatment?” asked Bullseye.
“It’s where you’re kept in the dark,” said Calvin, “and fed
shit all the time.”
“Do you suppose they’re actually going to tell us anything
this time?” asked Ryan.
“If they don’t, I’m quitting this whole thing and going on
cruise,” said Calvin, with a wistful tone in his voice. “I’d get to fly and
have no responsibilities…”
The Psiclopes reappeared, each holding an object.
Brontes stepped forward, holding a trident. The staff of the
trident was about five inches in diameter, larger than any trident Calvin had
ever seen “This is an antimatter projector. In the Theogony , I was
called ‘the Thunderer;’ this is why.”
Master Chief O’Leary took the trident, and looked at it
critically. “What does it…what does it do?”
“In function, it performs generally like one of your grenade
launchers,” explained Arges. “It launches a round of antimatter within a
magnetic containment field. The magnetic field extinguishes when it hits
something, and the antimatter detonates explosively with whatever it hits.”
Ryan looked at the holes at the end of the tines. “Umm, it
doesn’t look like the rounds will be very big,” he said. “What is the size of
the antimatter round that it shoots?”
“I’m not a warrior,” Brontes said, “but it may be written on
it.” She took the trident back, looked at the writing on it for a second and
then handed it back, pointing to a dial and button that the American hadn’t
noticed previously. “It looks like it goes from five nanograms to one gram of
antimatter.”
“How much is a nanogram?” asked Ryan. “That must be a lot,
right?”
“No,” said Steropes, “a nanogram is the equivalent of one
billionth of a gram. It’s very, very small.”
“So…it goes from itty bitty up to one gram? That’s it?”
asked Ryan. “A gram is like the weight of a paper clip, right?” Everyone’s
heads nodded. “That’s not very much,” he continued. “How are we going to kill anything
with that?”
“Quite handily,” responded Arges. “That should meet all of
your explosive needs, although using the one gram setting in anything other
than space is suboptimal.”
“Suboptimal? What is suboptimal about it?” asked Ryan,
looking confused.
“One gram of antimatter contacting one gram of matter has
the same explosive power as twice that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki,
Japan on August 9, 1945. That bomb had the equivalent of about 20 kilotons of
TNT; one gram of antimatter detonates with the force of 42 kilotons. If you use
that setting within the atmosphere, it is likely that you will destroy yourself
as well as the target.”
“Hoooooly shit !” said Ryan, suddenly handling the
trident with much more respect. “What does that nanny gram setting do?”
Steropes smiled, “The five nanogram setting has a yield of about
226 grams of TNT, or about the same as one of your hand grenades.”
Ryan looked at Calvin and moaned, “Oh, sir, I want about 20
of these.”
“I’m sorry,” said Brontes, taking the trident back, “but we
can’t repli-…we only have ten of them.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Steropes stepped
forward with a helmet. “Sara referred to this as
appeared next to her.
“Salutations,” said Arges. “I understand that the time has
come to initiate technology transfer? Where would you like to begin?”
Calvin looked at Ryan. “Master Chief, I think you’ve been
very patient. Would you like to start?”
“Yes sir, I would,” he replied. “I’d really, really like to
know what kind of weapons and defensive systems we’re going to get.”
“Give us a moment,” said Arges, and all three Cyclopes
disappeared.
“Maybe you should have asked for something smaller to start
with,” said Calvin with a smile.
“Maybe I should have,” said Ryan, “but I’m getting awfully
tired of the ‘mushroom treatment.’”
“What is the mushroom treatment?” asked Bullseye.
“It’s where you’re kept in the dark,” said Calvin, “and fed
shit all the time.”
“Do you suppose they’re actually going to tell us anything
this time?” asked Ryan.
“If they don’t, I’m quitting this whole thing and going on
cruise,” said Calvin, with a wistful tone in his voice. “I’d get to fly and
have no responsibilities…”
The Psiclopes reappeared, each holding an object.
Brontes stepped forward, holding a trident. The staff of the
trident was about five inches in diameter, larger than any trident Calvin had
ever seen “This is an antimatter projector. In the Theogony , I was
called ‘the Thunderer;’ this is why.”
Master Chief O’Leary took the trident, and looked at it
critically. “What does it…what does it do?”
“In function, it performs generally like one of your grenade
launchers,” explained Arges. “It launches a round of antimatter within a
magnetic containment field. The magnetic field extinguishes when it hits
something, and the antimatter detonates explosively with whatever it hits.”
Ryan looked at the holes at the end of the tines. “Umm, it
doesn’t look like the rounds will be very big,” he said. “What is the size of
the antimatter round that it shoots?”
“I’m not a warrior,” Brontes said, “but it may be written on
it.” She took the trident back, looked at the writing on it for a second and
then handed it back, pointing to a dial and button that the American hadn’t
noticed previously. “It looks like it goes from five nanograms to one gram of
antimatter.”
“How much is a nanogram?” asked Ryan. “That must be a lot,
right?”
“No,” said Steropes, “a nanogram is the equivalent of one
billionth of a gram. It’s very, very small.”
“So…it goes from itty bitty up to one gram? That’s it?”
asked Ryan. “A gram is like the weight of a paper clip, right?” Everyone’s
heads nodded. “That’s not very much,” he continued. “How are we going to kill anything
with that?”
“Quite handily,” responded Arges. “That should meet all of
your explosive needs, although using the one gram setting in anything other
than space is suboptimal.”
“Suboptimal? What is suboptimal about it?” asked Ryan,
looking confused.
“One gram of antimatter contacting one gram of matter has
the same explosive power as twice that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki,
Japan on August 9, 1945. That bomb had the equivalent of about 20 kilotons of
TNT; one gram of antimatter detonates with the force of 42 kilotons. If you use
that setting within the atmosphere, it is likely that you will destroy yourself
as well as the target.”
“Hoooooly shit !” said Ryan, suddenly handling the
trident with much more respect. “What does that nanny gram setting do?”
Steropes smiled, “The five nanogram setting has a yield of about
226 grams of TNT, or about the same as one of your hand grenades.”
Ryan looked at Calvin and moaned, “Oh, sir, I want about 20
of these.”
“I’m sorry,” said Brontes, taking the trident back, “but we
can’t repli-…we only have ten of them.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Steropes stepped
forward with a helmet. “Sara referred to this as
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