Other information was provided, including the asteroid’s precise
location and its speed of motion and rotation. Zimbardo hesitated a
moment, then said, “Delete.” He went on to the next entry.
M3366.
Shape: almost perfect sphere; variation <5%.
Mean diameter, 0.057 miles.
The other information was provided. Zimbardo smiled. “Ah--nearly solid
iron and about 100 yards exactly!” he thought to himself. “That makes
five.” He told the computer to save that file, then opened the intercom.
“Gene,” he said.
“Yes sir,” came the immediate response.
“Contact Mr. Crass and tell him I want M3366.”
“Right away, sir.”
“Then call the five lieutenants up to my study at once, please. Get
Kimball, Lorry, and Jenner also. Once you’ve called them, come up
yourself.” Gene nodded and activated the personal contact codes of the
men Zimbardo wanted to see.
A quarter of an hour later, the ten men were in the lounge in Zimbardo’s
quarters. He was playing host, and pouring out a dark golden sherry wine
into luxurious spun glass goblets.
One of the men lifted up the goblet so the illumination reflected from
it, highlighting subtle rainbow whorls in the surface. He swirled his
wine before he sipped it.
“Very nice, Lurton, and the glass here is pretty top stuff.”
“The wine came from Earth but the glassware came with the asteroid,
Jeff. This place has so much in it that I haven’t found a hundredth of
what it contains, but all of it is high quality.”
The men relaxed in the comfortable chairs. The chairs automatically
adjusted to the body weight and shape of whoever sat in them. Soft,
almost imperceptible music was playing in the background. A light
fragrance in the air eased tensions and sharpened minds for thought.
Zimbardo had nothing to do with creating this atmosphere--these features
came on automatically whenever anyone entered the room.
“Petty soft life you got here, Zimbardo,” sighed the man named Lorry,
easing himself down into his chair. “I’m not used to this kind of
comfort.”
“No, Lorry, I guess not. You don’t find too many easy chairs aboard the
kind of ships you pilot when you’re transporting the Banjoman’s flilox
to his customers in the Belt. But when our plan succeeds, you’ll be able
to buy all the soft chairs you want. Let’s get down to business.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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