Quote:Whoever set up the SMOFcon holoconference had a sense of humor. Or at least they thought they had a sense of humor.He thinks he's a wit. He's half-right...
Quote:Somewhere in the asteroid belt, the voice behind the monolith watched as his entire communications rig bluescreened.Never piss off Dee.
A bit more story...
The monolith labeled "SMOF 137" spoke up. "I think our first priority is to stay alive. For example, how many of us are still dependent on the Vitamin Men to bring medicines and trace elements up from Earth, and what can we do for these people? After that, there's a sizable force of United States Navy, Army, and Air Force personnel who've just had their supply lines vanish. While the Japanese might keep supplying Okinawa out of the goodness of their hearts..."
"And to make sure the North Koreans don't attack Tokyo," interrupted SMOF 46.
"That, too," SMOF 137 agreed. "While the Japanese might keep resupplying the US forces stationed in Japan, I doubt very much that the Afghans will extend the same courtesy to the US troops in their country. Can we get on their good side by supplying them with food, fuel, and munitions?"
"Why would we even want to give them ammunition?" asked SMOF 01.
"You're the one who mentioned military action," SMOF 36 replied. "That works better if we actually have a military."
Mal shook his head. "We can't just take over the US military. The governors of Alaska and Hawaii are still in charge of what's left of the United States, and they need the troops more than we do right now."
"I thought you said the US was gone," complained SMOF 73.
"No, he said the continental US was gone," SMOF 137 pointed out. "The remaining two states plus the various US territories might be very happy to have us as an ally, especially if we can guarantee the 'high ground' and their food supply."
SMOF 02 (who was flying "Ol' Colorblind" on his monolith) spoke up. "All right, let's say we do or do not send supplies to the US military. What's the next step after that? Do we look for our lost friends and relatives?"
"That's being taken care of by the Mads," SMOF 137 answered.
Mal opened a private channel to SMOF 137. "I thought your voice sounded familiar. Why aren't you helping Noah right now, Yayoi?"
"He wanted somebody to represent Stellvia at the SMOFcon. Let's go back to the main discussion; I don't want to miss anything important. I'll tell you more later." She closed the private channel.
And I yield the "floor" to the next writer...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012