Quote:"So long and thanks for all the fish."--
"42."
"Who came up with that challenge and response, anyway?"
"Somebody in C-Sec, I think. Helen Anderson, Agent 2nd Class."
"Ramona Jackson, Research & Development Specialist 2nd Class. And since you're probably wondering, 'What's an R&D geek doing in the field?', it's because there's too much interesting tech on this world mixed in with even more tech we've seen before, and they need an expert on site to figure out which is which."
Helen nodded. "And my father says you're one of the better people at that job."
"You're that Helen Anderson? Wow. I never expected to meet royalty out here."
"I'm not royalty - I'm an agent just like any other."
"Who works with the best Special Circumstances team still in the field. You're royalty."
"Fine. Whatever. Your tweet said you had some tech that I might be able to use to rescue that SC team ..."
Ramona walked through the doorway at the back of the office, gesturing to Helen to follow her. "Mind your step, and mind your head. And don't scuff my baby."
That last stopped Helen from leaning against a landing strut. She looked up, stepped back and looked again, and whistled. "That's an Arrow."
"Serial number CF-193, military surplus on this world. I bought it for 'scrap'" - Helen could hear the quotation marks - "and have been restoring it ever since. I know you SC types love your saucers, but I think I can out-race you in this."
"Good luck landing it as many places as a saucer, though."
"You've got me there. This is what I wanted to show you." Ramona picked up a wristwatch from her workbench. "Glow-in-the-dark numbers that aren't radioactive. The outer rim has a sharpened insert, and if you pull the stem all the way out, it spins fast enough to cut through quarter-inch plywood in five seconds." Picking up a different watch, she continued, "And this one has a launcher that holds two poison-tipped darts."
"This stuff's straight out of a Derek Flint movie ..."
"Isn't it, though? Although they call them 'James Bond' movies here."
Helen thought for a moment. "Meh. Not as good a name. I'll take the buzzsaw watch. Got anything else?"
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