“Certainly. Do you have visual contact on my position.”
“I do. I’ll join you shortly, Commander.”
I had decided against delegation. Horc had specifically requested my participation in the inspection. It occurred to me this could be for one of two reasons. Horc was a Technician, and as such he might be sensitive to intercaste rivalries. If there were to be any criticisms of the Technician’s work, he would prefer it come from me. This was a tacit acknowledgment of the impartiality of my position as Commander. He felt I would not find fault simply to make his team look bad, or at least that I would be less inclined to do so than the head of the Warriors’ team. Then again, perhaps he simply wanted a conference.
He appeared, seeming to spring out of the ground by the row camouflaged fortification. Even though I knew its precise location, I was only barely able to detect it visually. I made a mental note to comment on it to Horc before our tour of the defenses was over.
“This way, Commander,” he beamed.
I moved to his side and squatted. By looking closely, I could just make out the ultrafine wire running along the ground.
Without comment, he rose and began walking along the near-invisible line. I followed, not even pretending to watch the wire. Erect, I couldn’t see it, so I contented myself with checking the pattern of its layout as we looped and twisted across the terrain.
The defense wires were still a marvel to me. They could be set to detect an object as small as a sand flea crossing their scan-field. Not only would they report the breach, they could feed back to the fortification the size, mass, and body temperature of the object, as well as the speed and direction of movement. Normally, this information would appear on a View Screen for a guard to analyze. If we came under attack, however, the flip of a lever would feed the data directly into the turret gun mounted atop-the fortification. It, in turn, could automatically direct fire against the intruder, escalating as necessary until the danger was eliminated. In short, with the system in full operation, anything that moved within three hundred meters of the fortification would be eliminated.