Chapter 3 Part 3

When Nathan arrived at the office, Mr. Bostik was waiting. "The news is not very good," he began as he led the way into his office. When Nathan entered, he shut the door and took a seat.

"The holos show almost no deviation in the asteroid configurations. That invalidates our idea about blasting a chunk of rock from one asteroid." Mr. Bostik displayed the holos of the asteroid field. "Each and every one of these asteroids have been compared to holos taken four years ago. They are all unchanged."

Nathan examined the charts and then inspected the holos. "Has there been any change at all?"

"Not in the larger asteroids," Bostik answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Bostik explained, "there have been some minor changes. In particular, some of the smaller rock fragments are missing. There were several chunks of matter about the size of a meter of so that are missing."

"Could they have caused the damage to the lunar station?"

Bostik shook his head. "No the rock that hit the station was picked up just before impact and its velocity was recorded. The energy that was released in the collision required a rock of about fifteen metric tons. The total mass of all the small rocks that are missing is barely more than two."

"So we have another mystery. Not only where did the large meteor come from, but what happened to about two tons of rocks that have disappeared"

Bostik pointed out. "They may not be related."

"That is true, but then again, they may."

Bostik leaned back. "You are in command of this investigation, Nathan. What do you want to do next?"

"What resources do we have?"

"Of course there is Ares Metro at your disposal. The Phobos research facility will probably give assistance if we need them for anything. The Whirlpool is co-orbital on a routine training maneuver. Her battle group, two destroyers and a one cruiser, the Issac Asimov, are here in orbit. In addition, should you need it, the Sombrero and her battle group are resupplying at New St. Louis, and the Andromeda is stationed in the Jovian system. They are working the training range on Callisto."

"All in all," Bostik summarized, "you have some serious clout at your fingertips."

"But I have no idea what to do about it," Nathan sighed.

"May I make a suggestion?"

"Please."

"Send the Whirlpool out to the asteroid belts. They can launch recon ships to check nearby locations. It is possible that the calculated point of origin is a little off. I mean if the Syndicate was smart, they'd toss a rock towards Luna with a few mass drivers attached to curve the orbit a little. That would foul up any calculations."

"That is a fair idea," Nathan agreed, then had another thought. "Cain, how is that cruiser armed?"

Cain scratched his head. "The Asimov? It is a Jules Vern class cruiser. Primarily designed for orbital to ground attacks. I think it carries several batteries of magnetokinetic weaponry, some heavy particle cannons and a bank of terawatt lasers. Why?"

"I wanted something that could act as an interceptor in case another asteroid decides to visit the inner system," Nathan explained.

"That is a thought worth thinking," Cain agreed. "But the cruiser is probably two slow. The destroyers are much faster. We can use the cruiser as a command post and keep an eye out for another attack. If they pick one up, we can sick the destroyers on them."

"Sounds like a plan," Nathan smiled. "Can you see to it?"

"Just give the word."

"Thank you. Please proceed and let me know if there are any developments. I am going to get some sleep."