Some of his data had just dried up. Mel was
responsible for monitoring the sats in a large segment of the Asteroid
Belt, and a section over a thousand miles in diameter had gone dark. He
called to his superior.
"Will, I've got something curious here." A slender, middle-aged man
with long gray hair walked over to the console.
"What is it, Mel?"
"Look at this. You asked us to report anything out of the ordinary.
Well, occasionally one sat will malfunction, but it looks as if at
least a dozen have stopped reporting all at once. I haven't plotted out
the details yet, but there's an entire section of the Belt where
nothing's happening."
"When did it start?"
"Just a moment ago. So whatever occurred out there happened
about..."-he thought for a second-"about eleven minutes ago."
"Thanks, Mel. This could be the surprise we've been waiting for. I'll
report this immediately." Will went over to the master communicator in
the tower and sent a top priority message to Space Command's
headquarters on Mars, describing the situation. Space Command
headquarters forwarded the information to its centers on Earth and the
Moon, as well as to Oritz Konig, SE's Head of Security in Mars Base.
Konig's report to Richard Starlight included these words: "It looks
probable that the pirates have taken some sort of action in the Belt.
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