You were right about our weapons. We had but the
one, but our sensor array is functioning quite adequately. Why do you
fly in such ancient ships? Are all your great cruisers damaged?"
14 "These are all the ships left in the entire system," admitted Lord
Change. "I was in hopes that perhaps some of your computer systems had
the information for building modern ones."
15 Ka shook his head. "Our computer centers," he said, "are blank. The
moment the shields fell, and the electro-magnetic radiation from all
the exploded bombs hit them, they completely erased. Now, the only
thing that comes out of the terminals is static. All our shipyards are
destroyed. I think all of us will pay a high price for depending so
heavily on our electron shields and not putting our computer centers in
the deep shelters with hard shielding. "
16 "That," agreed Lord Change, "I cannot argue."
17 "We do have, however," admitted Lord Ka, "on the edge of this space
port, the two freighters that first brought the descendants of our
people to this world. They were in display tunnels which the first
bombs buried, and were therefore, protected from the later blasts. We
are just now digging them out. Some new cargo pods have survived which
we are modifying to fit the freighters, not much of a cargo fleet, but
something!"
18 "With the three ships we have," commented Lord Change, "we should be
able to maintain a running supply line, transferring needed goods from
planet to planet. You will need a representative for the System Council. May I offer the services
of my ship to carry him back to Peepi?"
19 "Her," put in Lord Ka, "as I can spare no man at this time, and you
put women to work, I will send my daughter, Shieldrina."
20 As they had been talking, at the meal provided