The population of the innermost habitat was lost with the initial coronal mass ejection. The populations on the primary planet and correspond ing habitat had protective magnetospheres, plus warn ing, so there were initial survivors. This work has been hardest on the Terran researchers. . . . —Journal of Marcus Alexander, Sophist at Konstantinople Prime University, 2105.331.12.05 UT, indexed by Democritus 17 under Cause and Effect Imperative “If you don’t have weapons, maybe you can use a squad or two of these guys to take back the Pilgrimage.” Matt jerked his thumb at the guardians. “The generational ship doesn’t have stand-off weapons.” David Ray winced visibly and shot him a warning glance. Confused, Matt snapped his mouth shut. He thought it was a good idea. Apparently not. “As Contractor Adviser, I’m not equipped to handle confrontation with weapons, beyond taking protective measures.”
