2nd June
Helen sat on the flight deck of Starcruiser One and thought back to Amy’s report when she had detected Starcruiser One searching for Starcruiser Two. ‘What’s a CMW?’ said Helen to Wendy.
‘It stands for Controlled Meteorite Weapon, Commander,’ Wendy confirmed.
‘Pleat those curtains on the bay window and put a hint of blue with the yellow,’ Helen replied, looking to the far end of the flight deck.
The interior décor morphed to meet Helen’s requirements.
‘That looks nice,’ Helen concluded. ‘What’s a Controlled Meteorite Weapon?’
‘Small, iron-rich meteors are harvested from near-Earth orbits,’ Wendy explained. ‘Because they are magnetic, they can be remotely directed by satellites and aircraft such as starcruisers. They can also be targeted at locations on the ground. Their speed can be controlled to avoid them being burnt up in the atmosphere.’
‘Try some nice, pink flowers on the wallpaper,’ Helen replied.
The virtual wallpaper in the cockpit changed to include the floral design.
‘Make the flowers a bit smaller and open the petals,’ said Helen.
The pilot interface computer effected the required adjustments.
‘Lovely,’ said Helen enthusiastically. ‘How are CMW’s used?’ she asked.
‘They are rocks from deep space. They can be targeted like missiles but attributed to nature. That means they can be used to hit objectives that the US cannot legitimately strike – for example on allied soil.’
‘Let’s have a stone fireplace with a coal fire on that wall,’ Helen said, pointing to the port side of the ship. ‘Was the meteorite that hit Sam Collin’s house a CMW?’
A charming coal fire appeared to Helen’s left.
‘That CMW was directed by this craft on the orders of the president,’ Wendy replied.
‘Put a carriage clock and some candlesticks with roses on the mantelshelf,’ Helen continued. ‘Where is that CMW now?’
The clock and two silver candlesticks, with a single red rose in each, appeared on the mantelshelf above the fire.
‘It is currently onboard this craft,’ Wendy replied. ‘This craft recovered it from the farm of Duck Morrison with a magnetic tractor beam on the …’
‘On the orders of the president,’ Helen interrupted, predicting the end of Wendy’s sentence.
‘Download all the information about those two presidential orders to the Theta computer,’ said Helen, ‘and add a touch of pink to the cockpit lighting.’