Silence engulfed the room. Juan was taken aback slightly by the display of Old Ben.
Juan took a slab of meat and attempted to slap in on his heavily damaged artificial eye, but the wet steak only aggravated the delicate equipment and more sparks flew from his right socket. Abandoning the steak and cursing his stupid move, Juan got lost in thought.
Again, silence fill the room until Juan broke it gently, saying...
"If it's a military response you want, Yaren is well supplied, as you know. My own recently acquired gunboat, Santo de la Muertre is currently in suspended animation surrounded by one of the dusty nebulas in that system. Upon entering the system, I can have her up to full combat readiness within the hour.
Intellegence-wise, I highly doubt the Nomads would want some of their fighters controlled by humans. If this is truly what you say it is, then the Nomads have actively taken sides in the war."
Lucendez paused, frowning.
"If you gentlemen ... and lady (bowing to Ms. Heartbreak) would excuse me, I must send a transmission at once."
Juan got up and walked over to the terminal.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
