“Alright, good. Because we can’t take this to the Space Command guys without verifying it.” Steve turned his attention back to the computer screen. “Really, MARVIN? A robot probe with a small wormhole generator? I suppose those magnetic bottle arrays are …” his voice trailed again as the implications swam through his brain. “… Sonofabitch Lance. Write that script and verify. I think MARVIN’s really onto something.”
“Workin’ on it now; what do you suppose is up?”
“You remember all those magnetic bottles we found, the ones that were almost all intact and still charged?”
“Yeah, so?”
“They’re photon holders. It’s a quantum signaling system, tied to the generator that MARVIN detected. It all makes sense now.”
The stunned silence emanating from the tall, dark-complected Lance seemed almost to vibrate, but his face drained of energy. “So, it’s autonomous, and has a small wormhole generator that can be remotely triggered. You’re saying that it can be operated remotely, instantly, by whomever created it, and it’s deep under the Earth, right now?”
“Well, yeah, I think I am. At least, I think I think.” Steve sighed, stared through the floor, and contemplated his options. “Run your script, dude, and let’s see what comes up.”