The Tip of the Spear

As the pairs closed in on the chatty slide-talker, we shifted our coordination traffic to a long distance channel outside of the range of frequencies that were splattered with noise spikes as the slide-talker whined and pined. While it was true that this was a test of sorts for the pairs, the continued communication made this a team effort rather than an insurgent affair. The first problem that the Pairs tapped about was repulsion.

The one word reply was simply "Eights" which was acknowledged. Scanning deeply, I observed the Shorties rotate their big double-eighted ends toward the target Seven. "Good" came back the response, and the taps for "Position" followed a few orbits later. The Pairs had some work ahead of them, attempting to open a conversation with the wildly sliding pair. The dialect of slide was more difficult to comprehend than imagined, and the number of standard communication symbols that were in play between the chatty pair was comparatively low.

At this juncture, the Pairs elected to implement the direct option. Each pair split up, leaving one Electron on each Shorty for attitude control and station keeping duties. The second Electron commandeered a random partner from an Eight and executed a transfer sequence, joining the Electron that had similarly transferred to the Seven-Six-Six backbone from the other Shorty. Together, they hopped their way onto the Seven with a minimum of disturbance to the still transfixed slide-talkin pair.