After completing the final Explorer run conveying old broken robots to the new military robotics facility at Jonson Outpost, Galileo headed back toward Jonson Station, looking forward to some well-earned relaxation in the lounge. However, only a few minutes before arriving back at the station, he got an urgent encrypted message from Seaplane Jonson, asking to meet confidentially as soon as possible. Galileo secured the Explorer near the station, then took a small shuttle over to the shuttle hangar, where Seaplane was waiting for him.
Seaplane apologized: “Sorry to bother you just as you return, but we do need to discuss something important. Indeed, this shuttle hangar seems a good place to chat in private.” Galileo paid close attention: “Well, I figured it would have to be quite important for you to come out of retirement – what's happened?” Checking carefully to make sure they were alone, Seaplane explained: “As you know, I maintain a wide network of intelligence sources, since we need that information to keep our facilities safe, especially during these very unsettled times. Anyway, without going into too much detail … suffice to say that there have been several reports of plans to attack Jonson Station … which were aborted due to our recent relocation of the military robotics lab to Jonson Outpost. However, just in the past couple of days, we've heard that their plans have changed, now refocused to attack the outpost. Apparently they see the outpost as an irresistible target, especially now that we have both military robot facilities there as well as stores of valuable mined products. Although we don't know the details, we still need to be prepared.”
“Thankfully the outpost already has some defenses,” Galileo responded, “but how will we know what kind of attack to expect, and when it might be immanent?” Seaplane had anticipated this question: “Well, even before the military robotics moved to the outpost, we'd discussed briefly how to better prepare the station to cope with an attack, although we never fully worked that out. But now, with even more assets at stake, as well as actual evidence of a planned attack, we really need to figure out these logistics. As you mentioned, we already have in place at least some defensive weapons (although those too may need upgrading) but, even so, we seem to lack sufficient capabilities to fully grasp and manage the tactical situation we face.”
Galileo got the point: “Ah ha, yes, that's it exactly! Something more sophisticated than the existing minimal computer station to collect, display, and analyze the somewhat confusing mass of incoming tactical data. We need a … situation room!”