DENVER—PHOENIX COMPLEXBrad and Sally marshaled their small army of researchers around the life-size holoimage of the Asterian spacecraft floating in the center of Lesser Hall at the Denver Phoenix Complex. Both Max and Maxter joined them, bumping legs and generally making themselves noticed.
“This spacecraft,” Brad said, “is twenty-five meters across and three meters high. We don’t know how she propels herself, and we don’t know how she gets her power.” He walked around the image. “We know that she can start and stop instantly and turn and reverse direction instantly. We know that a mini black hole—what we will call an M-B-H—occupies the core of the spacecraft, from which it derives its power, but we don’t know how.” He continued walking around the spacecraft image. eMax appeared and bega
