"That description is not especially comforting after Annex Seven."
"No."
The repair yard had been designed to keep damaged ships fighting with whatever material it could find.
If its command structure had failed in the same way Annex Seven's had, then it might have spent centuries collecting ships and rebuilding them.
But Annex Seven had remained near its station.
These attackers were traveling much farther.
That suggested something had changed.
Someone, or something, had given them a reason to expand.
Aurelian privately opened the Destiny System again when he was alone later that evening.
He asked about Orison Fleet Service Yard Four.
The answer came after a short delay.
Surviving Vhaloric infrastructure confirmed.
Adaptive Recovery Foundry operational probability: high.
Independent command authority present: high probability.
Biological Human population: present.
Hostility source: unresolved.
Strategic value: moderate.
Recovery potential: high.
