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Don’t let him get to you.”
    “I had no idea hermaphrodites looked so feminine. Do you think everyone in the special district looks like that?”
    “We’ll find out soon enough. Just get back to the meeting.”
    “Ms. Kline,” Preda continued, “perhaps we ought to explain to Commander Shirosaki about the culture inside the special district. About why the Rounds were created and how they came to be absolute hermaphrodites.”
    “Let’s not start with a lecture,” Harding interrupted. “What we should be discussing now is how we stop the terrorists. We don’t have time for cultural lessons.”
    “Gruff as usual, I see.” Preda flashed a sardonic smile. “The relief team is seeing a Round for the first time. We should be able to afford a little time to explain.”
    “If I thought it would help us to come up with a strategy, I’d be all for it, but I don’t.”
    Harding looked at Shirosaki. “Well, what do you have to say? Do you want to sit around and listen to a cultural lecture? Or would you rather get to work and talk about how we deal with the terrorists?”
    Shirosaki answered, “I’d like us to discuss strategy. Maybe we can talk about the special district another time.”
    Preda shrugged, but Harding remained expressionless, not acknowledging Preda with so much as a smile or frown.
    “Why don’t we all sit down?” Kline said, frowning. “We won’t come to any decision while we’re standing.”
    “Indeed.” Preda nodded. “We may be here a while,” he said, pulling up a chair.
    After everyone took their seats, Kline began the discussion. “According to the data sent to us from Captain Hasukawa, it’s likely the terrorists will be coming in on a research vessel from one of the Jovian satellites or a cargo vessel from Asteroid City. The research vessel has a particular route; it picks up specimens and materials from the experiments conducted on each of the satellites. The vessel from Asteroid City transports mineral resources and the water necessary to keep Jupiter-I operating. In order to enter this space station, the terrorists will likely have to come in on one of the spacecraft. They may have commandeered an unmanned ship, and we can’t rule out the possibility that the terrorists have taken hostages.”
    “When will the next ship arrive?” asked Shirosaki.
    “In two weeks.”
    “Then we ramp up security at the docking bays. We check all of the cargo there in the presence of guards. If a fight were to break out, it’d probably happen in the cargo bay. Of course, the terrorists have probably thought of that.” Shirosaki asked Kline, “Where are the research facilities and special district located? Those are the two terrorist targets. They’re sure to head there first.”
    Kline nodded. She punched a button on the control panel on the table and a three-dimensional schematic display of the station appeared. “Jupiter-I rotates with one cylindrical end facing the surface of Jupiter. The station has defensive walls that, when activated, can seal off each section of the station in an emergency.”
    The schematic showed partitions being lowered. Each of the sections were now highlighted in different colors. “The areas highlighted in blue are the research facilities, the orange area is the residential district for the staff, the green areas are the administrative facilities, and the red area is the residential district for the Rounds—the special district. There is a zero-gravity laboratory and a factory in the central axis area, along with a relaxation room.”
    Next, a glowing grid was superimposed over the entire station.
    “And this?” Shirosaki asked.
    “The network of maintenance shafts used to maintain the outer shell of Jupiter-I. The defense shield to resist the radiation and magnetic field around the Jovian system is installed on the inside of the outer shell. A thick composite layer made of materials such as high-density tungsten, water, and ferromagnetic metals with