PeterWatts_Blindsight

Peter Watts 81 Blindsight
run. A bulb of coffee glistened like gelatin in his hand. "That
name, out of all the ships in the innersys? Seems way too symbolic
for a random choice."
"I don't think it was random. Unusual ship names provoke
comment; Rorschach's pilot goes ship-to-ship with some other
vessel, the other vessel comes back with oh Grandma, what an
unusual name you have, Rorschach replies with some off-the-cuff
comment about nomenclatural origins and it all goes out in the
EM. Someone listening to all that chatter not only figures out the
name and the thing it applies to, but can get some sense of meaning
from the context. Our alien friends probably eavesdropped on half
the registry and deduced that Rorschach would be a better tag for
something unfamiliar than, say, the SS Jaymie Matthews."
"Territorial and smart." Szpindel grimaced, conjuring a mug
from beneath his chair. "Wonderful."
Bates shrugged. "Territorial, maybe. Not necessarily aggressive.
In fact, I wonder if they could hurt us even if they wanted to."
"I don't," Szpindel said. "Those skimmers—"
The major waved a dismissive hand. "Big ships turn slowly. If
they were setting up to snooker us we'd see it well in advance."
She looked around the table. "Look, am I the only one who finds
this odd? An interstellar technology that redecorates superJovians
and lines up meteoroids like elephants on parade, and they were
hiding? From us?"
"Unless there's someone else out here," James suggested
uneasily.
Bates shook her head. "The cloak was directional. It was aimed
at us and no one else."
"And even we saw through it," Szpindel added.
"Exactly. So they go to Plan B, which so far amounts to nothing
but bluster and vague warnings. I'm just saying, they're not acting
like giants. Rorschach's behavior feels—improvised. I don't think
they expected us."
"'Course not. Burns-Caulfield was—"
"I don't think they expected us yet."
"Um," Szpindel said, digesting it.
The major ran one hand over her naked scalp. "Why would they