Jonathan_S wrote:As for picking up details in bars, that would rather seem to depend on whether any techs had ever cycled back from Bolthole. It's certainly not impossible that as an ultra secret yard that all the workers were moved to Calvin's Hope 'for the duration'.
If so then the only bars where spies could pick up tidbits from the workers would be the ones on the stations or planet of Calvin's Hope -- and if you've got spies in-system then said spies would have more direct ways of seeing what the sky looked like or determining the system's location [G].
(Kind of like how it would have been hard to learn of the Manhattan project during WWII because the bars the scientists and techs were hanging out at and possibly talking too freely in were almost exclusively within the high security compounds at Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford. If the spies had access to those bars they already knew of the project and had access into its secure enclaves. Of course there were spies; but they were scientists, who'd been recruited into the project, and who for ideological reasons were sharing technical details with the Soviets)
And to maintain secrecy any transit crews could be denied shore leave anywhere on the Haven side of the wormhole. They drop off their ships at the delivery yards, board the return transport and head off. No bar stops -- so no place for spies to easily eavesdrop.
For the duration? As in, forever? That is like uprooting entire families ... not just the immediate relatives -- and telling them they will have to relocate forever to another planet. That will sit well with them for sure. And of course, there is a magic pill that can be administered for homesickness and missing extended families.
The Manhattan Project only lasted for five years. That is ~ equal to one tour over seas. But you cannot "hold hostage" an entire family "for the duration." For Bolthole, that equates to forever. Resentment is a major ingredient found in a traitor. If for the duration, extended families and friends are cut off, those extended families and friends can begin to talk and complain. That alone could alert the MAlign that these families are persons of interest.
Then there are the major players, like Foraker, who have to shuttle back and forth for whatever reason other than to visit family. And those visits by the major players will not be made in single ships without the necessary escorts. You want to protect your major assets. Foraker is a major asset. As is Sonja, who would certainly travel back to the MBS from time to time. There will be support personnel in the accompanying ships, who will certainly have leave time back on planet.
And do not forget about the nanite, whose "benign" capabilities we do not know. The nanites do not have to be utilized only to kill. They might be able to be used to ferret out information.
Question. Finding Bolthole alone, could represent one of those varying missions for an LD to get in very close. If the correct Wormhole is found that leads to Bolthole, is it possible for an LD to skulk in very close and ... 'Surprise! Everyone put your hands up! Push any buttons and you die.' The people in ACS need time to delete files. These people are civilians, and civilians cannot be expected to be trained, or be so quick, to sacrifice their life for an ideal. I suppose that these personnel should be retired naval personnel. But I wouldn't bank on it.
At any rate, shit happens!
.
.
.
.
The artist formerly known as cthia.
Now I can talk in the third person.
