SF Drabble #349 “Never Heard of Email”

“That’s ridiculous, you must have put the decimal point in the wrong place. That can’t be right.”

“No, ma’am, that’s the correct charge. The scale doesn’t make mistakes, it’s all automatic.”

“But…”

“Lady, it’s going to Mars. It has to be lifted into orbit and transferred into the Ball. When it’s all loaded up, the Ball’s fired into the low-energy transfer orbit. Then, when the Ball gets to Mars in eight months or so, the catapult there has to catch it. It’s all insanely expensive.”

“But it’s just books.”

“Books? You’re shipping books to Mars?”

“Yes, I—”

“Get out. Seriously.”