"The thing works," he snapped.
"Yeah," said N'Drask, "yeah, but... maybe it works too well. Like, it gave the Kadirian holos some kind of, well, some kind of bug that they passed on to the Kobali colonists -"
"That's crazy talk," said Ge'Sirn. "Those holos are specifically designed not to interact with normal biologies. There's no way they could pass anything to anybody."
"So tell the Alphans that," said N'Drask, "because, right now, they won't believe you. They are after you. We've got to cut some kind of a deal -"
"We will do," said Ge'Sirn firmly. "Look. I'm on my way to the meeting now. I'm going to get at least another dozen ship captains in on this, and we're going to form a consortium to develop this project. Once we've got an agreement, then we'll decide how to deal with the Alphans. And I'll tell you this much, it is not going to involve us lying down for any sort of Federation oversight or interference. Right?" He shifted his weight in the command chair. "Federation's not supposed to interfere with people anyway, yeah?"
"That's what they say," said N'Drask, "but, believe me, some of them are pragmatists, not idealists."
"That's OK," said Ge'Sirn. "That's good. We can negotiate with realists. With any luck, we can negotiate from a position of strength. That's always the best way. Are you going to make it to the rendezvous?"
"This business with the Federation's hit my schedule." N'Drask sighed heavily. "I'll try, but -"
"Yeah, well, don't burn out your warp drive," said Ge'Sirn. "You and me have got a deal already, so your cut's guaranteed. I'll tell the others what you've told me, about the Feds. They need to know, anyway."
N'Drask nodded. "I just hope you know what you're doing," he said, and cut the channel before Ge'Sirn could reply. The viewscreen filled with the image of streaking stars, as the ship plunged on at maximum warp speed.
Ge'Sirn stood up, and strode to the steep access ladder down to the pilot's compartment. "Status?" he demanded.
"On course and speed. Relax, we'll get there," the pilot called up.
Ge'Sirn grunted. "Got to figure out how to play this," he muttered to himself. Negative attention, at this stage, from the Alphans' most self-righteous faction... was something he could do without. But the actualizer worked, it was a genuine technological advance - it shouldn't be hard to sell his fellow Hazari captains on that. Hazari were realists.
"Got a contact on approach," an officer called out from the other side of the bridge.
Ge'Sirn turned his head. "One of ours?"
"Negative. Drive radiation profile is off... I'll have a match in a second." The officer started. "Wait a minute. Incoming hail."
Ge'Sirn strode back to the command chair and took his seat. "Let's have it."
The starfield on the viewer blinked out, to be replaced - Ge'Sirn's eyes widened in shock. The face on the viewer sneered at him.
"Ge'Sirn of the Hazari. I am Tuarak of the Vaadwaur. I have spent some time and effort in looking for you, so do not do anything that requires further exertion on my part. You have a weapon that I find interesting. You will surrender it."
Ge'Sirn sat motionless for a moment, calculating his chances. "The actualizer isn't any sort of weapon -" he began.
"It is a tool, and any tool can be a weapon. If you waste my time in splitting hairs, you will regret it, Ge'Sirn."
"You've got no idea how it works."
"How true. You will instruct me."
Ge'Sirn gestured to the officer, who cut the channel. The screen went blank.
"Single interdictor cruiser... probably enough," the officer said. "What are we going to do? If we run for the rendezvous point, the others might help -"
"Oh, they might," said Ge'Sirn. "Or they might not. We don't have a deal with them yet, and if I come to the meeting dragging a Vaadwaur behind me -" He thought fast, came to a decision. "Take us out of warp, come about, weapons hot."
"We're fighting them? Those interdictors are tough -"
"Yeah, well." Ge'Sirn's leathery face creased in a grim smile. "He thinks the actualizer is a weapon, right? So let's use it that way."
---
On the bridge of the Bereit, Tuarak slammed his fist into the armrest of the command chair. "He cut me off before I had finished speaking," he snarled. "I will not countenance such disrespect from a lesser species. For that alone, I will pull his liver out through his mouth... once I am finished with him."
"Hazari ship is coming about and arming weapons," Sarn reported.
"Oh, he wishes to play, now, does he?... Engage without reservations. Hazari are bound to each other by ties of personal loyalty. Slaughter enough of his crew, and Ge'Sirn must surrender to preserve the lives of the remainder. Temporarily."
"Locking weapons. Polaron barrage programmed. Engagement range in three minutes." Sarn knew better than to debate with his commander when he was in this mood.
On the screen, the elegant silvery arrowhead of the Hazari ship was swinging around to point itself straight towards the oncoming Vaadwaur ship. "Such a sleek design," said Tuarak, "so graceful, so streamlined.... Weapons. Spoil it."
The first volley of polaron fire gouted from the Bereit's projectors. On the screen, dazzling pinpricks of light flashed back towards them - corrosive plasma bolts from the Hazari's cannons. "Damage control parties, stand ready," Tuarak ordered. "Deal with all plasma fires promptly."
The boiling shockwaves of the multiple polaron blasts almost obscured Ge'Sirn's ship, but Tuarak could still make out the flares as the Hazari's shields were stressed to their limits. He permitted himself a cold smile. Ge'Sirn's shields were in tatters already, and this was barely the start of the engagement -
"Sir." Sarn's voice. "Science division reports something strange - the Hazari's energy utilization profile -"
"What about it?"
"Power is not being committed fully to either weapons or shields." Sarn indicated the Bereit's own damage control boards, which showed the Hazari plasma fire was barely warming up the forward shield. "He is diverting power somewhere else -"
"To run, perhaps."
"No, sir. He did not attempt to avoid engagement. Sir -"
"Energy spikes!" another officer shouted out. "Something is happening -"
"Specifics," Tuarak snarled.
On the screen, the embattled Hazari ship was suddenly surrounded by a multitude of points of light, a swarm of sparks that swept forwards, towards the Bereit. "Reading multiple holo-signatures -" the science officer began.
"Holograms!" Tuarak laughed. "He seeks to overwhelm us with holograms!"
Then the deck lurched, and the lights on the bridge flickered. "Incoming energy fire," Sarn reported. "Shield strength dropping. Hull damage reported on decks two and six."
"Close-range polaron barrage," Tuarak ordered. "Clear those things out of the way."
"Firing." Space rippled with polaron blasts, and Sarn frowned. "They're still there. Curious. That blast should have put paid to normal holograms -"
"Then fire again!" And, again, the Bereit shuddered.
"Getting readings," the science officer shouted out. "Sir, these aren't normal holograms - the signatures are operating on frequencies I've never seen before."
"Ge'Sirn's materialized something like... a group of those swarmers from the Dyson Spheres," said Sarn. "But the weapons...."
"What about the weapons?" There were warning lights on the damage control board, and Tuarak could see the Hazari ship, obstinately not crippled yet, swinging around to bring its weapons to bear on the Bereit's flank. "Steer one four eight mark two! Keep him in our forward arc! And reinforce screens!"
"Weapons frequencies are - unfamiliar," said Sarn. "It's like antiproton fire, which we'd expect from Solanae swarmers - but it's accompanied by subspace harmonics outside normal ranges." Sarn's head snapped up, and he turned to Tuarak. "It's outside the normal range of our shields!"
"Compensate," Tuarak spat.
"Trying to.... Sir, the resilience of those holograms is much higher than we'd expect from normal photonics. Our barrages are barely scratching them. And they're not moving like normal swarmers, either. Target prediction and acquisition is barely twenty per cent of normal."
"Reprogram the target predictors!"
And then, on the screen, the Hazari ship's cannons erupted into a blaze of white-gold light - and the image on the screen wavered and flickered, and the Bereit rocked. Consoles on the bridge started to explode, burned out by transient surges along the EPS grid. Warning lights flashed in greater and greater profusion on the main board.
"Forward cannons offline," Sarn reported. "Re-routing the control links now. Sir, he's brought his weapons power up to full. We have hull breaches and plasma fires on decks three through ten -"
"Where is damage control?"
"All parties working at full capacity. Sir, we can't rotate shield frequencies to block both Ge'Sirn's conventional weapons and the exotic stuff from the swarmers -"
The Bereit rocked again. Somewhere, there was a faint but terrifying sound - the voiceless shriek of an atmosphere leak. Tuarak sat motionless, only his eyes moving, his gaze darting between the viewscreen, the main tactical display, the damage control board -
It seemed to take an age before he spoke again. "Drive status?"
"Some damage to starboard nacelle, but we still have warp capacity."
"Use it. Break off the engagement. Retreat."
There was naked relief in Sarn's voice as he said, "Yes, sir."
The Bereit swung around, presenting a relatively intact shield facing to the barrage from the Hazari ship. "Maximum evasive. And another barrage, everything we can spare, to drive those things away from us," Tuarak snapped. His eyes were burning.
"Maximum evasive. Disengaging."
Another burst of plasma fire from the Hazari ship tore at the Bereit's aft screen. The ship seemed to shiver as power fluctuated for a second in the damaged nacelle. Then the Vaadwaur ship tore itself out of the swarming cloud of holograms, and raced out of engagement range.
"The Hazari is not pursuing," Sarn reported. "He took heavy damage -"
"That is no consolation," said Tuarak. He glared at Sarn through the smoky air of the bridge. "Forced to flee. I have been forced to flee, from holograms, from phantoms, from illusions. There will be a reckoning for this. There must be."
"We have detailed combat readings. We can develop countermeasures -"
"Yes. No doubt. Some adaptation of the Hierarchy electromagnetic pulse weapons, perhaps. Research it." Tuarak hunched his shoulders, seeming to withdraw into himself. "Countermeasures. Yes. We will have them... and we will have Ge'Sirn's weapon. We will take it. And I swear, Ge'Sirn will face my vengeance. I will make it inventive." He was whispering, almost crooning, to himself alone. "I will visit a death upon him that no one has ever imagined before...."
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