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very well there s a war on.
And they re looking to bring it on home to us.
Moving out, aye, sir, the helmsman answered.
He moved them forward, looking for the heaviest patch of neutrino signatures
he could find.
I m seeing some activity, Commander, Gunderson said. There s a squadron of
ships headed our way. They re broadcasting a message.
Send a recording to Mr. Ticknor with my compliments, Peter said. Tell him I
need a translation ASAP.
Aye, sir.
Raeder tapped his fingers and considered their situation. If these were
peaceable non-
Fibian folk the
Invincible roaring into their territory with weapons hot couldn t look good.
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On the other hand, if they were blood-sucking Fibians and Fibians literally
sucked then who cared? What was the likelihood of finding two space-faring
sentient species in the same war?
Conversely, these could be some peaceful breed of Fibian. . . .
By the same token, there s no evidence whatsoever that Fibians understand the
meaning of the word peaceable.
Sir, Rivera, the com-tech said, Mr. Ticknor would like a word with you.
Put him through. Raeder nodded to the linguist when his image came on the
screen, pleased that Ticknor had taken his warning seriously. You have
something for me? he said.
Yes, Commander. They re asking us to identify ourselves. Specifically they
want to know what clan we are.
Clan?
Can you make me up a message that tells them we are being pursued by
hostiles?
Raeder asked.
Yes . . . but what about this question about clans? Ticknor looked anxiously
out of the screen at him. That could be important.
I have no doubt that it is, Mr. Ticknor. But we have to survive to find out
more. Get me that message so that we can broadcast it. If we don t they ll
fire on us, Mr. Ticknor. And that would be bad.
Especially since I think that s two battlecruisers and their destroyer screen,
or Fibian equivalent.
The
Invincible could outrun most things it couldn t fight. It couldn t outrun a
battlecruiser for long, not with the state their engines were in, nor fight
two of them. Or even one, with the carrier s depleted Speed squadrons.
Yes, it would, Sirgay answered through clenched teeth. Should I ask them
not to shoot, or perhaps ask them for help?
Asking them not to shoot sounds good, the commander said. Asking for help
could get us into trouble further down the line.
Ticknor turned to his console and carefully spoke the words they d agreed on.
I ll just run this by my associate, he said.
Peter s brows shot up. Who?
It was one of those serendipitous things, the linguist said. He waved a
hand. It s complicated. But he s willing to work with me on this translation
stuff. Sirgay turned away for a moment, then came back. He says it s fine if
we send it out blind, by which he means audio only. There are complex gestures
that should go along with the message, but if they can t see you they ll read
them as given.
I have the message at com, sir, Rivera called out.
Thank you, Mr. Ticknor. Raeder took a real look at him for the first time
since they d
started talking. The circles under his eyes were so deep the man looked like a
raccoon. I m probably going to be calling on you a great deal in the next few
hours. Are you going to be all right?
Ticknor grimaced. I guess I should have slept some while we were in jump, he
said. But the work had to get done . . . and I was feeling sort of, not
exactly nauseated . . . Half a dozen people nodded unconsciously. He
shrugged. I ll do my best, Commander.
Thank you, Mr. Ticknor. But at the first opportunity I think you d better get
some rest.
That s very kind of you, sir. But, I m
I want to keep a line open with you, Mr. Ticknor, in case we get any further
messages. So
I m going to hand you over to Tech Rivera. Raeder out.
I hated to do that, Peter thought, but he d go on for hours if I let him.
Send out that message, he said to Rivera. But give a little static to make
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it seem our com has been damaged. Keep us on this course, Mr. Goldberg.
Maintain heading, aye, sir.
Raeder s screen split. Part of it showed the oncoming Fibian patrol, mere
computer-
generated dots at this distance. The other half showed the jump point behind
them. His mind was split, too. Part of him wondered if Skinner and his people
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