What am I doing here? he found himself wondering. I should be at the Village, watching vids and eating soft foods.

Heath had the presence of mind to stall desperately. “Maybe your damnable associate is responsible. Difficult as it is to believe, perhaps she has had a crisis of conscience and has chosen to intervene.”

“Ashili?” Praxedes chuckled softly. “Not likely.”

Heath clung to the notion. “Maybe she’s affected the ship’s programming somehow. Of course, you could ask her, but she’s not here, is she? She hasn’t come back.”

Iranaputra picked up the refrain. “Maybe she has decided she does not wish to associate with you anymore.”

Praxedes’ grin faded. “Shut up. Both of you. Ashili’s perfectly executed a difficult assignment. She’s going through normal post-conclusive syndrome. I’m the one who told her to take a walk to calm herself down. She’s sorting out her thoughts, that’s all.” His eyes flicked toward the entrance to the great room. “She’ll be back momentarily.

“Besides, the ship responds only to the five of you. She assured me of that.”

“What if something’s changed, old maggot?” Now Heath was the one doing the smiling.

Praxedes hesitated, then addressed the Autothor. “What about it, ship? Has that changed? Or do you still only respond to directives from these five?”

“That has not changed,” the floating blue ellipse replied.

“Ah.” Praxedes relaxed afresh. “You see? Wherever Ashili is, she’s not affecting the situation here.” Once more he gestured with his weapon. “Ask it again.”

Heath complied. The Autothor’s response was unchanged.

Bassan released Gelmann’s head. “There is a problem here, sir, but I don’t think it’s one of deception on the prisoners’ part.”

“Agreed.” Praxedes spoke to Heath. “Probe. Ask it why it can’t comply.”

Heath shrugged. “Ask it yourself. As long as it’s not an order, it should respond to you.”

Praxedes nodded, turned to the blue ellipse. “Is there a problem with your drive?”

“No. Ship’s propulsive systems are fully operational.”

“Then why can’t you comply with his request?” He gestured in Heath’s direction.

“Because other requisite actions have assumed precedence.”

The commando nodded to himself. This he understood. “Very well. Will the delay in compliance be brief?”

“Possibly.”

“There, you see?” Praxedes regarded his fellow operatives. “There’s no problem here. How long a delay do you anticipate before you can comply with the request to move?”

“At this moment I cannot give a specific time frame. It will depend on the outcome.”

Iranaputra frowned. “The outcome? The outcome of what?”

“Why, the forthcoming battle, of course.”

“What battle?” Praxedes shifted uneasily. “What’s happening? Is one of the fleets approaching?”

“You are preparing to fight,” Iranaputra declared decisively. “That is why you cannot move now.”

“Affirmative. I am presently initiating a defensive posture. Defensive programming supersedes any and all peripheral directives.”

“Who’s attacking?” Bassan looked nervous. “Which league?”

“The approaching vessels from which I infer possible hostile intent are not nearby.” The deep turquoise blue of the Autothor was intense.

“Must be the Eeck.” Argolo picked at her shirt. “Or maybe the Victorians. It would make sense for a latecomer to try a direct assault in an attempt to compensate for tardiness and ignorance.”

“Doesn’t matter who it is.” Praxedes addressed the Autothor with a confidence he didn’t entirely feel. “You can handle them just like you did the Chakans, right?”

“I am not positive. Though I am sensible of my power, I am still only one ship against an armada.”

“How many ships in this hostile force?” Heath’s own curiosity had been aroused. “A hundred? Two?” That would represent the combined strength of the First Federals and the Keiretsu, he knew.

There was a pause, then, “I apprehend more than a thousand.”

Praxedes gaped at the turquoise ellipse, his companions, then the Autothor again. “No such fleet exists! There aren’t that many warships in existence.”

“Incorrect observation,” the Autothor responded tersely. “There is something else of interest. Though the range is extreme and precise analysis difficult, I estimate that this represents only an advance scouting force. There is a tachyspace disturbance farther out which hints at the presence of a much larger main body.”

“Scouting force.” Bassan was gazing dumbly at the drifting Blueness, all thoughts of interrogation forgotten. Under the weight of the Autothor’s words a great many things were forgotten.

Hawkins sprang to his feet, something he hadn’t done in years. “Where’re they from? Who can put out a thousand ships as a scouting force?”

“I’d think that intuitively obvious. What do you think I was built for?”

Admiral Sobran of the First Federal Federation was standing as he stared intently. “Where are they now?” Before him the warlo image displayed distant stars among which swarmed hundreds of points of light, like a hive of electric bees.

An analyst replied with figures, to which the admiral nodded slowly. The advancing formation was impressive for more than size. It hung together with almost mechanical precision.

“Any attempts at communication?”

Another officer responded. “Apparently there was a survey vessel run out from the Roosevelts that got close enough to take some visuals. The … aliens didn’t react. It’s assumed they were studying it as intently as it was studying them. They didn’t linger long in the vicinity.”

“Not surprising.”

“I’ve been analyzing the preliminary information, sir. These new intruders don’t look anything like the artifact presently in lunar orbit. Some of their ships are big, but the information indicates nothing approaching it in mass. They also differ greatly in appearance, both from the artifact and from human-built craft. According to the information provided by the survey vessel, they are constructed to dozens, maybe even hundreds, of different designs.” She swallowed. “Of course, there are a lot more of them.”

“More aliens. Different aliens.” Sobran wished fervently he was back at his desk instead of drifting ignorantly halfway between the Earth and its moon trying to deal with an alien visitation of inconceivable magnitude. “A few days ago we were convinced there were no such things. Now all of a sudden we find out that the neighborhood’s crowded.”

“They’re coming in fast, sir.” Another tech looked up from his station. “They’ve already passed a couple of independents.”

“Any reaction?”

“Didn’t stop to try and communicate, fight, or do anything at all. Didn’t even slow down. Unless they shift direction in tachy, they’re coming this way.”