Cook, Glen - Starfishers 03 by Cook Glen

Author:Cook, Glen [Cook, Glen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Book Three

STARS’ END

Twenty-one: 3050 AD

The Main Sequence

The lights came on. McClennon, Mouse, and Amy sat in silence. The tapes had been grotesque. Storm

finally squeaked, “Admiral . . . That’s really what we’re up against?”

McClennon peered at Amy. She met his gaze for an instant. “Moyshe,” she whispered, “I think I’m

going to be sick.”

“It is,” Beckhart promised Mouse. “It’s tough to swallow. Even when you’re there yourself. All that

ruthlessness, for no discernible purpose, only makes it more frightening”

McClennon took Amy’s hand. It was cool. She was shaking. “You need something?”

“I’ll be all right. Just give me a minute.”

McClennon turned, “Admiral. I’ve seen that kind of ship before.”

“What? Where? How?” Beckhart came toward McClennon like a tiger stalking game. He seemed to

have caught a sudden fever. A haze appeared on his upper lip. “Where?” he breathed.

“The Seiners have one at their xeno-archaeological research facility. You remember, Amy? I asked if it

had been built by an intelligent slug? The one nobody wanted to work.”

“That’s right. You’re right, Moyshe, It was exactly like the ships in the tape.”

“Tell me about it,” Beckhart said.

“There isn’t much to tell,” McClennon replied. “The Seiners found it in the Nebula. They considered it

comparatively modern. They found it surrounded by ships left behind by the people they think built Stars’

End. The same people who, I think, built the base Darkside. They assumed the ship had been attacked by

accident during the Ulantonid War. I said its crew might have been studying the ships belonging to the

Stars’ End race. That’s all.”

Beckhart became thoughtful. “That isn’t all, Thomas. There’s always more. You just don’t know it. Is

there a connection? Think about it. Stars’ End might be more than just a handy arsenal.”

Beckhart was talking to himself, not his audience, McClennon smiled. The Admiral was making the sort

of random connections that, when they paid off, caused him to be so effective.

“Thomas, I want you and Amy to talk to Doctor Chancellor’s people. They came off the Lunar digs.

There might be an angle.”

“They should get together with Amy’s friend, Consuela el-Sanga. She’s more knowledgeable than we

are.”

“Fine. Fine. We’ll arrange that. Meantime, get your brains boiling. Open them up to unexpected

possibilities . . . Tell you what. We’ll have another little get-together after dinner. With them included.

Marathon brought me some new material. I’ll lay it out then.”

McClennon caught a bleak note. “Bad, eh?”

“Worse than you’ve seen.”

Beckhart used the evening session to present the report from the Ulantonid deep probe. Afterward, he

asked, “Any speculations, people?”

The science people were guarded. They wanted more data. McClennon asked, “Did Luna Command run

that through the big brain?”

“Yes. And it asked for more data too. I think it has a human bias built in. It wouldn’t accept the

numbers. It suggested that Commander Russell be replaced by somebody less inclined to exaggerate.”

“Looks to me like there’s enough data to draw some first approximation inferences. Like, the Globular

and war fleets represent an effort to destroy any present and potential sentience. It looks like an effort to eliminate competition and remodel the galaxy for the comfort of one race.

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