"By the alternate tracks?" Opaline asked. "You do know how to handle them, Fifth?"
"Affirmation. We merely need to select the proper one and focus on it."
"Without undue delay," Havoc said.
"Wouldn't it be better for you two Glamors to do it?" Opaline asked plaintively. "You are both martial artists.
You know about battles and things."
"I am maintaining the privacy shield around this station," Havoc said. "So the machines will not suspect what we are doing."
"I am maintaining the connection with my brother," Flame said. "So we can see the scene he is sending."
"So the two of us are the only ones free to devote full attention to the choices," Fifth said.
"Nervousness," Opaline said.
"The paths indicate that this is the way it must be," Havoc said. "I admit to being a bit nervous myself. But we have to trust the expertise of Voila and Idyll."
Suddenly it was there in the right screen: a screen within the screen, showing near space with machines ships blinking into existence as they emerged from the wormholes. First there were a few, then scores, then hundreds, then thousands. It was an overwhelming number!
But then the Coalition ships appeared between the machines fleet and the planets. Opaline knew that the distances were enormous, light seconds, rather than the compact assembly shown on the screen. It was effective nonetheless.
The machines ships were trying to move on to the planets, but the Coalition ships intercepted them. A ship that maintained a straight course in normal space would be a target for destructive lasers and even solid projectiles. So no ship flew straight; they followed moderately random paths that seemed to wriggle like snakes. But some shots scored, as the Coalition forces used near future paths to orient. Randomness could not avoid the actual perception of the ship's path in the future few seconds.
Some ships blew up. Others went dead. But the numbers were so great that these casualties were not nearly enough to make a significant difference.
Then several machines ships did something different. They changed course not to avoid the enemy but to attack their neighbors. Machines ships were getting crippled by machines ships.
"Oak," Opaline said with satisfaction. He had found the key controls mentally, guided by the Glamors, and pressed the buttons to convert the ships to agents of the Coalition.
But even this was not enough, because too few ships were taken over. The sheer numbers were still prevailing.
"If—if the Coalition loses this battle," Fifth said. "Then will Voila change her mind? To save the human culture?"
"Negation," Flame said. "She has made her decision. But the battle is not yet over."
They watched as the machines massed in the center, forcing the Coalition ships to retreat lest they be destroyed. The retreat soon became a rout. The battle was over soon after it began.
"We didn't even put up a decent fight," Fifth said, disgusted.
"But doesn't that fleet have Glamors supervising?" Opaline asked. "How could they just let this happen?"
Then things changed. A new contingent appeared following the machines ships, firing at them from behind.
They were trapped, unable to escape or to fight back effectively. Their fleet was decimated.
"Ancient Mongol ploy," Flame said. "Pretense of rout, to lure the enemy into foolish pursuit. It seems the machines are not scholars of Earth history."
"But there are still more machines ships than Coalition ships," Opaline said.
"And a Glamor is on the scene," Havoc said. "There will be other strategies, as imagination takes on brute force."
"All of which is a diversion," Flame said. "Now it is your turn."
Suddenly four machines ships blinked into sight within range of Charm and Counter Charm.
"Our turn?" Opaline asked uncertainly.
"Watch."
One of the ships veered into another, hard, causing both ships to explode. "Oak took it over!"
Opaline said. "And got the other."
But two ships still flew directly toward Charm. "They are loaded with contra-terrene matter, their controls now locked," Flame said. "A similar ship attacked planet Earth not long ago."
A disk appeared before one of the ships. It was a giant lens, focusing the light of Vivid on the ship. The hull melted. Then the ship exploded with a remarkable ferocity.
"When the hull melted, the CT core came into contact with the regular matter," Flame said.
"Total conversion of matter to energy."
"Wouldn't that take out the last ship too?" Fifth asked.
"There's not enough regular matter in it to make a sufficient explosion," Flame said. "But if one impacts Charm, there will be enough to fragment the planet."
And the last ship was still moving toward Charm.
Then it vanished. "Question?" Opaline asked.
"Shee discovered another Glamor talent," Havoc said. "She can generate spot wormholes at just about any location, expanding the potential wormholes that riddle space. She has been practicing doing it at a distance. Evidently she succeeded. That ship is now somewhere far away."
"Question?" Fifth asked.
"The first time she did it," Flame said, "the craft went to Andromeda Galaxy."
Opaline had to laugh, though it was mostly relief. "The folk there may be annoyed."
"Now the bad one," Havoc said grimly. "The paths indicate that you and Fifth must decide. Only if you agree will the planet be saved."
Opaline felt a chill. "Question?"
Then she saw four more machines ships appear.
"These can't be stopped the same way the others were," Flame said. "The machines are watching, and have secured the avenue Oak exploited before. He can't take out any of these."
"And they have heat shields against the lens," Havoc said.
"Which leaves Shee's wormholes," Flame said. "They can't stop those. She can take out one ship, or two, or three, but has only one chance in four to get all four before the last one impacts Charm. Rafal will show the four tracks. You must select the one."
"We'll choose the one that saves the planet," Fifth said.
"That is our hope," Havoc said.
"Hope?" Opaline asked, nettled. "Fifth and I may be synthetics, sent by the machines, but we favor life! Why would you doubt us?"
"The paths indicate the odds are even," Flame said. "Havoc and I must not interfere, lest the odds worsen. We depend on you."
"To save the planet, and therefore the human culture and maybe the Living Cultures Coalition?" Opaline felt her knees giving way. She didn't fall, because she was floating in free fall, but she would have.
Then something strange happened. There was a powerful alien presence in her head. I am Rafal, guided to you by Oak. Do you accept my imprint?
Opaline needed no time to consider. "Yes!"
Then the tentacular alien Glamor was inside her body and mind. I need your assistance, because I will be unable to maintain the alternate tracks from Charm when I am destroyed on three of them. I must operate from my home planet.
"Understanding," Opaline said. Then, seeing the others looking at her: "Rafal is with me, an imprint."
They nodded, accepting it.
I am becoming you, enhancing you, Rafal thought. That is as much as I can do. I can't choose for you.
"Understanding," she repeated, though she really didn't understand. She gazed at the twin screens. The one with the scene on Charm suddenly became blank light: the bomb had destroyed the planet. The one showing the planets from space showed four scenes. Three were expanding novas. One was the untouched planet in all its lovely colors.
The one that survived.
"That one, of course," Fifth said, indicating the intact one.
But Opaline, with the preternatural acuity lent by the Glamor imprint, noticed something odd. "Negation!"