"Perhaps it's time to talk terms," said Rue in the most self-assured voice she could muster. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mike Bequith's eyebrows shoot up, then he smiled dazzlingly at her.
"Captain Cassels," Crisler said in a tired voice, "were those your ships?"
"Indeed they were, Admiral," she replied. "But not all of my ships. If you or one of your men could find an external camera and aim it at your own newly arrived allies, you might see something more."
Crisler gestured impatiently to one of the marines. The man narrowed his eyes, and another inscape window opened.
Moments later a new inscape window bloomed. This was probably transmitting from one of the cameras on the outside of the cycler because the picture was grainy and ill-focused; the camera was at the limit of its zoom. Still, it showed enough to make Rue feel a rush of relief.
There were the rest of Crisler's ships. Three were mirrored spheres, each twice as large as the Lasa habitat of the Envy. The last was little more than a girder framework with dozens of cargo balloons attached to it.
And closing fast on the ships were all thirteen of Rue's remaining interceptors.
"My men have just taken out the Banshee," she said. "Unless you and your men surrender immediately, the rest of my ships are going to cut yours to pieces."
Crisler looked terribly weary. "Just how did you get here? Those aren't like any ships I've seen before. And is that Lasa writing on them?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you anything, Admiral. But as you can see, I'm not just here with a little band of… what did you call us? Pirates? As you saw, we've got some short-range interceptors. Obviously, they had to come from somewhere…"
The admiral glowered. "No deal," he said finally. "I've accomplished my mission here already. This ship appears to be leaving, and so we'll be leaving with it. Once the cycler is underway, we'll have it create a habitat large enough to house all of us comfortably. Then we'll steer her back to Chandaka. Those little interceptors of yours can't stop us— this entire system is full of laser defenses. They hit anything that threatens the construction cylinder— and what do you bet they protect this cycler as well?"
He shook his head. "Regrettable that I have to lose my other ships. But it's an acceptable loss."
To Rue's surprise, Professor Herat raised his hand. "Admiral, this might be the time to mention that there isn't enough power in this system to actually launch a cycler."
"Of course there is," snapped Crisler. "They launched the Envy from here. And this ship, as you can see, is on its way."
One of the inscape windows showed the glowing wreckage of the Banshee dwindling behind them. Rue noticed that everyone had begun to drift toward one wall of the sphere: They were starting to accelerate.
"Sir," said the marine who had been controlling the inscape windows. "I've located a signal originating from Captain Cassels."
"Disable her suit radio," said Crisler. "That's it then," he said when the marine had finished. "Cassels, I am going to bring home the means to end the rebellion. I'll have the Chicxulub weapon adapted to hunt the rebels anywhere they go. After we let the ships loose, we grow, they whither. It's as simple as that."
"But the rebels use alien technology," said Katz. His voice was strained. "How can you target the rebels without also hitting the aliens?"
The admiral shrugged. "Collateral damage. The professor here should know," he said to Herat, "that all our overtures to them failed anyway. Humanity has no friends in this universe. If they won't be our allies, then they're vermin."
"But once the genie's out of the bottle, how do you stop it? The ships will continue to breed, they'll always be out there…"
Crisler shook his head. "That's where R.E. technology comes into it. We intend to adapt the ships so that they and all their systems are reliant on microtransactions with a Rights Owner. In order to breed, they'll have to contact us for permission."
Mike laughed humorlessly. "And you'll be the Rights Owner… of an entire fleet of warships."
The admiral nodded. "Any good plan has room in it for both altruism and self-interest, Dr. Bequith. This is a good plan."
He waved to the marines by the door. "Take the prisoners outside. You can use them for target practice."
Rue caught Mike's eye, and nodded. He reached behind him.
"No!" shouted Katz. He jumped at Crisler and for just a second he had the admiral by the throat. Then his own momentum carried him past. There was a bright flash and he screamed. When he hit the far wall and bounced away, he was limp.
"If anyone else tries—" Crisler started to say, but at that moment a swarm of hissing, buzzing things rose from behind Mike Bequith and flew straight at the marines.
"Bots!" shouted one marine, as he tried to bring his laser to bear. Four flying beads landed on the laser itself, and began vibrating madly. He shouted and let go of the smoking rifle.
Then Michael Bequith was struggling with him, trying to get the taser at his belt. Rue saw Barendts leap forward too, and the small chamber erupted into combat. Rue dove out of the way of a laser shot, only to collide with one of the researchers.
"Tasers only!" shrieked Crisler as a stray beam burned a line down the leg of his suit.
People were boiling everywhere, kicking each other in their haste to escape the chamber. Rue found herself propelled in the direction of the control sphere. She grabbed its crystalline edge, and pulled herself inside.
Instantly stars bloomed around her. Since crafting the controls systems of the Envy, Rue had spent many hours in her own cycler's cockpit, so she was instantly familiar with this one. Quickly, with one eye on the mayhem outside, she zoomed the view out.
Osiris and Apophis made twin walls on either side of her. At her navel was the cycler, and a meter away the construction shack had returned to its normal cylindrical shape. Next to it a tiny version of the Banshee was drifting, gutted and dark. The two interceptors waited near it.
She moved her hands within the hologram to call up the cycler's flight plan. The Twins zoomed out, becoming small spheres, and now a curved line showed the cycler's course. It was going to whip closely around Osiris, and then accelerate outward…
In exactly the opposite direction to Chandaka. If somehow the machinery here were able to accelerate this ship up to the same velocity as the Envy— eighty-five percent light-speed— it would take it a decade or more to cycle back to Chandaka. No, Crisler would choose another destination. There must be another lit world closer on this course… In a moment, she had it. She knew where Crisler would abandon the cycler and return to High Space.
An arm reached into the sphere and dragged her out. She started to fight, then saw that it was Mike. "Come on!" he shouted. "We've got to get out now!"
Smoke had filled the chamber, which was still full of struggling forms. She followed Mike to the exit and out, to find herself with the rest of her crew, and most of the science team, in the balloon-hab. Herat, of all people, was standing over the entrance, firing into the smoke with a laser rifle.
"This way!" It was Harp, gesturing from an airlock opposite to the one that led to the hibernation cocoons.