Starplex

Parameters: Individuals under house arrest are denied access to all work areas; PHANTOM will not open doors for them to such. areas. They are also forbidden to use external communication equipment and to give PHANTOM commands above level-four housekeeping. Understand?"

"Yes. Protocol established."

"Record the following: As of this moment — 0752 hours — and effective until terminated personally by me, Jag Kanclaro em-Pelsh is under house arrest."

"Acknowledged."

Keith's voice was controlled. "Now you may leave the bridge."

Jag folded both sets of arms behind his back again. "I don't believe you have the right to bar me from this room."

"A moment ago, you wanted to leave," said Keith. "Of course, that was back when you had the authority to launch a shuttle, and escape to the armada."

Rhombus had left the External-Ops station and had rolled near to the director's console. Lights played over his sensor web, and the web's strands had turned yellow, the color of rage. "I support Keith," said the cool British voice. "You have undermined everything we have worked for. Leave the bridge voluntarily, Jag, or I will eject you."

"You can't do that. It is against the operating code to assault a fellow sentient." Rhombus began rolling toward Jag, a living steamroller.

"Just watch me," he said.

Jag stood defiarit a moment longer. Rhombus closed more of the distance between them, his quartz-rimmed wheels glinting in the starlight of the all-encompassing hologram. The Ib's ropelike tentacles were lifted from their usual bundle, darting in the air like angry snakes. Jag finally turned on his heel. The starfield in front of him split open, and he marched out. The door closed.

Keith nodded thanks to Rhombus, then: "Thor, status of the Waldahud ships?"

Thoraid Magnor looked over his shoulder at Keith. "Assuming they've got nothing better than standard police lasers, they will be within effective range in three minutes."

"How long until our own ships are ready for launch?"

Rhombus's lights blinked out a reply as he rolled back to his workstation. "Two are ready to go now; the other three — grant me another four minutes."

"I want to launch all five at once. Everything goes out the door in two hundred and forty seconds." '

"Will do."

"We'll still be outnumbered, eight to five," said Thor.

Keith frowned. "I know that, but it's only our five fastest ships that are set up for dolphin pilots. Rhombus, as soon as our ships are clear of our docking bays, I want full power to our force screens. Cut the engines; divert everything to the screens."

"Will do."

"Lianne," said Keith, "I want to put a message for Tau Ceti in another watson. Shoot this one out a mass-driver tube. Send it on a transfer orbit that'll take it to the shortcut under momentum only; I want it to fly all the way there without using power."

"It'll take a watson three days to get to the shortcut that way;" Lianne said.

"I'm aware of that. Calculate the trajectory. How long do I have until our ships launch?"

"Two-point-five minutes," said Rhombus.

Keith nodded, and touched the privacy button that erected four double force-screen walls around his workstation, creating a sound-killing vacuum gap.

"PHANTOM," he said, "search all computer records for research done by Gaf Kandaro em-Weel and his associates, especially for material that's never been translated from

Waldahudar."

"Searching. Found."

"Display titles and abstracts in English."

Keith scanned the screen in front of him. "Download into a watson articles two, nineteen, and — let's see, better add twenty-one, as well. Encrypt everything under the password

Kassabian: K-A-S-S-A-B-I-A-N. Record the following, and add it to the watson as an unencrypted message:

"Keith Lansing to Valentina Ilianov, Provost, New Beijing.

Val, we're under attack by Waldahud ships, and I wouldn't be surprised if you're under attack soon, too. I have learned that there is a theoretical way to destroy a shortcut, by flattening spacetime around it, preventing it from anchoring in normal space.

If a Waldahud invasion force seems likely to overwhelm your fleet, perhaps you will want to consider destroying your shortcut exit.

Doing so will, of course, effectively isolate Sol/Epsilon Indi/Tu Ceti from the rest of the galaxy, and give the Walciahudin forces no way to retreat. Think long and hard before you do this, old end. The procedure can be gleaned from the articles appended to this message.

I've encrypted them. The key is the last name of that woman we both fancied on New New York all those years ago. End."

"Done," said PHANTOM.

Keith tapped a key. The privacy force screens vanished.

"Launch the watson, Lianne, he said.

"Doing so."

Keith watched the tiny canister drift away from Starplex.

His heart was pounding. If Val decided to use the technique, there was one other consequence that Keith hadn't spelled out: he and Rissa and the rest of those from Earth aboard Starplex would never see home again.

"Here we go," said Rhombus. "Five. Four. Three. Two.