Infinity's Shore

“The small ships are trying evasive maneuvers, but it’s doing no good,” Ling said. “The missiles are closing in.”

Rety

SHE CURSED THE DROSS SHIP, FOR NOT GIVING HER control.

She cursed Gillian Baskin and the dolphins, for putting her in a position where she had no choice but to escape from their incompetence into this impossible trap.

She cursed the Jophur for sending missiles after this decoy flotilla, instead of expertly finding the right prey.

Above all, Rety swore an oath at herself. For in the end, she had no one else to blame.

Her teaching unit explained the symbols representing those deadly arrows, now clearly visible in the display, catching up fast.

One by one, the ships behind hers met their own avenging predators. Surprisingly, the amber pinpoints did not snuff out, but turned crimson instead. Each then drifted backward, toward a meeting with the big red dot.

The Jophur did not swallow their captives. That would take too much time. Instead, they were snagged at the end of a chain — like a tadpole’s tail — that waved behind the mighty ship.

Rety wondered. Maybe they don’t want to kill, after all. Maybe they just want prisoners!

If so, Rety would be prepared. She held yee with one arm, and the teaching unit with the other, setting it to begin teaching her Galactic Two — Jophur dialect.

When her own missile arrived, Rety was calmer than she expected.

“Don’t worry, yee,” she said, stroking her little husband. “We’ll find somethin’ they want, an’ make a deal. Just you wait an’ see.”

With desperate confidence, she held on as the ancient Buyur vessel suddenly quivered and shook. In moments, the motors’ grating drone cut off … and then so did the downward tug of the deck beneath her. In its place, a gentler pull seemed to draw her toward the nose of the disabled ship.

The lights went out. But Rety could see a bit. Stepping and sliding carefully along the slanted floor and walls, she followed the source of illumination to an unobstructed viewing port, where she peered outside and saw a world of pale yellow dawn.

yee commented dryly.

“beats being dead, i guess.”

Rety agreed. “I guess.” Then she shrugged.

“At least we’ll see, one way or t’other.”

Gillian

I FOUND A LIBRARY REFERENCE. THEY ARE CALLED capture boxes,” the Niss explained. “This weapon offers a clever solution to the Jophur dilemma.”

“How do you figure?” Gillian asked.

“We thought we had them in an awkward situation, where they must come close and inspect every decoy in order to find us. A cumbersome, time-consuming process.

“But this way, the Jophur need only get near enough to dispatch special missiles. They can then move on, dragging a string of captives behind them.”

“Won’t all that additional mass slow them down?” asked Kaa, the pilot.

“Yes, and that works in our favor. Alas, not enough to make up for the advantage this technique gives them.”

Gillian shook her head. “Too bad we didn’t know about this in time to incorporate it in our plans.”

The Niss answered with a defensive tone. “Great clans can access weaponry files spanning a billion years of Galactic history.”

Silence reigned on the bridge, until Sara Koolhan spoke, her voice transposed by the amplifying faceplate of her helmet.

“What happens if we get caught by a missile?”

“It creates a field related to the toporgic cage your Six Races found enveloping the Rothen ship. Of course that one was meters thick, and missiles cannot carry that much pseudo-material. The chief effect of a capture box is to suppress digital cognizance.”

Sara looked confused, so Gillian explained.

“Digital computers are detectable at a distance, and can be suppressed by field-effect technologies. A principal reason why organic life-forms dominate the Five Galaxies, instead of machines.

“Unfortunately, this means our decoys can be disabled easily, by enclosing them in a thin shell of warped spacetime.”

“Indeed, it seems an ideal weapon to use against resurrected starships lacking crews. The Jophur may be malign and limited in many ways, but they do not lack for skill or reasoning power.”

Sara nodded. “You mean the method won’t work as well against Streaker?”

“Exactly,” Gillian said. “We’ll prepare our computers to stand a temporary shutdown without inconvenience—”

“Speak for yourself,” the Niss muttered.

“As soon as the capture box surrounds us, organic crew members can use simple tools to dissolve it from the inside. Estimated period of shutdown, Niss?”

The hologram whirled.

“I wish we had better data from the expedition the sooners sent to the Rothen vessel. They reported major quantum effects from a toporgic layer meters thick.

“But the Jophur missiles will cast thin bubbles. If prepared, crews should burst us free in mere minutes.”

A happy sigh escaped Kaa and several dolphins. But then the Niss Machine went on.

“Unfortunately, when we pop the bubble, it will alert the Jophur which captured vessel contains living prey. After that, our restored freedom will be brief indeed.”

Dwer