Mindgames

By Ellen I. Gorowitz

Andrei Savinov has two problems. As Peacekeeper of the Alliance of the Six, he is responsible for negotiations preserving the shaky truce between the Alliance and the Zoryan Hegemony following a twenty-five year war. But talks have started falling apart, and he doesn’t know why. He is exhausted from long years of fighting and afraid that, if he fails, the Alliance will not survive another war.

Then there’s his brother Nick, the fiery and charismatic leader of the rebellion of non-telepaths against the ruling class of telepaths on the human colony of Logos Prime, who is demanding that he do something to help. This is despite the fact that Andrei believes that he left Logos Prime and its mind games behind years ago when he joined the war against the Zoryans. Now that the rebellion has gotten hold of an implant that will make nontelepaths telepathic, a revolution may be in sight.

Can Andrei use the implant to resolve both his problems or will it destroy him in the process?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 20, 2009
• ISBN: 9781440140693

Ellen I. Gorowitz

Ellen Gorowitz knows something about predicting the future, as she has been picking stocks as a professional investment analyst for almost twenty years. She lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, outside Boston, with her family, including two dogs that look like space aliens.

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Copyright © 2009 by Ellen I. Gorowitz.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4401-4070-9 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-4401-4069-3 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 5/14/2009

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

To Vanessa and Leora

Prologue

Ashahr sent its mind’s eye into space, Searching for food.

It was always hungry. Even in the middle of devouring the life energy of its latest prey, the prey it had been dreaming about forever, it was thinking about its next meal.

It took time to set up the pattern that would bring Ashahr the life energy it needed. Mix a diverse population of sentients who didn’t like or trust each other, stir in the seeds of dissatisfaction and dissent, and turn them into hatred and rage. Then wait while events take their course: maybe a simple snack like a revolution, or maybe something more tasty and filling like a war. The energy released from the self-destruction of a planet—or, if Ashahr was lucky, an entire star system—would provide a transcendent meal. The problem was that nothing sated it for long, and then it was time to start Searching again…

The Alliance and the Hegemony were intriguing food for thought. The Alliance of the Six spanned not one star system but three, connected by corridors through hyperspace. Six inhabited planets that were connected by only one thing: the inhabitants’ desire not to be part of the entity calling itself the Zoryan Hegemony.

The Zoryans had started the Alliance/Hegemony War, and it lasted for twenty-five years. There were truces here and there, but they never lasted long; Zorya broke them whenever it could come up with an excuse. The Hegemony needed Alliance resources to maintain its dominion; it needed war to justify its philosophy of life. The Hegemony originally was better prepared for war than the Alliance, but eventually the tide turned; one step short of total surrender, Zorya was forced to negotiate a real truce.

This put at least a temporary end to the conflict’s potential as nourishment for Ashahr, and it burned with thwarted rage. It hadn’t started this particular war, but over the years the conflict had provided decent sustenance. Gradually, though, as Ashahr thought about the situation, it saw some potential. The Zoryans were ripe for its presence already, and some of the Alliance worlds, with their own conflicts and contradictions, were definitely headed for problems. The more Ashahr thought about it, the hungrier it became, until the need and the hunger forced its thoughts into the proper forms for action.

And so, Ashahr began to create its pattern …

Chapter 1

An island of light floating in the darkness of the nearly empty room, the holographic model of a human brain revolved slowly on its invisible axis. Glowing red lines extended from the silver lozenge that was the implant, snaking along neural pathways, following forks and branches, knotting and merging. How beautiful. How complete. How perfect.

Diana Zarev smiled at the thought. It’s done. My life’s work, and for this moment, I can pretend that it’s perfect. And who knows? Maybe it is. She Shielded her mind more tightly from possible intrusion by other telepaths in the vicinity of her lab and dared to dream on. The implant was complete, or as complete as it would ever get by modeling and computer simulation alone. It was time for live testing. And once that was done—successfully, of course—the entire world of humanity here on Logos Prime would change. Forever.

She leaned forward out of the darkness to take one last close look at the model before shutting down the program. The light reflected back a halo of cropped, platinum hair and played along the small, delicate bones of her face; the red lines tracing through the brain were reflected in her ice-gray eyes. And not a moment too soon, she thought, noticing the fine lines at the corners of her eyes. I’m not getting any younger. She pressed a button, and the image faded into the surrounding darkness.

Lights, she called, blinking as the room responded. Now the darkness was outside the room: third shift had begun without her being aware of it. Time to go.

Even though she knew she was late for the meeting, she didn’t hurry. No point in arousing suspicion now, after having been careful all this time. She didn’t even look at the S2 guard stationed at the transport tube—if she had nothing to hide, she wouldn’t be expected to notice him. After all, Security Service existed to preserve order and protect Psi-Actives—especially PAs like her, a high-ranking staff member of the Think Tank.

Good evening, Doctor Zarev, a quiet voice said politely. She turned to face someone she vaguely recognized as a first-year student. At first she was surprised at his use of spoken language; then she became aware that her mental Shields were still up. He’d spoken out of a wish to avoid invading her privacy. Her heart beat a little faster. Would the student wonder why she was Shielded here in the Think Tank, near the top of the Core where all the power on Logos Prime resided? She dropped the Shield, leaving a Block only around her knowledge of the implant, and Read the young man’s name and true intention.

She Sent a thought to him in the form of a teasing question: On your way to a late-night study session Sandro, or something more interesting? She Sensed his embarrassment and Read from his mind his wish that he hadn’t called attention to himself. He scuttled away from her, down a corridor branching off in the opposite direction. Diana wanted to laugh, more out of nervous tension than anything else. The best defense is a good offense. If anyone had something to hide, it wasn’t Sandro and the Think Tank professor he was meeting for that late night study session.

Finally the transport tube arrived. This time she nodded at the S2 guard standing next to the metal doors. As the doors opened, she inserted her accessdisc in the slot, keying in the code for her alleged destination: her compartment ten levels below the Think Tank’s psy-med labs. Once the transport tube started moving, though, she pulled a telltale out of her carryall and shoved it hastily into the same slot. The lift would record Diana Zarev’s entry point as the psy-med labs and her exit point as her compartment that night, but it would keep traveling another two hundred levels without retaining any memory of her true destination.

She leaned against the wall, wiping sweating palms against the dark jumpsuit she’d also removed from the carryall and put on in the lift. It wasn’t just the usual fear of getting caught; it was also anticipation and excitement at the movement toward her goal. At least that was what she hoped would happen tonight. Of course, things could still go wrong. Her work aroused strong controversy even amongst the few members of the Bridge who knew about it. What would the Challenge leadership think of the whole thing? Would they be willing to help her set up the live test? Would any of them be brave (or foolhardy) enough to be the live test? What if the Bridge members who thought that the non-telepathic Psi-Nulls would never want to be anything like their telepathic oppressors were right?

No, she thought fiercely. They’re wrong. The implant would prove, once and for all, that the only real difference between humans amounted to no more than an extra sense, one that she could now create in her laboratory for anyone who wanted it. No, damn it, Psi-Nulls weren’t mentally inferior to Psi-Actives, angry and impulsive, violence-prone by nature. It was human to be angry when you were told, from the moment you were old enough to think, that because you can’t Read minds, your place in life was in the lowest levels of Logos Prime’s inner Core.

Which wasn’t where the transport tube stopped, but it wasn’t all that far away, either. She wasn’t going to the bottom, where the agripods, maintenance units, and recyclers were located, or even the warren of the lowest-level living quarters; she was on her way to the mid-level PN compartments. She braced herself as the transport tube opened. Stepping out, she was assaulted by light, noise, and movement all around her. The air was cold and slightly damp, smelling faintly of human sweat. Third shift didn’t mean much down here; people slept when they could and worked when they had to, at both legal and illegal occupations. They got away with the illegal ones because S2 didn’t feel the need to bother with PNs hurting each other as long as PAs weren’t inconvenienced.

She quickened her pace to match those around her, hoping that her speed and the jumpsuit would be enough to keep her from standing out in a place where everyone knew each other. A PA alone down here, without a guard—no one would bother waiting for her explanation that she was a member of the Bridge before sending her back upstairs where she belonged. In pieces. The corridor in front of her was blocked by a long line of people who looked like they’d been waiting there for a while, and she pushed her way through the crowd, trying to ignore the angry shoves she got in return. Rationing again; there must have been another agripod failure, though no one living in the Core’s upper levels would ever know about it.

The hallway she was looking for was far less busy, and it didn’t take long to find the compartment where tonight’s meeting was taking place. She’d been given a code for the door, and she punched it in. After a minute, the door slid open, and she stepped inside, hoping she was strong enough to persuade these people to try her idea.

You’re late, Diana. Was there a problem? Kieran asked. Good, some familiar faces. The speaker was a fellow Bridge member. Diana almost started to Send a thought in reply, but quickly she remembered the Bridge directive that no telepathy was to be used when they were with their Challenge colleagues.

No, I’m sorry, I just got caught up in my work, she said, grinning. In our work. She lowered herself to the remaining unoccupied floor pillow and peered at the others sitting in a small circle, surrounded by the blue half-light produced by an activated privacy screen. Besides herself and Kieran, the Bridge was represented by Monique Haverill, an older woman whom everyone trusted. Not that Challenge members shouldn’t trust Bridge members—but often they didn’t.

The relationship of sympathetic Psi-Actives and their organization, the Bridge, to the Psi-Nulls’ underground Challenge was delicate. While the Bridge made clear that its members believed in complete equality between PAs and PNs, in real life no such thing existed, and often it was easy for Challenge members to forget that Bridge members were risking much—their lives, their freedom, and their sanity, given the ever-present threat of Reconditioning—in order to help create the possibility of a different future for humans living in the artificial structure of the Core on otherwise uninhabitable Logos Prime.

The Challenge was represented in the room by Jacob and Louisa, whom Diana knew, and by another woman she didn’t know. As Diana focused her attention on the stranger, she was jolted by the familiar Sense of psychic energy. A Challenge member who was PA? Not only that, but her face looked vaguely familiar; she was not someone Diana knew personally, but maybe someone whose image she’d seen in the datanet. The woman watched her with a grave expression but said nothing. No one introduced her.

Finally, Monique spoke. Diana, we’ve told our Challenge colleagues about what you’ve been doing. Why don’t you brief them on your progress in developing your implant?

Diana’s eyes sparkled as she warmed to her subject. It’s done. I ran the final simulations tonight, and everything checks out. The latest design change continues to achieve the results I’m looking for while reducing the side effects to what I think would be more tolerable levels. She went on to describe what her tests told her would happen to a Psi-Null individual once the device was inserted into her or his brain, as well as how she would help manage the physical and psychological impact of the change. She studied her colleagues’ faces eagerly, but was disappointed to see little enthusiasm. The unknown PA’s thoughts were Shielded.

Finally, cautiously, she brought up her request. I haven’t done any live testing, for obvious reasons. From seven years ago, when this was just an idea, to today, secrecy has been a top priority. If the Think Tank ever found out what I was doing I would have been carted off and Reconditioned faster than— She broke off as the unknown woman shuddered deeply, shaking her head. Jacob put his hand on her arm, and she straightened up, her face once again impassive. Yet Diana could see the fire behind her dark blue eyes now.

Anyway, the next step is to identify an appropriate test subject and find a way to conduct the test without alerting S2. I’d have to stay with the test subject full time for several weeks, and I’d certainly be missed upstairs. But there’s no way the subject would remain undetected up there. She looked closely at Jacob and Louisa. I know the Challenge has off-world contacts, and I was thinking that might be an answer.

The two Challenge members glanced at each other. Monique told us this was coming, Jacob said slowly. We wanted to hear it from you for ourselves, though. And we wanted Coraline to meet you so she’d be able to decide for herself whether she wants to be part of this.

What do you mean? Diana asked.

There’s a lot of conflict right now within the Challenge about which way we should be going, Louisa answered. There are those who think the type of resistance we’ve been practicing—making connections, educating PNs, creating underground literature, as well as the small acts of sabotage—hasn’t accomplished much and won’t ever accomplish much. They think we need a more radical approach.

A more radical approach would result in First Circle bringing S2 down on our heads, Kieran interrupted.

That’s what Jake and I think, but like I said, not everyone agrees, Louisa replied. The radicals don’t believe the answer is for PNs to become PAs. They’d rather kill PAs than imitate them. She leaned back, gazing at Diana. Her voice had a defiant edge. I don’t believe in violence, but there are times when, I have to admit, I see their point.

Diana had been expecting this, and she kept her response quiet and calm. I didn’t create the implant so that PNs would all become PAs.

Then why did you? The woman Jacob had introduced as Coraline suddenly spoke. Diana wasn’t sure why, but she realized that if she was to go any further with her experiment, it was this question she had to answer and this woman she had to convince.

Because, said Diana, "I believe that the psi-sense is just that—a sense. Like sight or hearing or touch. We don’t base our society on who has the sharpest eyesight or the keenest hearing, and we shouldn’t base it on who has the strongest psi-sense, either. Psipower isn’t intelligence, and it certainly isn’t character. Yet all of our political, educational, cultural, and social structures are based on the notion that people who can Read minds are smarter and better than people who can’t, and that they deserve to have more of this world’s limited resources.

If a device like the implant can substitute completely and effectively for the organ that activates the psi-sense in PAs but is missing in PNs, it would force them to open their minds to the concept of equality. And if First Circle, the Think Tank, and S2 still don’t get it, it can give the Challenge a new and powerful weapon to continue the struggle.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. There’s another reason, though. I think that the evolution of psipower in humans has taken a wrong turn. PAs have become too homogenous and are continuing to evolve in ways that are unhealthy and sterile. A wider variety of telepathic humans might make it possible for us to achieve higher mental evolution. She smiled. But that’s just my private fantasy. For our purposes, I do think there’s value in being telepathic, and I’d like to give PNs who want it the chance to experience it for themselves.

There was a long silence after she finished speaking. Finally, Coraline turned to her two companions and nodded. They stood up, and Jacob gestured to Kieran and Monique. Coraline wants to speak to Diana alone. The Bridge members agreed, and the four of them left the room.

Would you like something to drink? Coraline Sent.

Diana nodded. As a matter of fact, I haven’t had a chance to celebrate the completion of the first phase of my project yet, so I’d like a glass of d’lor, if you’ve got any.

Coraline laughed. Sounds good to me. She stepped out of the light, into the blurred darkness of the rest of the compartment. Diana found herself wondering what Coraline’s home really looked like and why a PA was living down here in the first place. It wasn’t generally permitted—unless the person in question was someone that Logos Prime’s rulers couldn’t really punish but didn’t want to have around upstairs.

Exactly. Coraline had Read the speculation in her mind. She handed her a glass of red liquid. They saluted each other and touched their tongues to their drinks. The d’lor bubbled and fizzed, adjusting itself to their body chemistries. Diana studied her mysterious companion. Coraline was older than she was, she judged, but not by much. Diana’s psi-sense told her of a hard life that made Coraline appear older than her years. Yet she’d retained a classic beauty, with bright gold hair pinned back to reveal sculpted cheekbones and eyes that were both thoughtful and haunted. She still looked familiar..

My mother was Astrid Saint-Claire, Coraline Sent, and Diana gasped. Before her disgrace and eventual suicide, Astrid Saint-Claire had been a high-ranking Think Tank geneticist as well as one of the founders of the Bridge. But the real reason Diana was jolted by the name was that Astrid Saint-Claire had tried, back when she herself was only a child and at the very beginning of the Challenge, to do something similar to what Diana was doing now: rejoin the divided human race.

Astrid had violated one of Logos Prime’s most sacrosanct rules: the one concerning genetic selection. Specifically, only mental equals were permitted to have children together. She’d performed genetic experiments using herself as the subject and unregistered genetic material as the fathers of her children. Diana looked sharply at Coraline. Was she the product of one of those experiments?

No, Coraline Sent, again Reading her thoughts. My father was also Psi-Active. He left when my mother started going crazy—at least that’s the way he saw her attempts at curing this sick society. Her mouth twisted, and Diana winced with the Sense of both contempt at his weakness and the rejection and abandonment Coraline felt when she thought about him. Her chest tightened as she recalled her own experiences with parental desertion.

Coraline continued, My mother had two other children, my younger brothers, who both live off-world. When the Bridge told me what you were up to, I thought one of them might be a good candidate for your experiment. But I had to convince myself that getting them involved was a risk worth taking. She smiled. And you convinced me. The problem now is that I don’t know whether either of them would be willing to participate.

They’re both PN? Diana Sent.

Yes. Neither has the organ for psi-sense, but one of them seems to have picked up genetically some unusual mental characteristics, which might make him a better test subject than the other. Coraline shook her head. But he’s not a Challenge member and has made it clear that he has no intention of getting involved with the Challenge. The other one is a Challenge member, but I can’t imagine that he’d be willing to become telepathic. He’s more the radical type.

We’ll just have to find out for ourselves. Can you get in touch with them and set up a meeting? Diana Sent.

Not here on Logos Prime. My brother Nick Hayden, the one who’s a Challenge member, is a Free Raider.

Diana raised her eyebrows. Humans who had joined the Free Raider Force during the war and remained with it as inter-world mercenaries after the war ended were banned from returning to Logos Prime.

But I’m still able to contact him, and I can meet him on Praxis if there’s an emergency.

What about your other brother?

Coraline was silent for a long moment, her eyes and thoughts elsewhere. The remains of her drink no longer bubbled. I haven’t seen my other brother since he left Logos Prime to join the war effort. That was seventeen years ago.

He’s also banned?

No, he can go wherever he wants. But he’s never tried to contact me.

Diana was puzzled. She wasn’t quite sure what to ask; this felt like dangerous ground. Do you know why not?

I think he just wants nothing to do with his past—and I’m part of his past.

What about your other brother, the Free Raider? Does he see him?

Sometimes they do business together. Nick’s tried to convince him to join the Challenge, but like I said, Andrei won’t have anything to do with it. Her bitterness was obvious. I think he’s just scared of jeopardizing his exalted position.

What’s that?

Coraline gazed at her. My other brother is Andrei Savinov.

For Earth’s sake! Stunned, Diana responded before she had a chance to think. The Alliance’s Peacekeeper.

Coraline shook her head with frustration. For all the good it does Logos Prime’s PNs, yes, that’s right.

Diana thought for a moment. What makes you think he might be a good test subject?

Because he’s literally a genius. Astrid tested him when he was a child. Even though he’s definitely Psi-Null, his intelligence is far outside what are considered norms for both PNs and Pas. His intuitive abilities registered off the charts.

Diana tried to Read further into Coraline’s thoughts on the subject but found she was being Blocked. She switched to Sensing and blinked, startled by the sudden onslaught of conflicting emotion: frustration, resentment, love, pity …

Andrei might well be the best candidate for the test . He was always much more like PAs than PNs anyway, which is why he was tortured growing up, by PAs and PNs alike. He even drove Nick and me crazy with that cold, impenetrable exterior. But Astrid adored him. I think they had a lot in common—emotionally, that is.

If he can’t be persuaded to help the Challenge, maybe there’s some way we can persuade him that trying the implant would help him in his position as chief negotiator for the Alliance. Diana Sent this suggestion. Though I really don’t know how well it would work for reading nonhuman minds.

But even if he agrees to do it and it works, unless we can persuade him to join the Challenge, we might as well be throwing it away, Coraline Sent.

No, that’s not true. Even if he won’t join the Challenge, at least we’ll have found out for certain that the implant works. Diana smiled. And since I’ll be with him for a while during the test, it’ll give me a chance to try to change his mind about the Challenge.

Coraline nodded, admitting that she might have a point. How will you get permission to leave Logos Prime for the time it’ll take to do the experiment?

I’ve been thinking about that. I’ll have to come up with some kind of study that Robert Jaxome will give me approval to pursue off-world. If we can get either of your brothers to agree to this, I’ll find a way to make it happen.

Coraline nodded, standing up to signal the end of the meeting. She started to release the privacy screen to let Diana out of the room, then let her hand fall back. She switched to speech. Do you have any family, Diana?

A difficult question. Diana shook her head. Not really.

Coraline looked weary. "I used to have a family. The way this world is blew it apart—blew us apart. But I remember when we were together. When we were happy." She pressed a button, and the room’s opposite wall faded out to reveal a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall viewscreen. Diana recognized the image of Lake Glass. The artificial lake glittered a brilliant cobalt in the rose-gold sky and real sunlight that only a favored few ever got to see, high up in the outer Core. Two golden-haired children splashed in the water, their mouths open wide with delight. A woman strongly resembling Coraline—Astrid Saint-Claire—stood on the shore, smiling as she holo-sketched them. Off to one side, another child, long and lean with a mop of dark hair, lay on his back on the artificial lawn with his arms laced behind his head, daydreaming. Diana put her hand on Coraline’s arm, Sharing her longing and sorrow. She slipped out without another word, leaving the other woman alone with her memories and her dreams.

Chapter 2

It was the middle of the night, but you’d never know it in Seladorn, one of the planet Sendos’s five Central Cities. The industrial-strength smog blanketing the sky blotted out whatever weak moonlight might have existed, and the canyons of skyscrapers lining the city’s narrow, twisted streets made it look the same from the start of one cycle to its end. Nick Hayden inserted a silver disc into a plate in the featureless, soot-grimed wall of an anonymous building in the warehouse district. Part of the wall, the size and shape of a door, irised open, and he slipped through quickly.

Sendos: a brutal, overpopulated oligarchy, constantly beset by guerilla-style civil wars between the members and supporters of the Five Families holding most of the planet’s resources. Normally each Family had its own pleasure palaces and didn’t mingle, and humans weren’t particularly welcome anywhere. But there were a few special places catering to special tastes and occupations—like spying and arms dealing—where an outsider might be tolerated. This place was one of those. Nick stared down the suspicious, hostile glares of the locals, which quickly subsided as they regarded his solid build, fighter’s stance, and grey jumpsuit with the red bar on the sleeve. There was no use messing with a Free Raider Captain, they decided, and turned back to their own activities.

Good enough. He passed through the main room and into a warren of cubicles off a back hall.

Ravat was pacing nervously when he entered the room. A Karellian of the Niwahr class, under his black cloak and hood his skin was a mottled, pasty white—as far as one could get from the smooth silver-grey of the elite Citizen class. His large, dark eyes glittered madly, Nick observed, partly from nerves and partly from the aura suppressant he had obviously taken recently. In spite of the dangers of the drug, Nick understood his reasoning: how could he possibly be an effective spy with his aura giving away his every emotion?

Nick nodded a greeting and sat down at the polished black table, gesturing for Ravat to do the same. On top of the table was a steaming bottle of deep red liquid and two glasses. He poured a drink for himself and his hired spy, using a straw to pass the liquid through his breathing unit, and adjusted the translator in his ear.

What’s the big deal, Ravat? What’ve you got for me today that’s so important I had to make a special trip here for it?

Ravat drew in the drink through the tentacles waving delicately from his three fingers. He pushed the cloak aside slightly so that the hole in his throat used for speech emerged. Some unusual information, Captain Hayden. It seems there are very strange things happening on Selas these days.

The prison? What about it?

A friend of mine—a source—flew cargo there and back. Usually it’s the same old supplies, the same old supply routes. But over the last several cycles—three of your months, I believe—the cargo has been a bit more unusual.

Yeah? In what way? Nick’s curiosity was finally piqued.

Arms shipments.

He knew Ravat was eager for a reaction, but Nick wasn’t going to pay up for this intel if he didn’t have to, so all the Karellian got was a pair of raised eyebrows. Not exactly a place where you wouldn’t expect to find arms shipments, he commented dryly. I hope that’s not your great discovery, that weapons are being transported to Selas.

Ravat’s indignation showed itself as a slight wisp of red light appeared behind him, in spite of the aura suppressant. Ah, but it’s the type of weaponry that is so intriguing, he answered smoothly, recovering his composure. Laser cannons, particle-beam torpedoes, wide-range disruptors … He smiled, having finally produced the desired reaction as Nick choked