The device rolled and smacked but remained undamaged. The projection continued to glow, but its beam shot out a lopsided ray, canted the simulacrum some thirty degrees to the floor. Its smiling face looked much unfazed by the aggression of Nrog, and Princeps Jring watched on in silent amusement as his counterpart seethed and glided over ready to strangle Miko and Usk with his uplifted motilators.
Miko braced himself, his fists balled, as he cast Nrog a venomous glare, awaiting death.
But fire thudded against the hull.
Nrog shrank back on his motilators. Crouching in a protective stance, he motioned to his attendants. His four aides sprang to attention. The locust that had been feeding, unhooked himself from his intravenous cable and jumped over to Jring who withdrew his gold-plated lumo weapon, hunching on his hind legs.
“Sir! NOA,” chirruped Basilursk. “They’ve come in on light drive. They assemble their fleet before our ships.”
“How many?”
“Reports indicate over eight hundred.”
Nrog gave a sinister chitter. “Child’s play, Basilursk. Engage them. Full strike. Jring, get your forces down to Xares! We’ll take over the planet and our Orbs will incinerate these NOA upstarts.”
Jring hastened to comply, nattering on about the loss of their initiative. “I told you so, Nrog. We’ve lost the element of surprise.”
“Viewport up!” Nrog motioned. A vivid curved holo screen of some unknown technology shot up around them in a wide arc.
Miko’s eyes gaped. This was a circle 360 technology, some amalgamation of holo gas, light and color. The dizzying view made him feel as if he and all gathered were projected into space right in the middle of the battle.”
Nrog gave further orders to his minions. They lurched forward to obey.
The NOA ships arrowed in. Long thin tapers, smooth hulls, globelike belvederes dead center, shaped like the submarines of old. In a trailing wedge, they spread out to flank the Orb flagships.
Orbs hurtled to surround the foremost fighters. Miko cringed as Zikri uro bombs flashed out from spiked fuselages and smashed into NOA fighters, penetrating submarine hulls and capsizing shields, while the Mentera began their sinister descent planetward.
“Bridge, evasive action! Get Viscurg moving,” barked Nrog into his communicator. “Alpha wing team, take out those lead fighters! Destroyers, don’t let them flank you!”
Some of the NOA broke through the spiderweb and fired in a tight ring on the enemy. Viscurg shuddered to new assaults while sister flagships fell under heavy fire.
Orbs regrouped. They unleashed sprays of hitherto unknown anti-matter technology down on the fighters. White light with jagged edges splashed across the holovision 360. Some kind of disruptor beam, Miko guessed. Dozens of NOA ships went up in flames or were rendered powerless, zapped of their power.
An exultant leer came over Admiral Nrog’s face as he chittered on, pointing at Miko. “Look at your pitiful resistance! Blown to dust. Losers of a dying realm.” He lifted a stinging tentacle bristling with muscle and smashed Miko across the room. “All you humans are weak—and stupid.”
Miko groaned, rubbing his ribs, as he struggled to rise. He shook the daze from his head and wiped his lips. “We will not fail,” he croaked. Usk scuttled to his aid, ready to fight, though he had only one claw.
Nrog chittered out a laugh. “You’ve already failed.”
On its canted angle, the simulacrum gazed on in watchful silence. “Not necessarily. Aggressors always have a propensity for underestimating their enemies who will give their life blood to take out their oppressors. You need only study the patterns of history, the chronicles of warfare, your own race’s wars, their bloody history and those of your allies.”
Jring scowled, one antenna drooping in growing alarm. The holo view flickered out, revealing mossy walls once again. Before the nearby amalgamator, the Princeps scuttled to crouch poised, ready to transport himself back to his own ship. “We did not request an analysis of our military tactics.”
“You’re much too polite,” rasped Nrog. He glided over. “Fly back to your nest, see to your fleet, Jring, and hope that no more resistance comes our way.”
Jring and two of his guards vanished in a flash of amber brilliance as the U-shaped amalgamator whisked them off.
The simulacrum appeared to absorb the changing situation with an air of curious amusement. “My database and nth-order light-AI virtual network is equipped with data from a hundred million worlds, Nrog. I’d have thought you’d have taken advantage of it at this moment.”
“I could care less for your networks. The time for idealizing has passed. We crush these overweening NOA!”
The simulacrum’s primitive brow seem to crinkle in interest.
Miko only wished he had a weapon in his hand. A starship at his disposal. He would rend these foul squids from tentacle to tentacle. This unpredictable power of his, blinking out, leaving him defenseless was useless, unless he could somehow manifest it at will. Such a potent gift wasted.
He staggered to his feet. Basilursk and his bullies came gliding in, tentacles twitching to encircle him and Usk.
Chapter 24
Regers paced the bridge aboard Grendel, his E1 slung over his shoulder. “We’re minutes from that dimhole Xares.”
Jennings, resenting the perilous mission, hissed through his teeth. “You realize you’re getting mixed up in something over your head.”
“Have no intention of getting caught up in a bug war, Jiminy. But if it lands us a chance of netting that fucker Yul, I’m in.”
Jennings snorted while Vincent grinned. “You’ve never told us the full story of this Yul bastard.”
“And I never will, Vincent. All you need to know is he and I go back a long way.”
“Whatever beef you have with this man,” said Jennings, “I don’t want any part of it.”
“Thanks for clearing that up, Jiminy. It’s a hell of a lot deeper than you think, and you’re neck deep in
