“That’s not so bad,” Varn said. “You saw what we did today.”
“This is different.” Zonrial brushed her hair back. “The Velibar are on their home ground, with unseen defenses. I was hoping Faril’s feed would continue, so we could garner some intel, but they must have detected it.”
“What about the planet?” Luther asked. “Do we know anything about it?”
“Old world. Used to be occupied by a race called the Darexen. We estimate the Velibar claimed it around four hundred Earth years ago. No one has seen or heard from the Darexen since, not in our circles,” Trid advised, and I made a mental note. “We expect a large force here. It is their staging ground for many of their assaults, and we believe this is their drone construction and deployment facility.”
The feed froze. Trid zoomed past the station, and to the right edge of the planet. A small moon was illuminated, the image blurry. I recalled the thousands of spy drones visible near Saturn, and glanced at Jinx. He’d been the first human to discover them.
“If we can shut that site down, it would save us a lot of trouble,” Jinx said. “No drones means no gateways.”
“Precisely.” Trid nodded. “We plan on hitting that moon.”
“And we’re going to the surface. If there are any Hidan, we’re bringing them out,” Zonrial added.
“What of our fleet?” Luther asked. “Do you really think we can dive into this outpost with two Racers, four Pursuers, and a few dozen robot-controlled fighters?”
“We have a couple of stops to make first,” Trid said, and he shared a glance with Zonrial. They weren’t telling us everything.
“We await your arrival.” The lights on the speaker blinked off, and I assumed the Stin was gone.
“Before we dive any deeper, can we trust the Stin?” I asked.
“I’ve never been one for turning my back on a software program,” Jinx added. “AI has a way of taking your habits and using them against you.”
“The Stin have been a great friend to us all.” Trid drummed his fingers on the table. “They were once flesh and blood like you and me.”
Jinx almost fell out of his chair. “Seriously?”
The lights dimmed as Trid slid his finger across the screen in front of him. The room was round, and the large windows overlooked the courtyard. A few Darlor remained on their knees, and we’d been told they were the family of the ones lost in today’s skirmish.
“The Stin have a sordid history with the Velibar. It was likely a million years ago, long before the Darlor began to search for Refuge. The Stin were advanced, even having transport abilities.” Trid’s eyelids blinked sideways, and he kept them closed for a moment.
“What do you mean by transport abilities?” Varn inquired.
“They could travel from point A to point B by walking through a doorway.” Trid said this like it wasn’t a big deal.
“No way.” I couldn’t believe it. “How did it work?”
“The device needed to be powered by the same generator, which often meant the sources had to be close together. But they built them for quick access across their cities, and eventually managed to create generators large enough to cross a continent,” Trid said.
“I think I know where this is going.” Jinx fumbled with something in his pocket and threw a pill back.
“Their energy output from this experiment drew the Velibars’ attention. They had deployed drones, much like the ones that visited your Earth, and when their First Ruler learned what was transpiring, they invaded.” Trid glanced at the speaker, as if the Stin would suddenly take over the telling of the tale, but he was gone.
“What happened then?” I expected it didn’t finish with a happy ending.
“The Stin had been working on an experimental procedure, one that would allow their people to continue on past death. They could store themselves in a network, and eventually relay the data into another form.” Trid clicked his sharp teeth together and inhaled. “They saw the Velibar coming and attempted to fend them off but failed. Consequently, they resorted to their mass exodus plan.”
Varn broke the following silence. “They killed themselves?”
“They recorded their neural implants for future use. After that, a program transferred the data to a predestined location, keeping them safe from the Velibar. They wired their entire planet, and when the Velibar arrived, they found millions of dead Stin—and a surprise. The whole place detonated, killing the invaders.” Trid rubbed his forearms as if he were suddenly chilled. “But the Stin live on.”
“As AI programs in ships. Not quite the existence I’d want,” Varn said.
“The Stin are much more. You will see.” Zonrial rose and walked toward the exit. “I must discuss things with my partner.” She left before we could say another word, and Trid stared after her.
“The Hidan have been waiting for this moment for centuries, and they are panicked. Zonrial has been a great leader to her people,” he told us.
“She’s the leader?” No one had told us her rank or position.
“She is. Similar to your version of a queen.”
“Trid, we’ve been having issues with our communication system. Earth isn’t responding.” I hoped they could help us figure it out.
“You did say it was new, right?”
“You were the first people we contacted with this technology,” I said.
“It might be glitching. Every iteration does that. We can have the Stin look at when we arrive.” It was Trid’s turn to stand. He walked slowly, showing his age.
“We’re going to see the Stin?” It intrigued me to see how the alien robots lived.
“Will you join us as promised?” Trid asked from the doorway.
I peered at my friends, and they all nodded in unison. “We’re coming.”
“Good. We’ll need all the help we can get.”
The door closed behind him.
TWELVE
We’d departed Refuge seven hours earlier, and our fleet sped of the system. The Stin had detected a dozen of the Velibar drones hiding out, waiting to record events, and had made quick work of
