Starplex

company.'

Keith nodded at the Ib, and waited for a polychair to emerge from the trapdoor in front of his console. It was already morphing into human configuration as it rose up from the floor. Keith seated himself.

'You've tried contacting them?'

'Yes,' said Denna. 'Earliest possible response is in forty-eight seconds, though.'

'They're Waldahud ships, aren't they?' said Keith, his workstation rising to the height he preferred.

'Very likely so,' said Wineglass, 'although, of course, Waldahud ships are sold all over the Commonwealth. They could be crewed by somebody else.'

Keith rubbed sleep from his eyes. 'How did so many ships arrive without our knowing it?'

'They must have emerged one at a time from the shortcut while it was shielded from our view by the green star,' Wineglass said.

'Christ, of course,' said Keith. He consulted the readout of who was operating which station. 'Double-Dot, get Jag down here.'

The Ib at Internal Ops slapped his control panel with ropes, then, a moment later, said, 'Jag has his communications routed to a voice mailbox. It's his normal sleep period.'

'Override,' said Keith. 'Get him down here right now. Denna, any reply to our messages?'

'Nothing.'

Keith glanced up at the glowing digital clocks floating against the starfield. 'It's almost shift change anyway,' he said. 'Let's get the full alpha-shift staff down here.'

'Alpha shift, report immediately to the bridge,' said Double-Dot. 'Lianne Karendaughter, Thoraid Magnor, Rhombus, Jag, and Clatissa Cervantes to the bridge, please.'

'Thank you,' said Keith. 'Denna, open a channel to all the approaching ships.'

'This is G. K. Lansing, Director of the Commonwealth research vessel Starplex. State your business, please.'

'Transmitting,' said Denna. 'They've closed the distance between us and them considerably. If they care to respond to your latest message, we should have an answer in under three minutes.'

A door opened up in the part of the hologram displaying the framed close-up of the approaching craft. Jag walked through, his fur not yet brushed. 'What's wrong?' he said.

'Maybe nothing,' said Keith 'but eight Waldahud ships are approaching Starplex. Do you know why?'

All four shoulders moved up and down. 'I have no idea.'

'They are refusing to respond to hails, and—'

'I said I have no idea.' Jag turned around and faced the hologram where the door had been. All his eyes began tracking independently, each one watching a different approaching ship.

'What kind of ships are those?' asked Keith. 'Scouts?'

'They are the right size for that,' said Jag.

'How many crew members aboard each?'

'Starships are not my field,' said Jag.

Keith looked at the Waldahud at life sciences. 'You, there — Kreet, is it? How many people aboard such a ship?'

'Perhaps six,' said Kreet. 'No more than that.'

Two of the four bridge doors opened simultaneously.

Thoraid Magnor walked in through one, and Rissa Cervantes came in through the other. The Ib and the Waldahud vacated the helm and life-sciences stations to make room for them.

'Eight ships are approaching Starplex,' said Keith, to Rissa and Thor.

Rissa nodded. 'PHANTOM briefed us enroute. But no additional ships should have come through the shortcut until we gave the okay.' She stood by her console, waiting for the chair to configure itself.

'Maybe they're here by accident,' said Thor, tapping some keys on his console while 'his chair rose from beneath the deck. 'When a new shortcut comes on-line, the acceptable approach angles to select a desired destination grow narrower. They could have been sloppy in their calculations. Maybe they meant to go somewhere else.'

'One pilot might make a mistake,' said Keith. 'But eight?'

'The communications-lag time is up,' said Denna. 'If they'd wanted to reply to your latest message, they could have done so by now.' Rhombus had entered a moment earlier, but was content to wheel up to a position next to the ExOps workstation without getting Denna to vacate.

'Thor, if I give the order to get out of here,' asked Keith, 'can we escape those ships?'

Thor shrugged. 'I doubt it. They're blocking the shortcut, so we can't go that way. And see those roedial tings around their engine pods? Those are associated with Waldahud Gatob-class hyperdrives. Of course, no one can use a hyperdrive this close to the green star, but if we tried to get away, eventually we would be out in space that was flat enough for hyperdrives to be engaged, and then they'd be on us in a second.'

Keith frowned.

'The ships are fanning out,' said Thor. 'I'd call it an attack formation.'

'Attack?' said Rhombus, lights strobing incredulously. 'Incoming message,' said Denna.

Another part of the sky hologram was blocked off by a glowing border.

Inside it a Waldahud face appeared, framed by brown fur streaked with copper. 'Lansing commanding Starplex,' said the translated voice, 'I am Gawst. Mark that name well: Gawst.' Keith nodded; to a Waldahud male, credit was everything. 'We have come to escort Starplex back through the shortcut. You will surrender—'

'How long for a reply to reach them?' asked Keith.

' — your ship to us.'

Denna consulted a readout. 'Forty-three seconds.'

'Cooperate,' continued Gawst, 'and no harm will come to your vessel or crew.'

'Thor, can we dive toward the shortcut apparently on one trajectory, but at the last moment change direction so that we'll exit somewhere other than where they'd expect?'

The helm officer shook his head. 'Those little scouts might pull it off, but Starplex's volume is three million cubic meters. I can't make it tap-dance.'

'How long until those ships reach us?'

'They're moving at point-one-c,' said Thor. 'They'll be on us in less than twenty minutes.'

'Lansing to Gawst: Starplex is Commonwealth property. Request denied. Off. Rhombus, let me know when they've received that message.'

Lianne Karendaughter strode onto the bridge.

'I want some options, folks,' said Keith.

'Option number one,' said Lianne, taking her seat.

'Retreat. The farther we are from the shortcut, the less likely they will be able to coerce us through it.'

'Right. Thor, let's—'

'Forgive the interruption, Keith,' said Rhombus. 'Your message has been received.'

'Good. Thor, let's get out of here. Full thruster power.'

'I'll take us away at an angle,' said Thor. 'We don't want to move into the dark-matter field. It's an obstacle course, and small ships will be better able to handle it than we will.'

'Fine,' said Keith. 'Rhombus, see if you can get a watson with today's mission logs through to Tau Ceti. I want to alert Premier Kenyatta.'

'Doing so. But it will take over an hour to reach the shortcut from here, and — excuse me: incoming message from Gawst.'

'Lansing,' said Gawst, 'Starplex was built at the Rehbollo shipyards and is of Rehbo!lo registry, and therefore is Waldahud property. Let us avoid as much unpleasantness as possible. Once the ship is returned to Rehbollo, we will release all crew members for immediate repatriation to their home systems.'

'Reply,' snapped Lansing. 'Starplex's construction was funded by all the Commonwealth worlds, and its registration is just a formality; all ships require a homeworld of record. Your claim is rejected. If necessary, this ship will defend itself against unlawful seizure. Off.'

'Defend itself?' said Thor, shaking his head. 'Keith, this ship has no armament.'

'I'm well aware of that,' snapped Keith. 'Lianne, give me a full inventory of all shipboard equipment that can