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come to power? And, how are they dealt with?"
    Quan was silent as he searched his memories. "Interloper species are met with an immediate purge. As are those who grow powerful within a feeder or trimming galaxy. Only selected feeder species are allowed to grow strong."
    Frig spoke. "Sir, under these rules, the cloned Humans should have been eliminated. I can only guess that because they hid themselves away instead of fighting, they are still alive today."
    I replied, "The part that worries me is that the species we are now up against are the baddest of the bad. We have no idea if they are going to have five weeks to get settled into wherever they are or five years, before they are attacked, I mean."
    I turned back to Quan. "Is there a grace period when a species is dropped into the War of Wars? A time when they are not allowed to be attacked?"
    Quan replied, "Each participant is allowed to study the selected galaxy for a period of approximately twenty-eight days. When the study period is over, all participants submit a selected location for their species to begin. The participants deploy their species at the same time. Occasionally, two such species are located in close proximity to each other and immediately begin their fight."
    I looked at Frig. "So, it’s been almost a dozen days since Ashley and the others were taken. That means we have at least sixteen more before the fighting might actually start. By the time we arrive, they may have been going at it for two months!"
    Frig shook his head. "I fear it is possibly worse than that, Sir. We are not going to the War of Wars galaxy. We are on our way to the Duke’s galaxy. The galaxy selected for their final battle may be months’ or years’ worth of jumps away from the Tadpole, Sir."
    I scowled. "Thanks for the ray of sunshine, Frig."
    I turned back to Quan. "Tell us about the Duke’s complex. How is he able to transfer billions of people at once?"
    Quan’s processors purred away at the questions. "The framework of the complex is constructed of an ore that is similar to that used on the Grids. It offers a needed rigidity during construction. The complex also makes use of the sodium skin technology that was discovered by the Humans. The complex remains hidden from all who would travel near it.
    "Each species is tagged early in their development with a DNA bio-marker that emits an extremely low power signal that is unique to that individual. Scanning wormholes are opened throughout the galaxy in question, and the bio-marker signals for that species are continuously tracked. At any instant in time, the complex knows the exact location of every marked being.
    "At the time of the transfer, a wormhole is opened for each individual, and each is then swept through. Within the complex, a holding facility is used to process each individual so that memories of the location of their origin, as well as of all battles fought once their species reached space, are suppressed. After such suppression is complete, the members of the species are deposited on a station, or stations, such as the one your species named the Grid."
    Frig spoke. "Quan, this complex—from where does it derive its power?"
    Quan eventually replied, "The complex makes use of the fusion power of a brown dwarf star. While that level of fusion is minuscule as compared to a standard fusing star, it is sufficient to power the needs of the complex. The star is encapsulated within the complex, yielding sufficient energy to power as many wormholes as are required. Typically, a species has under five billion members, although, some have been as high as nine billion."
    Frig shook his head. "Sir, a brown dwarf? The power that could be drawn from that would be near-infinite when compared to power levels that we have achieved to date. Imagine a million cesium reactors, and then imagine something much more powerful than that."
    Frig asked another question. "How long has this complex been in operation? And are there others, or