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directly. Slowly, deliberately, Rizonex lifted his hands from the control console, and then turned to look at G'Liat. “My Lord, we are intercepting a broadcast from Alpha Coma Bereneces. You may find it of interest."
    G'Liat pushed himself off the back wall and grabbed the edge of the control console. With virtually feline grace, the eight-foot tall warrior contorted then settled into the empty chair and belted himself in. “Of what nature is this broadcast?” he asked.
    "What the humans call a news broadcast. They have lost contact with Gaea, their mother world,” reported Rizonex.
    "Display the broadcast,” ordered G'Liat.
    Rizonex placed his hands back on the console. The image of a human woman with long blonde hair appeared on the control console. “As of this morning, we have been unable to contact our sister stations on Earth or Titan for over twelve hours. Senator Herbert Firebrandt's office has confirmed the loss of all communications and says the government is taking steps to reestablish contact.” The woman faded from view, replaced by an image of the Cluster. “However, the government has declined to comment about whether the Clusters reportedly in Earth orbit are the source of the communications blackout."
    G'Liat placed his own hands on the control console and searched the network archives for more information. He learned about the four Clusters that had appeared in Earth orbit and the fact that the Gaean Navy had sent ships to monitor the Clusters. However, the ships dared not fire on the Clusters for fear that they would attack the Earth.
    G'Liat let his mind reach out and touch that of Rizonex. “Alter course,” commanded the warrior. “We go to Gaea."
    "The ship's owners protest,” replied the pilot through the interface. “The charter was from Alpha Coma Bereneces to Rd'dyggia. No course change is stipulated in the contract."
    "Contracts do not apply to me,” said G'Liat. “The owners know that. We will change course in spite of their protest. My operatives are instructed to compensate the owners in the event this ship is lost as a result of my actions."
    G'Liat felt the pilot's compliance, but was disgusted by the trace of fear. The warrior pulled his mind back from the pilot and continued monitoring human broadcasts. Though he longed to return to his own world, G'Liat realized he must determine what the Clusters wanted at Earth. As he searched the broadcast, a distant part of his mind sensed his orders being carried out. The ship changed course for the nearest jump point to Earth.
    * * * *
    Jenna Walker, President of the Gaean Alliance—Earth and all of its colonies—rode into Arlington Planetary Cemetery in a black limo-hover. Her aides, who normally vied for her attention, were unusually silent. Many members of the governmental staff had taken their own lives during the previous twenty-four hours. Everyone in the President's inner circle knew someone who had died. President Walker looked from one set of eyes to another. “Is there any way that all of these deaths planet-wide can be attributed to the Cluster?"
    There were shrugs from several of the black-suited figures. Others stared silently at the floor. One aide looked as if he was nodding off. The President and her aides had been awake all night, trying to decide what to do about the Cluster and the epidemic of death happening around the planet. Before the Clusters arrived at the Earth, every ship that had approached one had been destroyed. The Gaean Military's Chiefs of Staff were wary about attacking the Cluster—especially since no one could prove that the Cluster was responsible for the deaths. There were some who posed the idea that the Clusters might even be able to help solve the mystery of the deaths. If so, the question was how to approach the Clusters without being destroyed.
    Walker looked to the Surgeon General, normally a high-energy woman, whose red-rimmed eyes betrayed the fact that she had been reading reports all