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now clear. We have a course of action.” His two companions flexed their remnant antlers almost imperceptibly in agreement. “You know well of our plans to dispose of the Plaguers. This plan continues on schedule. Indeed, the Council of One Hundred deliberated so long and so carefully on that plan that it is considered infallible. There is, however, a slight wrinkle.
    “A clan member has turned treasonous and informed the Plaguers of our intentions. They know of the coming attack.”
    Enon’s antlers pressed back along the sides of his silver scalp in an expression of surprise. Adaiz’s human face mimicked this expression, which resulted in a drawing back of the muscles around his ears.
    “We still do not know the reason our spy did this,” the center Lucien continued. “Such a thing has never happened before. Still, the fact remains that the Plaguers know of our plans. Their response to this knowledge has been odd. Another of our spies informs us that, in addition to building shelters deep underground and attempting to create space-based defense systems, they are mounting an unusual mission.” The Triad member on the left reached forward to a small set of controls. On the wall behind the Triad, a map sprang up, projected by lasers. It was a star map, and on it Enon and Adaiz could see their own star system and another.
    “They are sending a ship to this system, eight light-years away,” the central Triad member said. “There, they will retrieve a technology from their distant past.” He continued to tell what little they knew of the Eschless Funnel. This little was nonetheless impressive. Current Lucien science did not even admit of the possibility that faster-than-light travel was possible. “If the Plaguers are convinced that this technology exists and are willing to spend their precious few resources to mount such a mission,” he continued, “there must be some substance behind this improbable claim.”
    Enon and Adaiz stood silently, taking in the words of the Triad, trying to hide their own excitement.
    “Considering this information, we now have two objectives to accomplish before our deadline arrives and we rid this universe of the Plaguers. First, if the technology behind the Eschless Funnel is valid, we must possess it for ourselves. Such technology would secure our future forever. It would open the door to Lucien rule of not just our star system but of the universe itself.
    “Second, we must prevent the Plaguers from ever regaining this technology. With it, they could surely build weapons and ships that would allow them to defeat us, even in the limited time they have left.
    “To achieve both of these objectives, we have selected you, Leader Enon-Amet and Officer Adaiz-Ari, for the honorable mission of following the Plaguer ship to its destination.”
    Adaiz felt his heart leap. What honor they would bring to their family, to their clan, and to their race. If this technology was real and they succeeded in capturing it, they would secure a future for the Lucien greater than any he had ever dreamed possible.
     
     
    That audience with the Triad was now a decade and a half gone.
    Now, removed from that day by both time and enormous spans of distance, Mission Officer Adaiz-Ari stood in the semi-darkness of the cramped Lucien ship and watched the winking lights of the main control panel. All was well with the ship’s systems, and beautiful Galea was light-years away.
    He picked his way carefully around the perimeter of the tiny one-room craft, glancing at other control panels set into the smooth, curved metal walls. The controls were beautiful in their industrial simplicity: banks of readouts and small indicator lights cased in metal plates, which were, in turn, cased in the metal of the walls.
    He ran a hand over the bank that controlled the sleepboxes. The skin of his hand, he noticed, was now light brown, with a yellow undertone. So long away from sunlight, even if the time were spent in a