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it.
    But here at the star there were thousands of ships, all of which were waiting for the Star Force vessels to arrive in order to protect them both from the Hamoriti and from the Trinx, whose fleet had already learned the details of what had previously occurred. Everyone here had, for couriers had been sent out by all parties announcing their upcoming arrival, and given the numbers here, Riley guessed that Star Force no longer had a strength advantage…definitely not at the moment, with only a handful of their ships having made it out of the jump thus far.
    But there were no attacks. No chases. No activity at all other than for the waiting ships to move in sync with the new arrivals and provide a screen for them in all directions. They’d been told of what Riley’s ship carried, and the trailblazer didn’t doubt the assertions previously made that these races would die defending the ‘solution’ without hesitation if called for. And it was for that reason that he guessed the Trinx fleet here had backed down, though they were still in a position around the planet the Uriti was within, though having taken a higher orbit than the other races’ vessels.
    “I can feel it…just barely,” he commented from the command nexus on the Zeus .
    “As can I,” Nefron agreed from another nearby compartment, linked to him through the communications system and appearing as a hologram beside the Archon. “It is faint, but irrefutable.”
    “That is Namishta?”
    “It is.”
    “I’m just going to call her Nami.”
    Nefron sighed, but didn’t comment.
    “How close do you want to get?”
    “This is adequate, but I would prefer sending a stronger signal. High planetary orbit would be preferable.”
    “Does that put us within weapons range?”
    “No. The only ranged weapon it has is spherical discharge. Its range diminishes precipitously.”
    “You can do this,” he asked sarcastically. “Right?”
    “Even if I can’t,” Nefron responded deadpan. “You’d want to be here taking pictures.”
    “Careful,” Paul’s voice advised. “Your Protovic is showing.”
    “Trouble?” Nefron asked.
    “The Chamra have promised to keep the Trinx at bay and are going to clear our way over the planet. They said they’re spoiling for a fight, but no additional ships have arrived. This is what they normally have here.”
    “Meaning there could be more on the way?” Riley asked.
    “That was the impression I got. Have you noticed the lizards?”
    “There are none in space,” Nefron answered.
    “Rather than depart the system they’ve pulled all their ships down to the surface of their surviving world. Apparently the Uriti hasn’t stepped on it yet.”
    “Pulled for it or us?” Riley asked.
    “Us. The Sety want to know if we’re going to stick around and remove them.”
    “That’s up to you,” the Archon scoffed. “I’m going to be busy.”
    “We,” Nefron corrected.
    “Yes… we ,” Riley allowed.
    “I think we need to hurry,” Paul said, playing The Nine’s liaison this time after having a very long talk with the 8 races regarding security for this mission. “The way the Yisv said the Trinx would react isn’t holding true, and the local representatives are acting odd. I think the Trinx are going to make a move, but they don’t have the ships here to do it. We need to get the Uriti and get moving.”
    “Is that coming from them or your gut?”
    “Mostly my gut. And I get the feeling that the hammer blow might not happen in this system. We need as much head start as we can get.”
    “Pick up us and the Uriti in one attack? Overly ambitious of them.”
    “If they have dedicated their entire civilization to this endeavor,” Nefron added, “then we are destroying their reason for existence. They may do illogical things to try and preserve it.”
    “Or go the other way and step it up a notch,” Paul differed. “If they possessed you, I get the feeling it might be them that used the Uriti as a weapon