Kassabian: K-A-S-S-A-B-I-A-N. Record the following, and add it to the watson as an unencrypted message:

"Keith Lansing to Valentina Ilianov, Provost, New Beijing.

Val, we're under attack by Waldahud ships, and I wouldn't be surprised if you're under attack soon, too. I have learned that there is a theoretical way to destroy a shortcut, by flattening spacetime around it, preventing it from anchoring in normal space.

If a Waldahud invasion force seems likely to overwhelm your fleet, perhaps you will want to consider destroying your shortcut exit.

Doing so will, of course, effectively isolate Sol/Epsilon Indi/Tu Ceti from the rest of the galaxy, and give the Walciahudin forces no way to retreat. Think long and hard before you do this, old end. The procedure can be gleaned from the articles appended to this message.

I've encrypted them. The key is the last name of that woman we both fancied on New New York all those years ago. End."

"Done," said PHANTOM.

Keith tapped a key. The privacy force screens vanished.

"Launch the watson, Lianne, he said.

"Doing so."

Keith watched the tiny canister drift away from Starplex.

His heart was pounding. If Val decided to use the technique, there was one other consequence that Keith hadn't spelled out: he and Rissa and the rest of those from Earth aboard Starplex would never see home again.

"Here we go," said Rhombus. "Five. Four. Three. Two.

One. Launching' PDQ. Three. Two. One. Launching Rum Runner.

Three. Two. One. Launching Marc Garneau. Three.

Two. One. Launching Dakterth. Three. Two. One. Launching Long March."

The fusion flares of ten twin engines lit up the holographic sky as the five probeships shot away from Star-plex's central disk. The approaching Waldahud ships were now close enough that they could be seen directly, rather than as colored triangles. "Force screens to maximum," said Rhombus.

"Open windows in the force screens and send the following via scrambled comm laser direct to each of our ships," said Keith. "No one is to fire unless the Waldahudin shoot at us first. Maybe a show of strength will be enough to get them to back down."

"They already creamed one of our watsons," said Thor.

Keith nodded. "But if shots are going to be taken at sentient beings, the Waldahudin are going to have to start it."

,,incoming message," said Lianne.

"Let's see it."

Gawst's face appeared. "Last chance, Lansing. Surrender "No reply," said Keith. He glanced at one of his monitors.

Starplex was still oriented with its lower telescope array facing the green star, and toward the approaching fighters.

"Gawst's ship is coming toward us fast," said Thor. "The other seven are holding position about nine thousand klicks away."

"Steady, everyone," said Keith. "Steady."

"He's firing!" said Thor. "Direct hit on our force screens.

No damage."

"How long can we keep deflecting his lasers?"', asked Keith.

"Four, maybe five more shots," said Lianne.

"the other Waldahud ships are moving in, trying to Surround us," said Thor.

"Do you want our probeships to engage them?" asked Rhombus. Keith said nothing. "Director, do you want our probeships to engage them?"

"I — I didn't think Gawst would really fire," said Keith.

"qThey're taking up equidistant geodesic positions around us," said Thor. "If all eight ships shoot at us simultaneously and at the same wavelength, it will overload our shields.

There will be nowhere to shunt the energy."

Holograms of the dolphin pilots and their gunners were floating above Keith's console. "Let me take out the ship nearest us," said Rissa, flying with Longbottle aboard the Rum Runner.

Keith closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he had found his resolve. "Do it."

"Shooting for the engine pod," said Rissa.

PHANTOM drew a red line in the holo sphere to represent the invisible output of the geological laser, lancing from the bow of the Rum Runner to the Waldahud craft. The beam sliced along the length of the engine pod, and a plasma tongue shot away from the ship.

"Hey," said Rissa, with a triumphant smile. "Guess all that time playing darts was good for something after all."

"Gawst is firing on Starplex again," said Thor. "And one of the other ships is going after the Rum Runner."

"Get out of there, Longbottle," said Keith. The Rum Runner did an arcing maneuver, exactly like a dolphin doing a backflip. It completed the move with its laser firing in the direction of the incoming ship, which swerved to avoid contact with the beam.

"Gawst's ship has two lasers, one port and one starboard," said Thor.

"He's pounds ring them both at our lower radio telescope — man, he's good. He's letting our antenna's parabolic dish focus his beams onto the instrument cluster."

"Rock $tarplcx," said Keith. "l.os him."

The stars in holographic display danced left and right.

"He's still on us," said Thor. "I bet — yup, he's done it.

Even with full shields, enough of his laser leaked through, and the dish antenna foeused it. He's taken out the deck-seventy sensor array, and-"

Starplex shook. Keith was startled; he had never felt the ship shake before. "The seven remaining Waldahud craft are firing on us in sequence," said Thor.

"Keith to probeships: engage the Waldahudin. Get them to stop their attack on us."

"They'll overload our shields in sixteen seconds," said Lianne.

In the holo display, Keith could see the PDQ and the Long March firing on two of the Waldahud ships. The Waldahudin were trying to keep a single force screen to their attackers while continuing to fire on Starplex, but the probeships were maneuvering wildly, making it hard for the Waldahudin to keep the screen positioned. Glancing blows were making it through.

An alarm started sounding. "Force-screen failure imminent," said PHANTOM's voice.

Suddenly one of the Waldahudin ships exploded silently; the Marc Garneau had wheeled from firing on one ship to firing on the same one that the PDQ had engaged. The target ship had had no force screens deployed along its bow. Keith lowered his head. The first casualties of the battle — and, with hand-aimed lasers, no one would ever know if gunner Helena Smith-Tate had aimed for the habitat, or had simply missed when shooting at the engine pod.

"Two down, six to go," said Thor. "Force-screen failure," announced Lianne.

The five dolphin-piloted ships began swooping wildly, their weapons firing at' random. The holographic display was crisscrossed with animated laser beams, red for the Commonwealth forces, blue for the attackers.

Suddenly Gawst's vessel began revolving around its bow-stern axis, spinning like a corkscrew. "What the hell's he doing?" asked Keith.

It became apparent as PHANTOM drew in the two beams from Gawst's twin laser canons. With the ship rotating, the beams were forming a cylinder of coherent light — turning twin pinpoint weapons into effectively a wide-beam device.

Gawst was aiming up, toward the underside of Starplex's central disk, beneath one of the ship's four main generators.

"If he does it right," said Thor, impressed despite himself, "he'll be able to carve out the number-two generator, like a geologist taking a core sample."

"Move the ship!" snapped Keith.

The starfield wheeled. "Doing so — but he's got a tractor beam locked on us. We-"

The ship rocked again, and a new alarm started wailing.

Lianne swung around to face Keith. ""There's an internal hull breach on deck forty, where the bottom of the ocean deck joins the central shaft.

Water is pouring down the shaft into the lower decks."

"Christ!" said Keith. "Did the Ibs screw up when they installed the replacement lower habitats?"

Rhombus's web turned yellow with rage again, and the dots on it flared brightly. "Excuse me?" he said sharply.