This is a fan translation of Line of Dreams (Линия грёз) by the Russian science fiction and fantasy author Sergei Lukyanenko. The novel can be considered a fan fiction of the original Master of Orion game.


Part IV

Stone Guests

Chapter 1

The lighting stopped working about ten minutes later. Though all this time, the distant hum hadn't let up, someone was giving Layon a serious pounding. Kay's first thought had been that someone finally decided to get them.

But an assault hadn't followed. They sat in the corner, Arthur pressing himself against Altos, who kept his finger on the trigger. Occasionally, the paralyzed Darloks started moving, so Kay fired into the darkness, giving the aliens a generous stun blast.

"How come no one knows about this, Kay?" Arthur asked after one of the shots.

"Because they never allowed themselves to be taken prisoner, and their tissues decomposed immediately after the host's death. They called it the Neural Degradation Syndrome. It was believed that it was caused by psychotropic mind manipulation.

"And no one knew?"

"Those who found out were no longer human."

"Then this is a miracle," Arthur said seriously. He seemed to have stopped sobbing, but the face pressing against Kay was still wet.

"It'll be a miracle if we get out of here." Pulling the boy away, Kay rose. "Hold on to me and keep up."

They walked along the walls. When they happened upon a Darlok corpse, Kay stepped on it, trying to do as much damage as possible.

Finally, Altos's hands managed to find a thin slot in the wall. After a minute's search, he also found a rough plate, an obvious sensor lock.

"Stay here." Kay walked back into the center of the room. This time, he didn't start trampling a paralyzed Darlok; instead, he stepped with his foot on a thin hand and started trying to break one of his fingers off. The absence of even a simple knife infuriated him. It would've been easier with a human body, but Kay didn't want to bite alien flesh. He worked for several minutes, dismembering the joint. The Darlok started to wheeze; the pain was getting even through to his stunned mind.

"It's easier to drag all of him here," Arthur said from the darkness. It wasn't difficult to figure out what Kay was doing.

"It's more fun this way," Altos replied, finishing his dirty business. He went back to Arthur and pressed the severed finger to the sensor plate. There was a click; the lock had an independent power source, but the motors opening the door were on the central grid. With some effort, Kay managed to slide the door into the side openings.

The long low hallway was lit up by dim orange lamps. Something told Kay that those weren't emergency lights; this room required this exact type of lighting. The walls of the hallway were transparent, and it was just as gloomy behind the glass.

It was a terrarium. A thin layer of yellow sand, flat black stones scattered everywhere, occasional prickly bushes… and snakes, hundreds of green snakes. Some of them lay motionless, possibly basking in the light, while others were swarming over gnawed pieces of meat. Unlike their host bodies, which had been thought to be Darloks for so long, the snakes were carnivorous.

"Are they… sentient?" Arthur asked from behind him.

"I don't think so," Kay said without looking away from the Darloks, separated from him by the glass. "On their own, doubtful… Let's go, Arthur, I'm not a biologist."

A second door, which they opened with the same "key", gave them a lot more. There was no independent lighting here, but there was a window into the terrarium, which provided a dim light. The spacious hall was reminiscent of either a department store or a theater's prop room. Rows of hangers with clothing, carefully washed and pressed, and various kinds of shoes under them. There were weapons on a long rack.

"How careless of them," Kay noted, putting down the stunner. He selected an Ultimatum, a human weapon, left unchanged since the days of the Vague War. A shoulder strap allowed one to hold the ten-kilogram cermet cannon, while two short side handles contained all the controls. "Turn away," Kay ordered, aiming the Ultimatum at the terrarium window. The Darloks basking in light on the shallow sand started to slither around. No matter how weak their own minds were, they knew what a weapon was.

Phew! the Ultimatum sighed, emitting a thin white ray. This wasn't the actual shot; a pulse laser had vaporized the air molecules in the line of fire, clearing the path for an antiparticle beam.

The glass burst, spraying the inside of the terrarium like a fiery hailstorm. In its place was a boiling wall of blue flame; the ancient designers of the Ultimatum hadn't trusted the aiming skills of hastily trained soldiers. This heavy wide-field disintegrator, a weapon that had decided many planetary battles, incinerated everything in the target plane.

"Now I'm ready for some close contact," Kay said, stepping away from the wave of stifling heat. Arthur, who had picked up a Bumblebee from the rack, was moving backwards behind him.

They didn't find any more doors, and they had no way to activate the hypertunnel. So Kay cut through one of the walls; a brief flash revealed them a dark chamber stretching into the distance. Before leaving, Altos took Arthur's pistol and dismembered all the stunned bodies.