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.


Chapter 3

"This is impossible," Kal whispered. She was bent over the operational table, examining the hologram produced by the battle computer. In it, Layon was shown as a jet-black sphere, with an occasional green-white patch here and there. Craters three kilometers deep gaped where planetary bases had one been. Despite this, it was difficult to make out the details, since the silver dots of the ships circling Layon were blocking the view.

"Nearly thirty-two thousand ships." The destroyer's captain was looking at Kal from the screen. "They have crushed the defenses in a matter of hours. They must have brought their entire fleet."

"Is the Silicoid Foundation at war with the Darlok Unity?" Kal asked rhetorically.

"It is now," the Captain replied with visible delight.

T/san, who was lying in the corner of the bridge, burst out into a wheezing human-like laughter. The Meklar had their own scores to settle with both the Darloks and the Silicoids.

Then again, which galactic race didn't have problems with another?


Arthur and Kay had been taken through the passages of the Silicoid assault ship for almost half an hour. The craft lacked any lifts or transporters, which this race had no need of, so a simple walk had turned into a series of pull-ups and jumps. The Silicoids escorting them changed periodically, some of them would leave through side passages, and others would take their place. They communicated between themselves using frequencies inaccessible to humans, so their actions seemed completely spontaneous.

Their escorts stopped next to one of the doors. Kay felt the Ultimatum's strap slide off his shoulder, so he lifted his arm, allowing a force field to disarm him. Another Silicoid pulled the pistol from Arthur's belt with the same virtuosity. The only sentient race without any semblance of hands was in no way inconvenienced by that.

"Should we go in?" Kay asked. He didn't get a reply; maybe these marines simply didn't speak Standard. Kay kicked the door, and it obediently folded up and slid into the ceiling.

This chamber had been prepared for humans. There were two chairs, ungainly ones, but equipped with safety belts. A Silicoid was floating next to a wall, over a latticed disk coming out of the floor. Ignoring him, Kay sat Arthur down into a chair, strapped him in, and then did the same to himself.

They had clearly been waiting for them. Almost immediately, a shudder passed through the ship. A jerk. Then an acceleration, pressing them into their chairs; Silicoid ships weren't equipped with grav-compensators.

"May I ask what you're doing?" Kay asked the Silicoid.

"I am participating in the acceleration of the ship," the Silicoid sang.

"Ah… Is it true that you used to travel in hulls without any external equipment and borrowed the idea of independent drives from us?"

"It is. The idea of external drives, as well as the idea of external weaponry, was received by us from humans."

"But I digress. What are you doing on Layon?"

"Saving the galaxy," the Silicoid informed him tersely.

The g-forces momentarily rose so high that Altos had to stop speaking. But as soon as the invisible pressing had weakened, he resumed the conversation, "Are you able to speak?"

"I am. This function is independent."

"Excellent. May I ask your name?"

"To humans, it sounds like 'Sedimin'."

Kay closed his eyes and said, "Interesting. I always thought that your names were inseparable from your social status. And only the Foot of the Foundation can be called Sedimin."

"You are correct. In our society, I take up the post analogous to the human Emperor."

"I'm flattered," was all Kay could say.

"Death is death, no matter who gives it, be it Emperor or soldier," Sedimin disagreed.


"They're leaving," Kal said to no one in particular. Only her people were on the bridge, as well as the sergeants of the marine squad given to her by Lemak. Everyone's eyes were glued to the operational hologram. The silver dots over the planet were churning, vanishing one after another, like a swarm of iron moths, which had been attracted by a light and which had extinguished it.

"The planet isn't strategically important to the Silicoids," Nomachi noted. "There was no point in destroying it."

"Unless it had nothing to do with the planet," Kadar mentioned.

"What then?" Kal turned to him. Kadar held her gaze.

"I think you know better, Superior."

Now everyone was looking at Isabella. Everyone, except for Nomachi, who smiled wryly and stepped aside.

"Nonsense!" Isabella said sharply. "Our goal is to get our prisoners back. The Silicoids have no need of them… T/san, do you have any suggestions?"

The Meklar straightened his limbs, assuming the position akin to that of a hunting dog. His long lizard-like head was showing no emotions.

"The idea that we are similar to the Silicoids is incorrect," he informed her. "We have never stopped being organic beings and have not been able to understand the stone race."

"But you've fought them three times."

"The Bulrathi are still at war with them." With that, T/san once again assumed the pose of relaxation. He added, "As for me personally, I have too many parts made by human hands. As far as Meklon is concerned, I am not a full member of my race. My psyche is much more similar to that of the venerable Marjan Mohammadi…"

"Ahar?"

The Bulrathi raised his heavy gaze. He said reluctantly, "The Silicoids attacked us during our heyday, when our fleet was preparing to conquer the Human Empire. Their policy is dictated by the law of the Foundation of the Mind, to maintain the balance. Maybe the Silicoids thought that the Darloks have become too powerful."

"So they attacked an insignificant planet on the periphery?"

"Who can say now what used to be there?" The Bulrathi's paw pointed at the hologram, which was showing the charred black ball.