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 7

"Follow me," the Silicoid said.

Arthur was gone for two hours. When the door opened, Kay expected to see him, but it was just his escort.

"It's my turn now, isn't it?" Kay asked, exiting into the hallway. The Silicoid didn't feel the need to answer. They moved along hallways, which were covered in complete darkness, only the glowing ball created by the alien allowing him to see where he was going. The air seemed too fresh, lifeless; it clearly had been enriched with oxygen only recently. Three or four percent were enough for the Silicoids, and they had to alter their atmosphere to suit their captives.

This time, Sedimin wasn't alone. Three Silicoids hovered in the center of the room, either conversing in their own radio band or reflecting on something. Arthur was sitting in a chair, tense, looking like a hunted animal.

"Hey, Foot of the Foundation," Kay said, approaching his charge. "You haven't been too rough with the boy, have you?"

"He has opened up voluntarily," the Silicoid hummed, hovering in the center of the little group.

"And are you satisfied?"

"I am. Now I will ask, and you will answer. What is the Line of Dreams?"

"Unfortunately, Arthur wasn't as candid with me." Kay perched himself on an armrest of the unoccupied chair. "It looks like this information is only for the royalty."

"He doesn't know," Arthur said quickly. "This isn't necessary."

"I believe you," Sedimin agreed, approaching them. "We can sense when words are true and when they are not."

"You promised—" Curtis Jr. began.

"I remember. Kay Altos, we have received valuable information from Arthur Curtis. It changes our perception of Grail."

"And you have decided to let us go." Kay bowed slightly. "My thanks, you are an ancient and wise race."

"And we have almost decided to let you go," the Silicoid said, ignoring his tone. Kay trailed off. He threw a questioning gaze at Arthur, who nodded.

"The situation is ambiguous," Sedimin spoke. "The adoption of the technology Curtis calls the Line of Dreams by the Human Empire should lower the danger to the Foundation of the Mind. The possibility of human aggression will be reduced to zero…"

"Should I stop you myself then?" Kay asked Arthur.

"However," the Silicoid went on, "the weakening of humanity can provoke a reaction from the other young races. In any case, the balance of power will be broken. We are at a loss."

"Do you really have a choice?" Kay inquired.

"We do. We can detain you… for a long time. You will be alive, but you will never leave Silicoid space. This will give us time to make a decision."

"Detain us? Oh really…" Kay patted his chest. "I can stop my little ticker at any moment. I can stop breathing. Arthur is capable of the same trick."

"You will have neither hearts not lungs," Sedimin said without a shadow of a threat. "Just your brains. And they will live… for a very long time."

"You're bluffing," Kay said, feeling a chill spread through his chest.

"No, Kay Altos, born Kay Dutch. We have learned to preserve biological objects in separate parts. Should I give the order, your bodies will be taken apart within three minutes. Your brains will not have time to die; aTan will not be triggered."

"This is a bluff," Kay spoke, already knowing that Sedimin was telling the truth.

"Would you like to test me?"

There was no threat in the Silicoid's voice. Even this race's sworn enemies had never accused them of being excessively cruel.

"No," Kay gave in. "I believe you."

"And rightly so." The note of compassion in Sedimin's voice could have been false. But it could also have been conveying his genuine feelings, that equivalent to sympathy which a Silicoid could feel towards a human.

"So what are you waiting for?" Kay looked over all three of them. Composed of silicon and crystalline structures, using force fields instead of limbs, they were entirely invulnerable to an unarmed human.

That was the general consensus.

"We are deciding, Kay Altos. Curtis Jr. told us the truth, or a part of it. By letting you go, we would be reducing the threat to the galaxy brought by humanity. But there are too many unaccounted factors. If we only detain you, then this will give us time. Not much, unfortunately. Van Curtis could create another clone. And his plans could change."

Arthur shuddered but remained silent.

"Decide," Kay said. "May the Foundation not waver, when the mind begins to move."

"You know much." Sedimin did not convey surprise. "You are a human, who is trying to understand other races, while simultaneously hating them."

"I'm neutral towards your people."

"We are too different. Kay Dutch, what do you suggest we do? You do not know the truth about the Line of Dreams, it will not affect your decision. Speak."

"Will you follow my advice?"

"Not necessarily."

"Okay." Kay pulled himself up, either stretching or simply coming to a decision. "Sedimin, when you became the Foot of the Foundation, you replaced Granid at this post."

"That was so."

"Was your way accepted as more correct for the Foundation?"

"No, it was unclear at the time. We entrusted the choice to the stability of creation."

"To put it simply, you fought," Kay concluded. He was curious, just a little, whether the Silicoid was experiencing any emotions when recalling his rise—or was it descent?—to power.

"Your suggestion is absurd." Sedimin waved his body a little, and Kay felt something invisible pass dangerously close to his legs. "There are no supporters of either decision among us. There is no one to determine the truth in combat."

"My suggestion is even more absurd than you think, rocky. I'm going to fight one of you. The victor will make the decision."

It seemed that Sedimin was incapable of understanding what he had heard. He circled Kay, scanning him with all available means, before asking, "What weapon do you wish to set against us?"

"None. Unarmed combat, as it should be during a test for an unknowable truth."

Arthur turned away. It would be foolish to try to speak with a deranged man.

The Silicoids were silent.

"I propose that we conduct a test of the stability of creation," Kay said.

"Your plan is naïve, Kay Altos. You will not die, we will preserve your brain." Apparently, Sedimin was assuming Kay's proposal to be a trick.

"Who will come out against me?"

Sedimin moved aside smoothly. He had probably given an order, since another Silicoid followed him. Only one alien was left facing Kay, half a ton of stone floating in mid-air.

"Kay Dutch, Shedar's Second Planet," Kay said, bowing. "I bear no malice towards you."

The Silicoid bent his body with a cartoonish grace. He sang, "Mizaar, Thirty-Ninth of the Foundation. I bear no malice towards you."

Arthur Curtis looked at his bodyguard. He knew what was going to happen to Kay and then what awaited them both. To fight a Silicoid without a weapon was dumber than trying to rush a tank with a knife. But Dutch-Altos was already adopting a fighting stance.

The boy pressed his hands to his head, as if that could protect him from the Silicoid surgeons, who were even then preparing to trepan two skulls, and closed his eyes.

Mizaar moved heavily towards Kay. The latter jumped away and emitted a prolonged cry, which sounded like the yell of a cat on a spring night.

Arthur van Curtis, who was able to recognize death in any guise, made a mistake this time. He decided that Kay Dutch was dead.

In fact, the Silicoid was of the same opinion. The foundation of the stone pillar made an arc, and an invisible wall struck Kay. He fell down, feeling his breath taken away. The Silicoid was moving closer, as dispassionate and deadly as a landslide.

Jumping to his feet, Kay Dutch struck at the stone body. His deflected and burned hand exploded with pain.

Without a sound, Mizaar dropped to the floor. The column of his body was almost round. He rolled slowly towards Sedimin, rumbling along the way. But his mind no longer had anything to do with this movement.

No longer capable of generating force fields, the Silicoid had become little more than a thinking stone.

"This. Is. Very. Impressive," Sedimin spoke distinctly. Mizaar stopped moving, gripped by his field.

Not listening to him, Kay went to Arthur. He took him by his wrists, moving away the hands that had become white from the tension.

Curtis Jr. was blinking rapidly and looking at his bodyguard.

"What have you decided, Kay?" Sedimin asked. Somewhere beyond human perception, a storm was raging. Information was circulating throughout the enormous ship: humans had learned the Bulrathi trick. Humans were capable of killing a Silicoid with their bare hands.

Kay Dutch-Altos was looking at Arthur. Behind the boy stood the unknown Line of Dreams, which would make humanity docile, safe, not violating the balance of power. The way aliens would love to see it.

"Decide, Kay."

Behind Sedimin stood dismemberment and their brains stuffed into a jar. Maybe they would let them keep their eyes.

"Oh, forget humanity," Kay said and ruffled Arthur's hair. "Sedimin, let us go. Please."