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 6

Chen Chamri was standing twenty paces from the ship, at the spot where the earth, scorched by the engines, transitioned into a row of charred trees. Kal hadn't asked for guards to be posted, but the Imperial Marine Sergeant couldn't bear to be so lax. He had sent six privates out of the ship, set up guard posts, and was now just resting, examining his surroundings.

Chen himself had been born on Mentar, a dry, arid planet, whose vast desert had a charm of its own. At the moment, Chen was trying to decide whether he liked Tauri. So far, there were more cons than pros: there were too many trees, the sky was too dark, and the climate was too cool (for a Mentaran).

Chen really only liked the abundance of fruit. He plucked a strange apple-like fruit, which tasted like strawberries, off a tree and headed for the silver cone of the ship.

"Hey!" came from behind him. Chen turned.

He recognized Kay Ovald immediately. The same was true for the weapon in his hands, a multi-barreled laser. The marines knew how to use old equipment.

"Don't do anything crazy," Chen asked. "Drop the weapon, and you'll be spared."

The man who had been the target of Kal's chase was silent. Chen broke out in a sweat. The Chance's six barrels were spinning idly, pointing at his gut.

"Your son is fine." Chen took a step towards Ovald. "The Incedios ISS has some questions for you. Lower your weapon, you're just a merchant!"

Kay Ovald laughed. The ease with which he held the laser gun forced Chen to recognize the ridiculousness of his words.

"You're not planning on storming the ship by yourself, are you?!" Chen yelled. He was about fifty meters away from the nearest guard post; someone had to have heard him.

"No, I'm not," Kay replied, activating the harp laser.


ISS ships weren't designed for combat, especially on a planet. From the bridge, it was possible to listen in on phone calls on the other side of the planet, but not to scan the surrounding area.

"What's happening?" Isabella burst onto the bridge, with T/san and Sergeant Ralph Gordon already there.

"A massacre." T/san turned his head. "Deputy Commander Kal, I believe that Kay Ovald has heavy weaponry. Permission to exit the ship?"

Kal remained silent, staring at the screens. The Tauri gardens did not burn well, only the plasma shots of the marines' standard-issue Cobras were causing some of the trees to blaze. But there were enough cut down apple trees to fill a sizable wood depot.

"Did you see a Chance at the old woman's house?" Kal asked.

"In her collection on the third floor. I believe that Kadar and the Bulrathi are dead." T/san made a move towards the exit.

"Stop."

Ralph threw a confused glance at Isabella. His dark skin had turned gray.

"I'm taking my people out," he said.

"Don't," Kal half-asked and half-ordered.

"I don't take orders from you." Gordon wasn't even trying to hide the contempt in his voice. "We don't leave our people behind."

Isabella raised her hand. Metal gleamed from under her cuff.

"Say hi to Lemak for me," she said. "I'll see him soon."

The Guardian's plasma blast threw Ralph onto the floor. His hand had gripped his sidearm, but he hadn't had time to pull it out.

"Hhruz," the Meklar said. Even his impassiveness had its limits.

"T/san, you and Mohammadi take care of the rest," Isabella ordered.

"I can refuse the order," the Meklar said coldly. "As an associated employee of the Empire, I protest your rebellion attempt."

"This isn't a rebellion." Kal lowered her hand; it was idiotic to try to compete with a Meklar with only a low-power Guardian as a weapon. "I'll present all explanations. Our actions will benefit both Terra and Meklon."

T/san wavered.

"I'm going to start the take-off, while the two of you handle the marines," Isabella repeated. "All of them have aTan, so it's not even murder. Our hands need to be untied, T/san."

The Meklar left the bridge silently.


Kay lay in an irrigation canal, in the water that was black from the ash, and watched the ship lift off. The small cone hovered fifty meters from the ground, swaying on the orange corolla of a flame.

"Going to try to iron me?" Kay asked the unseen pilot. The water could protect him from the plasma exhaust and even from a gravity hit… if the pilot was extremely careless. The cone started to grow smaller in size. Kay Dutch continued to lay in the canal for several more minutes. He hadn't counted on taking the ship by himself – that would have been naïve. First and foremost, Kay had wanted to gauge Kal's reaction to the attack.

Her reaction was the most unpleasant one, to flee. They were telling him that Imperial Security was no longer interested in him. They had let him live. Even the seven dead bodies, not counting the Bulrathi and the man with the polycharger, had simply been written off.

The blonde woman from Incedios had simply been watching his own reaction.

"You really do care more for the process than the result," Kay said, sitting down on the bank. "We're alike in that."

His arm muscles were sore from the Chance, so he put the harp laser on the ground. It would be found by local Imperial Security officers, who would look up the serial number and return it to Henrietta. Kay had neither the time nor the reason to wait for them.