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 11

The Hunter was a counterterrorism robot, designed specifically to act aboard spaceships and stations. It was as close to perfect as possible.

Its three independent laser turrets were powerful enough to cut through any armor. Its targeting systems afforded it near-hundred percent accuracy, and its reaction speed was even slightly faster than that of a Meklar, while its logic circuits had its own behavioral programs.

The Hunter was currently being spurred on by a direct order to speed up the elimination of the terrorists. It was wrong, since the humans hadn't yet had time to relax after the fight and were alert.

The robot's "eye", as thin as a spiderweb line, was extended around a hallway corner and studying the enemies. Coupled with the data coming from the surveillance systems, it was providing a full picture of the situation.

A Meklar on the ceiling. Its head segment was extended and moving in random directions. Unpleasant, but, at the moment when the Meklar was studying the hallways opposite of the Hunter, it wouldn't be able to react to a leap.

An armored man with a fusion rifle. Staring at one of the deceased. Unlikely that he would be able to react.

A short man with an intelligent weapon. He might be able to get a shot off in time, but his emitter was not very powerful.

A cyborg (the robot could sense the beating of electromagnetic fields) with a rapid-fire laser emitter. Dangerous but looking elsewhere, and his armor was on fire. His effectiveness had been lowered unavoidably.

A tall man with a powerful tachyon emitter. Very rapid and precise movements. Extremely dangerous.

The Hunter determined three initial targets: the Meklar, the cyborg, and the man with a tachyon emitter. Its heuristic circuits calculated that the enemies had no chance at all.

Its six powerful legs, copied from the Meklar, braced for a jump. The laser turrets quivered and started to turn, and then the Hunter leapt. The enemy had no chance.

The robot flew out of the hallway, seeing the man swinging his emitter a little too late, and the Meklar and the cyborg turning. They wouldn't make it, they couldn't.

A stream of tachyons, slowed down to light speed, appeared in the area of the primary nerve center. The robot simply ignored that fact as an impossibility. It was still trying to send the commands to fire, even though its metallic body was no longer obeying it. Its semi-intelligent turrets were patiently waiting for the command to fire.

Then the bursts from the fusion rifle and the Meklar's plasma cannon blasted the Hunter into hundreds of melted chunks. That was understandable and explainable. The robot ceased functioning without any emotions, since it hadn't been programmed to have them.


"No!" the base commander screamed. "No!"

Lemak was barely holding back a laugh. While, obviously, there was nothing good about the destruction of the Hunter, the presumptuous lout had been begging to be taught a lesson.

"Why?!" the base commander spoke, lowering his voice slightly. He turned to Lemak and spoke imploringly. "How did they react faster than the robot?"

"I never rely on technology," Lemak noted vengefully. His young healthy body demanded emotions, fights, intrigues. He should have had gone through aTan a long time ago…

"How?" the base commander repeated with a stricken look.

"Obviously, one of them has an Excalibur," Lemak informed him.

"So?"

"Tachyon weapons have a special relationship with time." Lemak gave his own Excalibur a tender stroke. "You know, this gun can fire almost a second before the trigger is pulled. You don't have access to the Blade category files? Too bad."


The surviving flunky was broken. Kay had realized that immediately, even though the other man hadn't said a word after a quick examination of his brother's body. He reacted too slowly to the robot's appearance and had accepted their fortune too evenly.

Maybe the lack of a self-preservation instinct made the flunky's own death unimportant to him. However, his brother's death had definitely had an effect.

Andrey wasn't fine either. The cyborg's armor was no longer burning, but its functionality had been reduced drastically. The worst was the fact that he had lost all the sensors on his armor. He continued to move last, but it was a necessary measure that didn't bring the same benefit.

Only Tommy was being protected by fate… or by an unknown god from the machine. Having been in a firefight and not having received a single serious hit, the boy had lost all criticism for what was happening. Kay took a mental note of that, but right then was not the time to admonish Tommy.

Actually, they had managed to get to the brig without much difficulty. The few skirmishes at long distance and several closed hatches, which Kas/s/is would blast open with his cannon, didn't count.

The final door had to be melted with three guns together, as the brig had been built solidly. But there turned out to be no one behind it. Just a round room with empty chairs of the guards, operating consoles…

"Anyone can stick his paw into plasma," the Meklar said, demonstrating his excellent knowledge of Bulrathi proverbs. "But pulling it back out isn't easy."

"We're already neck-deep… in plasma," Kay answered, moving close to the consoles. No one shot at him. There was no one to shoot, as the brig had been given up without a fight.

Squeaking with every step, sprinkling crumbs of his burnt armor onto the clean plastic floor, Andrey followed him. With some effort, he pulled off the gauntlet from his left hand and pressed the hand to the interface pad. He said, "Thirty seconds to remove the passwords."

"You can take forty," Kay grumbled, looking around.

"Twenty."

"If the boy isn't here, shoot me before telling me that."

"I am forbidden from killing you. Ten."

"Kas/s/is, destroy the sensors," Kay asked.

"I am taking care of them as well," the cyborg noted.

"It's okay."

The Meklar, who had been intently studying the room, got up on his hind legs, stretching out almost to the ceiling. A thin tube came out of his chin. Kas/s/is studied the room a moment longer, then the laser started working, burning precise holes in the walls and leaving small melted craters in the ceiling.

"I am in the local network," Andrey said. "General detention… no… disciplinary detention… no… special detention… no…"

"Damn it," Kay said, sensing a feeling of failure about to roll over him.

"Infirmary… yes."

"Infirmary?"

"He is being interrogated under the 4C category. I am forming a passage."

Kay cursed mentally. 4C. That wasn't even mutilation, it was methodical vivisection, the threshold of life and death.

No matter what the regular citizens said about the ISS and the military, Kay had never heard about fourth-degree interrogation being used on children.

"Will you fit through the passage?" he asked Kas/s/is, watching the walls move apart.

"Probably."

"The two of us will go." Kay glanced at Tommy. It would take too long to shut off the program that forced the boy to follow him. "Three. Wait for us here, Andrey. Try to keep the passage open. And prepare our exit."


Having switched to the main console, Lemak was examining the disposition of his forces. The brig had been locked down securely with both armored soldiers and the shamed robots. Kay Altos would get his charge, but that would change nothing. The only thing that worried Lemak were the completely locked surveillance systems from within the brig. It was either the work of the Meklar, or there was a cyborg among the attackers, capable of driving computer networks insane.

"Should we let our Meklar and Bulrathi out?" the base commander offered timidly. Lemak chuckled, "We will."

"What if we gas them?"

"They're all wearing armor."

Opening a channel to the sergeants of the assault teams, Lemak gave several orders. The ring around the brig started to tighten. Casualties were unavoidable, of course, especially since they were going to try to take Altos alive. But the boys would do it. Lemak knew his people and had no doubts about their training. He just couldn't understand why he had allowed the attackers to reach the brig.

"Admiral…"

Lemak turned to face his aide, but Isabella Kal, holding her ISS badge in her raised hand, had already pushed him aside, "What is the meaning of all this?"

"We're taking them," Lemak replied coldly. She shouldn't have spoken with him in such a tone, so Kal changed it, "Admiral, my people are in the brig!"

"Marjan and Louis? I'm very sorry. Then again, they have an opportunity to do their duty."

Biting her lips, Kal was staring at the Admiral. Then she shook her head, "You shouldn't play such games for too long, Admiral. They should never have been allowed to reach Arthur… they might kill him."

"I don't think so." Lemak relaxed. He suddenly realized what he had been trying to do. Very little, merely to force the mask of a victor from Kal's face. To have the small living prize be won by both of them… on equal terms.

Funny, as soon as he got younger, he had started doing stupid things, like a love-stricken kid.

"Take your Meklar and go to the brig," Lemak said. "I'll be there in six minutes. We'll take them all. Together."