A small bubble flitted across the eyelid of a slumbering Teknoman. Two others brushed the sleeper's lashes in quick succession. The lashes fluttered, and two slanted crimson eyes opened. The teknopod burst, spilling its contents over the floor of the station.
The Teknoman slowly rose to her feet, running her clawed hands through her short lime colored hair. Concentrating, she retrieved her familiar well-worn clothes from subspace. A harsh male voice, one she and all the others aboard knew well, sounded in the silence of her mind.
Vasara.
Yes, lord Nalshanda?
Some unknown creatures have entered our territory. Activate the defenses, and see to it that any worthy aliens are taken.
I will do so, my lord Nalshanda.
Vasara felt Nalshanda's mental presence fade to a mere suggestion, just a subtle reminder that he was still there. Vasara made her way to the control panel, the workstation twisted on its supports. And inadvertently woke someone who had been meditating while leaning against it.
"Shivaru, what were you doing?"
Meditating, but it is of no consequence now. What are you doing, Vasara? Teknoman Shivaru had been born a mute. But, since all Teknomen could communicate telepathically with one another, this disability had caused him no trouble.
"Nalshanda has ordered me to activate the defense system he designed. And to oversee the capture of any worthy creatures."
You cannot easily do both at once, Vasara, Shivaru pointed out.
"That does not matter. Nalshanda has ordered me to do this, and I will not fail him," Vasara said stubbornly.
Do not overextend yourself, Vasara, there is no point. I will activate the defenses. You go and determine the worthiness of these aliens. Shivaru held up one hand to forestall Vasara's inevitable protest. I will tell Nalshanda that it was I who said you should.
Vasara did not look happy to be ordered about by anyone but Nalshanda himself, but she did transform and fly to the airlock. Admitting only to herself that Shivaru did indeed have her best interests at heart. The bioengineered "living" asteroids floated in random nonpatterns, mimicking the real space debris that she had often sighted on her travels to other star systems.
At a signal from the Station's computer, their limited minds awakened and they began to move. Charging themselves with the bioenergy emitted from Vasara's own body, the asteroids followed her as she set out to investigate the fleet of unknown ships.
They were strangely shaped and did not look very dangerous, or even all that aerodynamic. They were just sitting there, it was as if they had deliberately come to this sector.
Well, they are about to learn what happens to any insolent, trespassing aliens who cross our borders.
Nalshanda had settled in this out of the way nebula after he had become weary of the galaxy, inviting some of his older soldiers to join him. It was on the outermost edge of one of the many spiral arms, and not home to any sentient or non-sentient races. That is what made the appearance of the ships so odd and unwelcome: they were intruding on Nalshanda's exile.
If a few of the aliens were captured, as Nalshanda had ordered, they would be immediately sent to places more central to the Radam Empire. Provided they were first deemed worthy of the struggle inherent in capturing them, and secondly that they survived the process of becoming a Radam warrior. That was what Vasara was here to find out.
Vasara had hidden among the cloud of half-sentient rocks so that a chance sensor sweep would not reveal her to the ships, since the Radam were well known in most quarters of this and many other galaxies. Not giving the rocks any specific orders, Vasara waited to see if the aliens would make their intentions known.
Seventy minutes passed, and another ship appeared, somewhat bigger that the other small ships, but with no other distinguishing features visible to Vasara. Twelve minutes later, another force of ships appeared in exactly the same manner that the first one had.
That was the only way in which the other ships resembled these. The first fleet had been pale in color, the first of these newcomers was the blue-black color of a shadow. And it looked somewhat like a species of insect that Vasara had seen once, on a planet whose name she could no longer remember. The other craft was hard and sharp-edged, like a weapon.
Like one of the twin charens Mishiku carried in battle, but this craft had two crescent-shaped blades instead of just one, one on each side of the haft. The outer edges of the two crescents faced outward, and instead of a two-inch sharpened spike at the top, a small double-ended triangle graced the tip of the shaft.
The insectoid spacecraft launched a fleet of ships, themselves like a smaller swarm. As the black craft launched its own fleet of identical ships, Vasara wondered why any species would want to model their ships after vermin. Deciding she had seen enough, Vasara gave a single simple order to the hoard of living space rock that surrounded her.
Attack!
The asteroids surged forward around her as Vasara hung back, watching as the black ship went after the largest of the pale egg-shaped ships. Extending a boarding tube and securing it to the hull of the other craft, the occupants of the black craft, which was obviously a warship, forced their way into the other ship.
After the last of the invaders was aboard, one of the asteroids rammed into the joined craft…
***
The Jahar rocked with the impact of the asteroid, and Elfangor struggled out from under Loren, who had been knocked unconscious by a Dracon blast. Finally managing to free himself, even as Visser Thirty-two stepped fully aboard the Jahar, Elfangor tried one last desperate ploy. Aiming the razor-sharp blade of his tail blind and hoping to hit the control console, Elfangor jerked his tail forward.
Visser Thirty-two yanked himself out of the range of Elfangor's tail blade, mistakenly thinking that he was the one Elfangor intended to hit. Luck and fate were both on Elfangor's side, and the tip of his blade hit the trigger for the Jahar's Shredders. Thick pale blue beams lanced from the double-barreled weapon and struck the Blade ship directly amidships, tearing the warship violently in half, but somehow the boarding tube remained attached to the Jahar's hull.
It was only then that Visser Thirty-two noticed something out of place in the hailstorm of rock, something that seemed almost alive. Ignoring the still semi-prone Elfangor, Visser Thirty-two stepped up to the command console. It hadn't been just a scanner malfunction, or if it was, it was still showing up on the forward screen.
Focusing in on the strange colorful blip that seemed to be surrounded by at least three of the asteroids, and sometimes as many as five at one time, Visser Thirty-two got a lock with the forward scanner array. Zooming in, Visser Thirty-two blinked sharply. This could not be right, it just couldn't be!
Hovering there in space, with the impossible asteroids acting as a kind of barrier, was a creature who bore such a striking resemblance to his former host that they could only be the same species. There were slight differences of course, but the overall similarities were impossible to overlook. This newcomer had the same blazing red eyes, but instead of the almost-invisible ebony armor that his old host had possessed, this new Navari's armor was predominantly a deep blue.
The arms and legs were two shades of green. And instead of merely a single pair of large horns on the sides of the helmet, this newcomer had two. One smaller pair and one larger, the larger pair above the smaller. And just to further distinguish the two, small upcurved spikes graced the newcomer's back and upper-arms.
The spikes were colored according to where they were; those on the back were deep blue, and those on the arms were light green. Visser Thirty-two wondered why the living asteroids, which had attacked both Yeerk and Andalite fleets indiscriminately, were evidently ignoring the Navari completely.
What is that?! Alloran demanded.
Nothing for you to concern yourself about, slave.
Another asteroid slammed into the Jahar, and the boarding tube tore loose from the hull, sucking the atmosphere out into space. Almost everything else inside went with the violent rush of air. The prone Hork-Bajir was blown outside, and Visser Thirty-two was knocked off his feet.
Chapman and Loren both slid toward the still-open hatch. But the hatch was only now sliding shut, clicking softly as it locked.
You're a real source of agitation, Elfangor, Visser Thirty-two raged, forgetting for a moment the Navari within the asteroid storm. Now, die!
Visser Thirty-two aimed his Dracon beam at Elfangor, but another asteroid slammed into the Jahar before he fired, throwing off his aim. The effort of firing cost a lot of his body's remaining oxygen, and when a third asteroid rammed the Jahar, it took a supreme amount of willpower just to stay conscious while he was tossed about.
The asteroids had dispatched most of the Andalite fighters, and most of the Yeerk Bug fighters had been destroyed by them as well. As the Jahar spun unpowered through space, Visser Thirty-two saw a flash of the Navari amid the tumbling rocks and half-destroyed ships. And, much closer, one of the asteroids hurtling straight toward them…