Free Star Clusters: New Arrivals by Dalo Lorn Page A

shook his head. “No, I do not believe so,” Hatos said.
    “Very well. Hippasrus out.” The holoviewer switched off.
    Hatos turned to Lanis. “I believe my people’s best technological contributions here will be our drones and transporter technology; I will have a few drones and other useful devices stored in one of your cargo bays, and install a small transporter in another one.”
    “Remember,” Lanis said, “we have to stay relatively inconspicuous. Try to conceal the upgrades from sensors as much as you can.”
    “I will see to it that the modifications are as hard to detect as possible - but it will not be fully effective.”
    “I know.”
    In the meantime, most of Jackson’s fleet had jumped to hyperspace in various directions, including his flagship, the U.S.S. Orion. On the Orion’s bridge, the admiral was deep in thought as the ship sped silently through hyperspace; how severe was this infiltration, and how could it be stopped?
    “Helm, how long until we reach the Menlon system?” he asked after a while. The Menlon system was a small four-planet system about seven and a half hundred light years from Cartha, on the far side of Terran space; now that Menlon Four was in a state of open rebellion, Jackson had been ordered to take a small force there and calm things down.
    “Forty-five hours,” the helmsman replied. Even with a hyperspace factor of 4.17, the Orion and its fleet would take just under two days to traverse the distance between Menlon and Cartha.
    Jackson sighed. “So many things to do, and so little time…”
    ******
    On the Tarhedia, Lanis had very few things he could do while he waited for the Ivory Eagle to be refitted. Finally, something occurred to him. Ever since Hatos had explained the unusual nature of his boots to him, he had been somewhat fascinated by the sharp contrast - and similarities - between them and the Xargans. However, more important matters and forgetfulness had kept him from pursuing the matter further; neither of which were an issue anymore. He walked through the park, looking for the Tarhedian leader - and eventually finding him; near the pond he had already fallen into twice before.
    “Hatos,” he started, “I just thought of something. Can we use the Tarhedia’s facilities and the Terran database to determine where these boots came from?”
    “Perhaps. If any traces existed, they would certainly be subtle, but that does not necessarily mean they would not be detectable. What do you expect to find?”
    “I don’t know; probably some clue as to what the connection between them and the Xargans is.”
    “I have been considering this as well; in fact, I had already prepared a lab and was going to ask you in a few minutes when you arrived. It is most likely that the two share a common ancestor - perhaps the boots were genetically altered by some ancient race while the Xargans evolved from the boots’ unaltered ancestors.”
    “Well, whatever it is, it might be worth investigating.”
    “Precisely. Follow me,” the Tarhedian said, leading Hatos into one of the Tarhedia’s science facilities; the boots spent the next couple of hours being thoroughly analyzed, with any foreign substances being searched for in every database the Tarhedia had access to.
    “There,” Hatos said once the analysis was complete, pointing at a sudden change in a holographic diagram displaying various changes in environment as detected and interpreted by the ship’s computer. “As far as I can tell, the boots seem to have been on a planet listed in the database as ‘Daserus Three’ until a period roughly fifteen years ago, when it switches to what seems to be one or more Terran ships and possibly stations. After that, the boots spend most of the following ten years on Earth - until the day you left Earth with them.”
    “Wait, did you say Daserus Three?”
    “Yes; I think I know what you are thinking about. Daserus Two was one of the worlds you said had first been attacked by