Vez and Coz

In the Buld Reality.
Original cover art by Baryé Phillips,
Gabe Keith and see this.

Below is part 6 of the science fiction story "The Alastor Network". Set in Jack Vance's Alastor Cluster, the story is concerned with the end stages of an ages old project aimed at creating telepathic humans. Twycky now carries inside her womb a special embryo with new gene combinations that complement those inside the contemporaneous Lavany embryo. The grandchildren of Twycky will be able to achieve telepathic communication with the alien Phari without the need to first form a mind clone network. 

 

However, in the years before Twycky's grandchildren attain their full telepathic powers, a mind clone network will allow for some initial, tentative telepathic contacts between humans and the Phari, an alien life form that resides in the Hierion Domain. That network is being constructed and assembled even before Twycky becomes aware that she is pregnant.

 

 

image source

Origins of telepathy

A very limited form of twitino-mediated telepathy existed long ago in the Neanderthals. When converted into positronic circuitry, the Neanderthal brain pattern unleashed a powerful form of telepathy that allowed R. Gohrlay and her tribe of probots to kick the pek out of our galaxy.

The probots tried to endow humans with greater telepathic abilities, resulting in a human variant known as the Asterothropes. That effort took almost ten million years, but the probots finally knew a set of gene combinations that would make human telepathy possible. 

However, not everyone was pleased with that first type of human telepath made by the probots since the brains of those humans were genetically altered, making them innately programmed with the Laws of Robotics.

The End of Eternity

The probots were masters of Time. Their positronic brains could peer into the future. Realizing that information could flow backwards through time, they developed a practical form of time travel. See The End of Eternity for an account of how their time travel technology was used. 

In the Foundation Reality, R. Gohrlay almost completed Galaxia, a galaxy-spanning group mind of telepathically-linked humans. However, the Huaoshy were not idle. After developing their own time travel and telepathy technologies, they sent Grean the Kac'hin to Earth. Grean took control of R. Gohrlay's base of operations, the Eternity space-time bubble in the Hierion Domain. 

Thus began the Time Travel War between the pek and the positronic robots of Earth. During that war, Grean tried to learn about the hierion-based technologies of the probots such as the Bimanoid Interface.

Earth's Reality Chain

During the Trysta Truce, a new Reality came into existence: the Asimov Reality. In the Asimov Reality, the Alastor star cluster was used as a laboratory for the creation of new human variants who had telepathy while not also being constrained by the Laws of Robotics. In order to initiate the Asimov Reality, R. Nyrtia traveled two billion years into the past and made sure that the Phari remained in control of Alastor Cluster.

The Phari became masters of hierion-based technologies and formed the Phari network, a network of telepathically linked worlds with various species that all had telepathic abilities made possible by their Phari endosymbionts. 

Dr. Kasya Jeghtop

In the fullness of Time, shaped by natural evolution and guided by Interventionist forces, the humans of Earth evolved and developed so as to become the newest component of the Phari network.

"The Alastor Network" is the story of the culmination of the development of human telepathy leading up to First Contact of humans with the Phari. Two special human embryos have been crafted, the Lavany embryo and the son of Twycky, whose existence is as yet not even known to his mother. Part 6 of "The Alastor Network" (below) begins soon after the events in part 5. With the help of a device that temporarily inactivates her zeptite endosymbiont, Kasya now learns that her sister, Twycky, is pregnant.

 ⎯ The Alastor Network ؄

 

Part 6. Calling Yrinna. (read part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5)

 

After putting Maghy to bed, Kasya spoke briefly with Private Veameck who was standing guard just inside the front entrance of the Connatic's suite. "I hope that Tithixa is resting now."

 

"Yes, she is in her room."

 

"Don't you need sleep, too?"

 

"Truth be told, I'm still a bit on edge. There are three starmenters on board."

 

After the pirate attack, Kasya had spent the day with Maghy and Mando, with the exception of the just concluded meeting next door with Commander Shermatz. Kasya had just met the commander of the pirate ship, Captain Lanting, but no mention had been made of additional pirates brought over from the Nykark. "Three?"

Veameck nodded. "In addition to Lanting, Shermatz brought on board a pair of technical experts from Triskelion."

robots of Triskelion

Kasya reflexively reached towards her pocket that held the device that could inactivate robots from Triskelion. She reflected: it would be interesting to test and find out if they are robots. "You have not seen them?"

"No, but Tithixa told me that the pirate Captain is next door, with Commander Shermatz."

"Captain Lanting was there for dinner, but she was taken back to the medcenter a short time ago."

Veameck seemed to relax a trifle. "Medcenter?"

"Captain Lanting nearly had her arm blasted off." Kasya added, "She's undergoing intensive tissue regeneration therapy." Veameck nodded stonily. Kasya turned and said, "Goodnight private." 

 

Kasya went to her bedroom where she fell into Mando's outstretched arms. She told him, "Get undressed, boy, I need to contact Twycky." She pealed off her own clothing, pausing only to toss the hand-held field generator on the bed and to make a quick detour to empty her bladder. 

 

Returning to the bed with a long white scarf. Kasya was pleased to see that Mando was eager and his penis fully erect and pointed at the ceiling, his body sprawled across the bed. She straddled him and activated the field generator, putting it into the mode that could disrupt the function of a zeptite endosymbiont. This was a little trick she had learned on Triskelion that allowed her to alter the pattern of her brain's activity.

 

Kasya placed the field generator against the back of her head and then held it there by wrapping the scarf around and tying it in place. She fell into her husband's embrace and they shared a hot, wet kiss. Half expecting him to ask why she was so intent on contacting Twycky, she was pleased that he said nothing and used his tongue only to please her. When Kasya's vagina was dripping wet and her erectile tissue as stiff as his, she felt her mind in deep synchronization with Mando. Kasya's telepathic sensitivity extended out into the mysterious Hierion Domain, bypassing the usual spatial and temporal limitations that restricted communications within the hadronic domain. With a shiver of delight, she took Mando's penis into her vagina and began reaching out through the Cluster with her mind, searching for the distinctive mind pattern of her sister.

Mando knew that this could be a slow process. He relaxed and let Kas exert herself. Twycky might be busy and unable to fully connect her mind for a two-way exchange of linguistic information. After nearly ten minutes, Kasya relaxed and snuggled against his chest and whispered in his ear, "She needs us to wait awhile... it might be several hours before she'll be free."

With Kasya's sexy body in his arms, Mando did not feel like waiting. He rolled them over and quickly brought himself to a satisfying climax before rolling back, placing her back on top. He said sheepishly, "I couldn't wait."

Kasya gently slid along Mando's penis and said, "I'm tempted to grab my own orgasm, but I think it is best if I wait." Even then, Mando did not ask what was going on and simply played with her body, keeping her aroused and in a sweet warm glow someplace short of orgasm. Her mind slipping in and out of the Hierion Domain, Kasya followed the fragmentary thought patterns that arrived in her mind from Twycky, trying to guess what her sister was doing by using clues obtained in the form of the flitting emotional signals that dominated their telepathic connection.

It had been a long day and Kasya eventually slipped into sleep. She was brought back to waking consciousness by Mando, "Are you asleep, Kas? Wake up."

"I'm awake. Thank you. Don't let me sleep. I can't afford to miss this opportunity. I need to give Twy a warning."

Now searching for ways to keep his wife awake, Mando tried talking. "What warning?"

"I need to warn her that Zara wants to try making another group telepathic connection to Twycky in the morning."

 

Mando wondered why Kas was so intent on keeping secrets from Commander Shermatz. Through long habit he was comfortable allowing his wife to only share with him a few of her work-related secrets. 

 

"Couple" by CakeOne
license: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

And now, it was almost as if he was being constantly distracted from asking questions... Kas seemed to have fallen asleep again. Mando prodded her rather violently with his penis.

She was startled out of her semi-sleep state. "What?"

"Don't go to sleep, lover." He felt Kas squeeze hard with her arms and her vagina. Mando was amazed by the luxurious feel of her vagina. Suddenly he remembered that his wife had last felt like this while she was pregnant with Maghy. He blurted out, "Are you pregnant?"

Kasya giggled and whispered in his ear, "Do you want to have another child?"

Mando was puzzled. They had long since decided that they were too old for another child, that Maghy would be their last one. The idea of adoption popped into his mind. He started to ask Kas if she was thinking about adopting a child, but she said, "Hold on..." Kasya rolled them over and pushed her hands against his chest. She was completely silent for a long minute and tried to confirm that this was the 'go' signal from Twycky. Finally she told Mando, "She's ready!" Kasya again began vigorously riding Mando towards her climax. She could sense that her sister was also eagerly approaching her own orgasm. At her signal, Mando rolled Kasya over and after a short period of powerful thrusting he felt close to ejaculating and rolled them over once more.

At the start of her orgasm, Kasya entered into a solidly linked mind space with Twycky where they could share their language-like thoughts. Kas quickly warned her sister to be ready in about 12 hours for another group telepathic connection being planned by Commander Shermatz. In turn, Twycky warned that there should be no delay in getting that communication session started because she was being taken out in the afternoon by Jamile Gensifer. As their orgasms lingered, Kasya shared the events of the day, particularly the fact that Captain Lanting had been captured, but then the telepathic connection began to weaken and she returned to the reality of Mando's warm embrace. Soon, Kasya was peacefully asleep.

__________________

 

Grean (image credits)

Acyreff awakened from a "dream" about Grean in which a slim red tube from the Kac'hin's body entered into her body. But then it was someone else's body and Acyreff was only watching from above. Now awake, her heart pounding in her chest, she discovered that she had been given the idea that Twycky had already been impregnated... by Jamile Gensifer?

 

Feeling a pressing need to plan the exact details of how Twycky might be extracted from Yrinna, Acyreff jumped out of bed and tried to ignore the dripping wetness of her vagina. She quickly took a cold shower and then activated her comring. 

 

The tired face Private Puthonh appeared and she complained to Acyreff, "First you tell me to rest then you wake me up."

 

Acyreff thought she knew how hard she could push soldiers of the Whelm. "Sorry, Tithixa, but I have the feeling that we can't delay." Something told her that a window of opportunity for Twycky's rescue was opening, but that window could close just as quickly. "I want you back over here for breakfast."

 

Private Puthonh threw off her covers and put her feet on the floor. "Very well, Commander." Slipping her broken arm into a sling she realized that she had never gotten undressed before falling asleep on the bed. She surmised that in the middle of the night Veameck must have tucked her under the covers. Now Puthonh found Veameck asleep on the floor in the middle of the entrance hall near the front door of the suite. Trying to speak loud enough to wake up Veameck, Puthonh announced, "I've been invited to breakfast with the Commander."

 

Veameck sat up, pleased to find that nothing bad had happened after she fell asleep on duty. Looking up at Puthonh she asked, "How's the arm?"

 

"Not bad. Not good. I don't want to use the pain medication... it makes me feel nauseous."

 

Veameck stood up and briefly hugged Puthonh then gently kissed her arm. "Tell Zara that she's a rude bitch for making you get up so early."

 

Private Puthonh was in no mood to complain. Somehow Commander Shermatz could collaborate with the mysterious alien creature Grean. Through that collaboration, Shermatz had won a second life for both of them, a new life by means of teleportation duplication. Pulling away from Veameck, she first emptied her bladder then quickly went through the doorway that connected to the Commander's suite.

 

____________

 

After speaking to Private Puthonh, Acyreff called the medcenter and ordered that Captain Lanting be brought back to her suite for breakfast. After her shower, Acyreff did not bother trying to completely dry her hair and pulled on a skimpy silk robe just as Tithixa arrived. Two staff members from the ship's kitchen crew finished setting up the buffet for breakfast and departed. Acyreff and Tithixa served themselves hot drinks. Acyreff said, "Yesterday, I had the feeling that you don't recognize your sister Sally and have no telepathic link to her."

 

"I don't doubt that we share a telepathic link." Puthonh sipped her tea. "The problem is, information flow between our brains is only in one direction." Tithixa's eyes played over the curves of Acyreff's body and she commented, "If I'd known you were not dressed yet, I would not have rushed over here."

 

"Thanks for being prompt. My state of dress -or rather, undress- should suggest the nature of our work for today." Acyreff felt her nipples stiffening as she thought about what was to come. "I'm intrigued by the idea that you are a powerful telepathic signal emitter. I'm not much of a telepath myself, so telepathically, I feel only a faint indication of competence emanating from your mind, but I want to plug you in as a component of a telepathy network in the hope that you will help boost the strength of its signals."

 

Tithixa asked, "What do you mean... telepathy network?"

 

Acyreff explained, "There is a way to boost and amplify telepathic communications... we can combine the minds of several telepaths into a network and achieve more than what any one individual is capable of alone."

 

Tithixa rubbed her chin, "You know, now that I think about it, I had an odd dream last night... I was in telepathic contact with my sister..."

Just then Doctor Hines arrived with two medical assistants who were wheeling in Sally and the complex tissue regeneration equipment that was still wrapped around her injured arm. Hines could not keep from sweeping Acyreff's body with her eyes while she complained, "I don't appreciate you yanking my patient out of bed, Commander."

Sally said, "I'm fine Doc, I've always been an early riser. I've been up and out of bed for over an hour."

Hines issued an order to Sally, "I want you back in the medcenter as soon as this... meeting is over." Hines and the other medical personnel departed.

Acyreff gestured towards the buffet and asked Sally, "What can I get for you?"

"I've already eaten, Zara." Sally glanced at the Private and nodded to her sister then let her eyes explore the curves of the Commander's body. "Why did you call me here?"

 

"We'll get to that. You can take a hint from the way I'm dressed." She gestured towards Private Puthonh and said, "Tithixa was just telling me something interesting when you came in... she experienced telepathic contact with you last night, during a dream."

 

Sally nodded, "Yes, I felt her mind mix with mine." Sally smiled at Tithixa and said, "I wasn't sure you were consciously aware of what happened."

 

Upon questioning by Acyreff, Puthonh soon admitted that her telepathic link into the mind of her sister came during a dream about experiencing an orgasm.

 

Sally explained, "Yes, we had simultaneous orgasms. And there was someone else there sharing the experience with us, too." She looked speculatively at Acyreff.

"That's our mission for today. I want to achieve a simultaneous orgasm with both of you." Acyreff went to a shelf and picked up three rings that looked similar to the comring that she wore. "I'll be right back." Muttering to herself she said, "Now I wish I'd had more of these made last night." When she had asked the electronics shop to make three synchron rings, she had been planning to utilize a smaller telepathy network. However, now she felt it would be wise to go big. She turned away from Sally and went through the side entrance to the Connatic's suite.

 

She went to the Connatic's bedroom and knocked. Mando opened the door, having come from the bed, pausing only to pull on a robe. Peering at his erect penis where it pushed outward against the fabric of the robe, Acyreff smiled and said, "I'm glad to see you are an early riser, too."

 

Kasya called from the bed where she was sitting, "What is it?"

 

endosymbionts

"Good morning, Kas." Acyreff handed Mando two of the rings then slipped on the third. She quickly explained the function of the rings, "These will allow us to synchronize our orgasms. You two can stay in here together. When the green light comes on, you two get busy." She turned away then said over her shoulder, "Please standby, it might take me a while to get the rest of the team warmed up."

After Mando closed the door, he gave Kasya one of the rings. He asked his wife, "Zara still does not know that you can link to Twycky?" He got back onto the bed.

Kasya had never taken off the hierion field generator. She slipped on the synchron ring and then reached up and patted the device that was strapped to her head. "I don't intend to tell her about this little trick for amplifying my telepathic abilities. If I did, she'd never let me keep this field generator." She pushed Mando's robe out of the way and took hold of her husband's penis. "As long as she thinks its only function is a defense against robots, she's willing to let me hold onto it." She kissed the tip of his penis and added, "As soon as I get the green light, watch out, I'm going to do more than just hold onto this."

 

_____________

 

Acyreff returned to Sally and Tithixa, having provided Kasya and Mando with synchron devices that would help coordinate a 5-way simultaneous orgasm trance. Now linked to Acyreff electronically, Kasya and Mando would be able to make love privately in their bedroom in the Connatic's suite. Feeling some pangs of guilt over forcing the injured soldier to perform, she wondered if she might be able to talk Private Puthonh into some playful oral sex.

 

Acyreff looked at Sally and Tithixa and pointed towards the hot tub that was nearby within the spa room of her suite. "Let's take a soak, ladies, and get to know each-other better." She detached the bulky medical equipment from Sally's arm, leaving the injured arm glistening within a semi-transparent wrapping. The ghastly damage to her arm was apparent through the milky wrapping. "Sorry to rush you into this, but I need full reconnaissance and precise details about what to expect during the rescue mission of Twycky. I also hope we will be able to let her know when to expect the rescue mission." 

 

Acyreff tossed off her robe and got into the tub, setting a basket full of sex toys on the edge of the tub. She watched Sally and Tithixa undress rather awkwardly, each with only one good hand. Seeing the two of them naked and together, Acyreff could well believe that they were biological sisters, that relationship having been confirmed by genetic testing performed by Doc Hines. As far as the Whelm could reconstruct events, Sally had been captured by starmenters and taken to Yrinna as a child. Tithixa had escaped capture, but her biological family was gone. She had been adopted into a new family.

Feeling like she should salute Commander Shermatz, Tithixa climbed into the tub, but Sally hesitated. She reached into the basket and pulled out a large vibrator. She asked, "Zara, have you ever been to Triskelion?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"I suppose you have heard about their sexbots."

"Yes, I have. What about them?"

 

"During the past few weeks, I've learned about some rather amazing abilities of the robots of Triskelion."

 

 Acyreff thought about Hans and his skillful sexplay. Suddenly she realized what Sally was talking about. "Those two hierion shield technicians? They're robots?"

"Yes. Why not invite them down here to your little sex party?"

Acyreff glanced at Tithixa and shrugged. She called security. "Where are those two techs that came over from Nykark?"

"I believe they worked through the night in the lab with Dr. Indeckuri and Lieutenant Collynn."

"Well, find them and have then brought to my suite. Now!" Acyreff cut the comlink.

Acyreff splashed some water with her hand and asked Sally, "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in here where it is nice and warm?"

Sally looked dubiously at her injured arm, then as she began to climb into the tub she tossed the big vibrator to Tithixa and said, "I'm going to lay claim to Vez, although I have no qualms about recommending Coz to you. She has an amazing tongue."

Tithixa looked pleadingly towards Acyreff and asked, "You really expect me to make love to a robot?"

Acyreff reached into the basket and took out another model of vibrator, "Private, I just want to get a good solid telepathic link to Kasya's sister." She waved the vibrator at Tithixa, "You have plenty of good options. I'll leave it up to you to figure out how best to achieve your orgasm, but there is something magical about the link between orgasms and telepathy. We know you are a powerful telepathic transmitter and I want to know if providing you with a nice sweet orgasm can boost the effective range and power of a telepathy network."

Tithixa shrugged. "If you are giving me a choice, I'd like to invite Private Veameck to this party."

"You and Veameck, eh? I should have guessed." Acyreff had previously noticed Private Veameck's eye-catching statuesque physique. Acyreff briefly closed her eyes and had a flash-like vision of Private Veameck running, naked, her shapely breasts bouncing with each stride. Opening her eyes, Acyreff activated her comring and called Veameck. "Private Veameck, come over to my suite. Now."

Veameck asked, "Who will guard the Jeghtops?" She was fixing some breakfast for Maghy.

"Just come over here. This is a special request from Tithixa."

A moment latter Veameck came through the side entrance. Acyreff called from the spa room, "We're in here." Veameck stepped into the spa room and then hesitated. "Come on, Private. Get in the tub. That's an order. If you are still worried about pirate attacks, you can help Tithixa keep an eye on Captain Lanting."

 

Just then, Vez and Coz came in through the front door, escorted by -and arguing with- two security guards. Acyreff called to the guards, "Go next door and stay with the Jeghtops until you are relieved by Private Veameck. Make sure that the kid gets breakfast."

 

Sally called to the robots, "How have things been going in the lab, Vez?" 

Following the sound of Sally's voice, the two robots came into the spa room. Private Veameck asked Acyreff, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

 

Speaking over Veameck, Vez replied to Sally, "As you ordered, Coz and I have been sharing what little we know about hierion shields. Dr. Indeckuri and Lieutenant Collynn are very clever and seem to be making progress..."

Acyreff replied to Veameck, "Yes Private, these are desperate times, a bit of group sex is my only idea for contacting Twycky and advancing plans for her rescue." Acyreff pointed at the robots and said, "Vez and Coz, come here!"

The robots came to the side of the hot tub and Acyreff showed them her synchron ring. "I need all of you to pay close attention to the signals I give. We are trying to synchronize multiple orgasms. I know that robots can perform sexually without bothering to have orgasms, but for today, I want you two robots to not avoid your own orgasms... every ounce of pleasure might help! I want everyone here to relax and enjoy yourselves, but in particular, let me know when Captain Lanting and Private Puthonh are close to climaxing and hold them close... don't push them over the edge until I give the final go-ahead." She pointed at the robots and said, "Now disrobe and let's get going." Acyreff climbed out of the tub and went to Private Veameck and asked, "Are you going to be able to do this?"

Private Veameck looked at Private Puthonh and then nodded. "Good. Just ignore the rest of us and pay attention to the needs of your lover." Acyreff began undressing Veameck and turned her head towards Puthonh, "Let me know when you are close to having an orgasm." Now naked, Vez climbed into the tub and Acyreff took hold of one of Coz's arms. "Its getting crowded in there, stay here and attend to me." She took a tube of lubricant out of the basket and gave it to Coz. She then bent over, resting her arms on the edge of the tub so she could watch Vez and Puthonh. She activated the synchron ring, sending the signal to Kasya and Mando that everything was ready. "Get to it, everyone. Try to ignore the unusual conditions... this will go down on all our records as a mission to rescue a kidnapping victim, so let's get those orgasms!"

___________________

During the subsequent group orgasm trance, Sally was able to determine exactly where Twycky was on Yrinna. All the other group sex participants had departed from Acyreff's suite, but Sally remained behind to finished showing Acyreff the location of Jamile Gensifer's summer house. Sally was making notes and drawing additional features on the Whelm's best map of Yrinna. She commented, "This map is not very good." Just then, two staff members from the medcenter arrived and started to wheel Sally out of Acyreff's suite.

Acyreff called after Sally, "Go ahead and update the map with anything you can remember. The Whelm seldom gets to deploy agents on Yrinna."

 

Acyreff finally took time to put on her uniform, pausing only to wipe some of the sex play lubricant from between her legs. She had been completely satisfied by the performance of Coz and she mentally compared her skills to those of Hans. Acyreff crossed through the connecting passage to the Connatic's suite and found the Jeghtops in the lounge with Privates Puthonh and Veameck standing guard. Acyreff ordered Puthonh, "Take Maghy for a walk to the recreation deck. Take Veameck along."

 

Acyreff sat down and waited for Maghy to depart. "I want to thank you two for your help. We now know exactly where Twycky is being held prisoner on Yrinna."

 

Kasya said, "I hope you realize that my sister is being a model prisoner, trying to worm her way into the good graces of her captors."

 

Acyreff asked, "So, you were able to link to your sister telepathically this time?"

 

Kasya replied, "This was a much stronger link-up. I could feel that Private Puthonh was there in the shared mind space. I believe I even received some information from the future."

Acyreff thought about her daughter's ability to occasionally use telepathy to obtain information from the future. "How do you know that you saw the future?"

 

"I saw Twycky at a future time when she will be very pregnant... about eight months pregnant."

 

"Interesting." Acyreff thought about the dream she'd had during the night. "I suspect that your sister is already pregnant."

 

Kasya nodded. "Yes, I have no doubt about that. And in the future time that I witnessed, the fetus had already been analyzed genetically. And there was mention of someone else. Someone named 'Lavany'... who I don't know."

 

Acyreff did not want to discuss her grand-daughter Lavany. She tried performing a little information dump in an effort to distract Kasya and change the subject. "Hopefully your sister will be safely back on Brevik within a week. As soon as we land this afternoon, I'd like a tour of the drone manufacturing facility where you are making the new Shadow Drones with built-in hierion field generators. However, right now, I'd like you to tell me how you knew about the two robots on board the Nykark. That's why you started equipping drones with hierion probes, isn't it?"

 

Kasya sighed. "I have not been entirely open with you."

 

"I let you play around in my vagina and I'll admit I enjoyed your skilled tongue work on my clitoris, Kas, but now I'd like you to be just as open with me."

 

Kasya turned Acyreff's plea for openness around. "What secrets are you keeping from me, Zara?"

 

"Never mind. I'm a Commander in the Whelm, so you should expect me to guard my secrets." Acyreff knew that Kasya understood her dual identities, that Commander Shematz and the Connatic's wife were one and the same, but so far Kas was keeping quiet about that secret. "If you want to see your sister again, I suggest you tell me what you know about the use of robots by the space pirates."

 

Kasya admitted, "I was in telepathic contact with Twycky long before this morning. Soon after she was captured, my sister told me about the two robotic shield technicians of Nykark. I designed the Sk23 drones to use a hierion probe that might be able to inactivate the robots on board an attacking pirate ship."

 

"I see. However, based on what I saw on board Nykark, I don't think that can be a very effective defense. The Nykark knocked us out of Intersplit and had its hierion probes deployed as they closed on Appenine. I suspect those robots were stationed on the pirate ship for reasons other than running the hierion generator equipment." Acyreff thought about the sexual relationship between Vez and Sally. "Captain Lanting was able to handle the shield equipment herself."

Kasya said, "I still wonder if... had the pirates attacked the Starling, might the robots have played an active role in knocking out the navsystems of the Shadow Drones?"

 

"Well, you can ask them. Under the influence of Grean, the two robots and Captain Lanting all seem very cooperative." Acyreff felt confident that Grean was exercising her power to control the minds of the captive pirates. She told herself: it is convenient to have a Kac'hin on your side! She added, "While you are at it, try to find out how many pirate ships are equipped with hierion generators like the Nykark."

"I learned that long ago from Twycky. Triskelion provided the pirates of Yrinna with only one set of hierion probe devices for use on a spaceship... the equipment that you captured yesterday on board the Nykark."

"Well that's a relief. What else have you been hiding from me?"

"Listen, Zara, I'm a civilian. I'm helping you rescue my sister, but there are limits to the power that you can exercise over me. However, be aware that there are gigantic hierion field generators on Yrinna that can inactivate the Jarnell drives of spaceships in orbit."

"Yes, I know, Sally told me that." Still, it was good to have confirmation of information obtained from the pirate Captain. Acyreff sighed. "I know that you have your commercial secrets to protect and don't want to reveal the sources of your technology. However, we can't afford to play these games of secrecy. Keeping secrets from me might cost the life of your sister."

"She is aware of the risks and approves of my decisions."

"Well, I see you are quite stubborn." Acyreff changed the subject, "Tell me, what is the difference between a hierion shield and a hierion probe?"

 

"Not too much. If I wanted to keep some invading nanites from reaching my brain, I might deploy a shield around my body. If I wanted to disrupt the function of some nanites in a nearby robot's brain, I'd use a probe."

"Do you really understand the Triskelion nanotechnology that is used by these devices?"

"No. But I don't actually need to understand how these devices work in order to use them... or to defend against them."

Acyreff mused, "Well, certainly it does help if you at least know that a particular technology exists." She saw that Kasya was quite snugly leaning against Mando with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Acyreff thought about Oman and once again wished that he was present and helping deal with the starmenters. "You know, I'm going to need to have a discussion with the Connatic about why it is that you have access to technology that is not familiar to the Whelm."

Mando suggested, "Is it possible that some people don't trust military dictators with advanced technology?"

Acyreff was not used to thinking of her husband as a dictator. Still, it was a valid point. Why should Triskelion hand out technology to the spaceship manufacturers of the Cluster, or the space pirates or the Whelm? "Again, my thanks for your assistance. Remember, I'd like a tour of the drone-works immediately upon landing." She turned away from Kasya and returned to her suite. 

 

Next: adventures in the Multiverse

Related Reading: part 7 of "The Alastor Network"

 

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