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.I drew a line from the gas giant known as Eden-12 to Hel.“Maybe,” I said, “maybe we are down to only a few possible culprits.The Blues are number one on the list now, but don’t forget the Centaurs are still here, as are the Crustaceans on the far side.Hell, even the Microbes might be more advanced than we think.”“But…it was most likely the Blues this time.”“Yeah,” I agreed.“But who knows for sure?”A clattering sound made me turn away from Miklos.Marvin was shuffling his cameras.Only one watched me, as the rest were on the tank in front of him.The single eye that kept me in view was a sneaky one: he had attached it to a region that would be about knee-level on a human.That single camera eye was tilted up just below the lip of the circular table that surrounded the sphere.It was hard to see, unless you knew what to look for.“Have you got something to say, Marvin?” I asked.“No.”“Are you sure? You’ve been remarkably quiet about the rings, and about these communications that appear to be relayed through them.Aren’t you the least bit curious?”Several more cameras peeped out from behind the sphere.I walked around it, and stood over him.“I was curious, yes.”“What do you mean, you were curious? What’s changed?” I asked with my hands on my hips.I frowned down at him.“You are displaying a look of displeasure.”Marvin had become better at recognizing expressions.He hadn’t missed this one.“Tell me what you know,” I said.“The rings are capable of transmitting a signal.This signal has no detectable emission through space.Instead, it appears to operate on the same principle as the rings themselves.”“You mean, you don’t know how they work—but they do?”“Yes.”“And how do you know they can be utilized in this manner?”“Because I just did it.”We all stared at him.“You did what?” I demanded, my voice turning into a shout.“You are displeased.”“Yes, I am.You didn’t tell me you were trying to make the rings send a signal.Who did you send it to? What did you say?”“I sent an enquiry, and requested an acknowledgement.I’m not sure who may receive the message.”Miklos made a choking sound that turned into a fit of coughing.I ignored him and glowered at Marvin.“You did this without authorization?”“Yes.”“Why, Marvin?”“I wanted to see what would happen.”At length, he explained how he had done his little parlor trick.He’d studied the ring and its composition carefully.By building a tiny replica, and exerting force upon it, he’d caused a sort of resonance to be set up between the model ring and the real one.When I asked to see it, he showed me something that looked like a smudge of charcoal.He explained that size was not an issue, and the key was to get the structure right.He’d used nanites to build a tiny ring of matching structure and composition.Then he’d applied forces to the tiny ring, which was almost microscopic.The larger ring had responded by relaying his signal to parts unknown.I ordered him to cease and desist with all such experiments and transmissions.I raved for a time, telling him he might have alerted every Macro in the galaxy to our presence.Marvin rejected this line of reasoning, however.“That is not a sensible conclusion.”“Why not?”“First of all, the Macros are clearly in possession of the technology to send signals through the rings, meaning they already know of our position here.”“What proof do you have of that claim?”“This was evidenced in several ways, but most directly by their use of simulated Star Force Marines.The Macros in this system had never witnessed those combat techniques directly, and yet they attempted to duplicate them.They must have gotten the design idea from somewhere.”I thought about that.“Yes, we destroyed all the ships that ever witnessed our use of assault troops in space.”“Similarly, Captain Miklos is clearly correct in his assumptions.The Blues have this technology and used it to recall the Nano ships from the Crustacean world when they felt threatened by the growing fleets in the system.”I nodded.Star Force and the Macros had reached a point where they were frightening, and the Blues had summoned their Nano ships back home to orbit their gas giant.They’d planned to hide behind them, but of course, I’d changed those plans for them.“Well,” I said at last.“What’s done is done.But I’m ordering you to talk to me before you get any more bright ideas about contacting distant star systems.This base is not yet fully operational.I need time to construct a platform that can overcome any number of Macro ships.”“Logically, that would require an infinite amount of time.”I growled and began pacing again, not bothering to answer him.I went back to building my battle station as fast as I could.At the same time, I would slowly build up my fleet.I wasn’t sure what was going on back home on Earth, but when I flew back there, I didn’t plan to go alone.The EndFrom the Author: Thanks Reader! I hope you enjoyed BATTLE STATION.The Star Force series will continue with the sixth book, EMPIRE.If you would like to see the series move forward as my next writing project, please put up some stars and a review.Let new readers know what’s in store for them.-BVLMore Books by B.V.Larson:STAR FORCE SERIESSwarmExtinctionRebellionConquestBattle StationIMPERIUM SERIESMech Zero: The DominantMech 1: The ParentMech 2: The SavantMech 3: The EmpressOTHER SF BOOKSShiftingVelocityVisit BVLarson.com for more information.Table of ContentsStart [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]