visual, with realistic representations of the system stars and planets, but some of it was also being translated from Standard into the aliens’ language, judging by the runes that began to appear next to a number of the systems and waypoints.
He thought his sense of horror couldn’t get any worse until he saw the first colony world on the Rim, the last friendly port of call before Aurora had jumped into the unknown, appear in the rapidly expanding course the ship had taken. Much more data in the aliens’ language suddenly appeared next to it, suspended in the darkness above the renegade computers. Then onward to the next, and the next.
Finally, there was Earth itself, the home port from where they’d sortied months ago. The home of Mankind.
And then came the final insult: the navigation trace shifted to show Earth at the center, and outward from there every single human colony and settlement was displayed. The aliens might not have everything sorted out yet, for a great deal of information was stored away in files that they would have to learn Standard to interpret, but McClaren had no doubt they would: among its other wonders, the computer contained a complete educational library. And then every single human being would be at the mercy of these monsters.
He turned again to look at Amundsen and Yao, but instead caught a fleeting glimpse of a towering figure detaching itself from the shadows along the wall at the rear of the theater. Clearly a warrior, and the largest he had seen by far, she silently disappeared into the passageway, her black cloak swirling behind her.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ichiro marched along between his two guards as the humans were once more paraded through the ship. He had been trying to keep careful track of the turns and distances, and he guessed that they must be somewhere close to the center of the great vessel. He had been shocked by what he’d seen in the theater they’d just come from, his fear hammered deep by the ashen looks on the faces of the officers and Yao Ming.
Beside him, one of his guards carried his grandfather’s sword. It was clear that she was handling it very carefully, as if it were her own treasured heirloom. She wore a weapon that bore more than a passing resemblance to the katana : a gently curved blade, somewhat longer than his grandfather’s weapon, that ended in an elaborate but functional guard plated in what appeared to be gold, and an equally elaborate grip. That, of course, wasn’t the only weapon she carried: there were three of the throwing-style weapons clinging to her left shoulder, and a wicked-looking long knife with a crystal - Diamond? he wondered - handle strapped to her side. Most of the other warriors were similarly equipped, although every single weapon except for the throwing stars, for lack of a better term, appeared to be custom-made. While sometimes similar, no two were exactly alike.
His reverie ended quickly as they passed through a portal that was even larger than the one to the theater. As the humans were escorted in, a chill ran down Ichiro’s spine. This, too, was a sort of theater, but not one he wanted to be in: it reminded him all too clearly of the Colosseum of ancient Rome that they had studied as part of their military history lessons. In fact, had Roman gladiators been snatched through time and dropped onto the sandy arena that must have been nearly a hundred meters in diameter, he had no doubt that they would have felt completely at home. It was built from tan-colored stone, the finely set blocks polished to a smooth finish. While it wasn’t dilapidated like the Colosseum, Ichiro couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that this alien version was terribly old, perhaps older than Rome itself.
The seating was arranged in two dozen or more rising tiers, and Ichiro wondered at the size of the crew this vessel must carry: if this was designed purely for those aboard this ship, there must be thousands of aliens aboard,
He thought his sense of horror couldn’t get any worse until he saw the first colony world on the Rim, the last friendly port of call before Aurora had jumped into the unknown, appear in the rapidly expanding course the ship had taken. Much more data in the aliens’ language suddenly appeared next to it, suspended in the darkness above the renegade computers. Then onward to the next, and the next.
Finally, there was Earth itself, the home port from where they’d sortied months ago. The home of Mankind.
And then came the final insult: the navigation trace shifted to show Earth at the center, and outward from there every single human colony and settlement was displayed. The aliens might not have everything sorted out yet, for a great deal of information was stored away in files that they would have to learn Standard to interpret, but McClaren had no doubt they would: among its other wonders, the computer contained a complete educational library. And then every single human being would be at the mercy of these monsters.
He turned again to look at Amundsen and Yao, but instead caught a fleeting glimpse of a towering figure detaching itself from the shadows along the wall at the rear of the theater. Clearly a warrior, and the largest he had seen by far, she silently disappeared into the passageway, her black cloak swirling behind her.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ichiro marched along between his two guards as the humans were once more paraded through the ship. He had been trying to keep careful track of the turns and distances, and he guessed that they must be somewhere close to the center of the great vessel. He had been shocked by what he’d seen in the theater they’d just come from, his fear hammered deep by the ashen looks on the faces of the officers and Yao Ming.
Beside him, one of his guards carried his grandfather’s sword. It was clear that she was handling it very carefully, as if it were her own treasured heirloom. She wore a weapon that bore more than a passing resemblance to the katana : a gently curved blade, somewhat longer than his grandfather’s weapon, that ended in an elaborate but functional guard plated in what appeared to be gold, and an equally elaborate grip. That, of course, wasn’t the only weapon she carried: there were three of the throwing-style weapons clinging to her left shoulder, and a wicked-looking long knife with a crystal - Diamond? he wondered - handle strapped to her side. Most of the other warriors were similarly equipped, although every single weapon except for the throwing stars, for lack of a better term, appeared to be custom-made. While sometimes similar, no two were exactly alike.
His reverie ended quickly as they passed through a portal that was even larger than the one to the theater. As the humans were escorted in, a chill ran down Ichiro’s spine. This, too, was a sort of theater, but not one he wanted to be in: it reminded him all too clearly of the Colosseum of ancient Rome that they had studied as part of their military history lessons. In fact, had Roman gladiators been snatched through time and dropped onto the sandy arena that must have been nearly a hundred meters in diameter, he had no doubt that they would have felt completely at home. It was built from tan-colored stone, the finely set blocks polished to a smooth finish. While it wasn’t dilapidated like the Colosseum, Ichiro couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that this alien version was terribly old, perhaps older than Rome itself.
The seating was arranged in two dozen or more rising tiers, and Ichiro wondered at the size of the crew this vessel must carry: if this was designed purely for those aboard this ship, there must be thousands of aliens aboard,
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