Star Force: Bahamut (SF86) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr Page B

systems.
    Do you feel
that?
    What?
    On the planet.
Open your mind and screen out everything on your ship. Tell me what you sense.
    Riley did as instructed, ignoring the Sety for a
moment while he pulled most of his mind out of the computer network and back
into his physical senses. It took a moment to find what Paul was referring to,
but once he did it stood out immediately. It was a low hum, a telepathic hum,
and it was coming from the planet.
    Whatever that
is, it’s huge.
    And coming from
the coordinates of the excavation. It just popped up once we hit line of sight,
but I was getting an uneasy feeling before that, so some of that telepathic
field must have been making it through the planet.
    What has a mind
that powerful?
    Pretty obvious
now, isn’t it? And that object is about the right size.
    It’s too small
to be a Hadarak, and… Riley cut off as it finally clicked.
    Nefron didn’t
think they’d be easy to destroy , Paul added, finishing the thought for him.
    What the hell do
these guys want with it?
    Let’s ask them.
    Riley pulled his mind away from the monstrous hum that
now seemed hard to miss and turned his attention back on the Sety that hadn’t
bothered to speak when Riley cut off. “Are you the commander of this fleet?”
    “I speak for them, yes.”
    “Are you the commander?”
    “We are an alliance. We have no single commander. I
have been elected to communicate with you.”
    “Then start communicating. Now that we’re close
enough, I’m able to feel the presence buried within the planet. You have a Uriti here, and if you damn well want to live you’d better
not mess with it.”
    This time the Sety looked horrified, and given his
alien persona that only underscored how big of an emotion was swirling through
his otherwise hard to read features.
    “That’s right, we’re telepathic. Or had you forgotten
that?”
    “You are not…” it began, then suddenly there was a
delay with his image remaining. He was talking to someone else but the words
weren’t being transmitted. Riley waited it out, then another hologram popped up
beside the one of the Sety…with a mist-like apparition coalescing into an
indistinct body and face.
    “You can feel the Hamoriti as well?” it asked,
obviously using a similar translation program that the Sety were using.
    “They’re called Uriti, and yes I can.”
    “I am unfamiliar with that word. What knowledge of
this do you have?”
    “Plenty. More than you, I’d imagine. For starters,
there are a lot more of them left over from a war millions of years in the
past. Who are you? I am unfamiliar with your race.”
    “We are Yisv, and telepathic as well. Are you aware of
the danger this god possesses?”
    “I am acutely aware. What is its current condition?
How is it being contained?”
    “If you do not know the answers to those questions
then you do not possess as much knowledge as we do. If you do not know then you
are ignorant.”
    “Far from it. If this Uriti awakens and roams free,
we’re the only ones with a means to control it.”
    “Control it?” the Yisv asked, with a quiver of mist
that was unreadable. “Of what do you speak?”
    “A secret we possess, and one that I am not inclined
to share with those who will not even do me the courtesy of explaining why you
fired on my ship.”
    “We cannot let anyone awaken the Hamoriti. We will
keep all away from this planet no matter what the cost.”
    “Why are the Li’vorkrachnika involved?”
    “They helped us locate this one.”
    “This one? You’ve found others then?”
    There was some hesitation as the Sety and probably
others were conferring with each other, but the Yisv pressed on anyway. “Yes we
have. We know the dangers they possess and are committed to protecting the
galaxy from them. The Li’vorkrachnika’s assistance was necessary.”
    “Even though they’re the enemy of The Nexus?”
    “That is immaterial given the greater threat.”
    “How many have you