Star Force: Quenar (SF88) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr

well, we might get caught
up in the ruckus, but we can easily outrun her.”
    “I’m more concerned about the facilities we’re
building here.”
    “She can wreck them if she wants,” Riley said plainly,
“but with the safeguards in place I think we’ll be alright.”
    “I hope you’re not overestimating her speed…or
temperament.”
    “Don’t worry,” Paul said with an ease that partially
reassured the Duke. “We’re putting enough engine capacity into the facilities
that you can avoid her so long as you get a head start, and she’s not exactly
hard to see coming.”
    “If moving counters the Uriti’s abilities, then why is
it so feared?”
    “Ignorance,” Riley answered. “Well, that and them
getting their asses kicked when they were stupid enough to engage them. The
Uriti are very good, specialists really, at busting up heavily fortified worlds
that were never meant to be breached. A lot of races think like that, and when
you have populations that you can’t move out of the way fast enough, the Uriti
is an unstoppable wrecking machine. Don’t build static facilities and keep your
population far, far away from them and you’ve got a workable situation.”
    “If we were in the ADZ, then I’d assume we’d have a
problem?”
    “Not a problem, just a cause for concern. It’ll take
Nami a long time to get there from here, so we’d have time to take…some
countermeasures.”
    “Other than the kill switch?”
    “Not really,” Paul admitted. “If we knew which system
she was going to then we could evacuate, but with so many options in the ADZ we
could never get everyone out of her potential path. As long as we keep her out
here in the empty zone she’s not a threat, and I hope everyone else starts to
realize that as well. Get her close to inhabited systems and then we’ve got a
problem. She sneezes in the wrong place and you lose 50 million people.”
    “Are you certain she’ll not start creating minions
unless directed?”
    “Pretty sure,” Riley answered, “but even if she does,
Nefron should be able to control them as well. In fact, experimenting with that
is on our to-do list.”
    Jason raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
    “Just a few, so we know what they’re really like.”
    “And to confirm that they’re biological machines
rather than people?”
    “That and some other stuff.”
    “Won’t that freak out the guys in the cheap seats?” Yetti asked.
    “Might,” Riley admitted, “ but I don’t care. They’re not calling the shots, and the sooner we establish that
the better.”
    “I agree,” Jason chimed in.
    “Here it is,” Davis said, with everyone turning to
look at him as he pulled up a record and displayed it in holo for them to read
in three different locations around the large room. “I knew I’d come across it
before.”
    Paul looked at what was labeled as The Nexus records
regarding various cataloged races, specifically those that were documented to
have existed outside their expansive territory. There was a bit of history
attached to each, detailing the circumstances of the contacts made, and one
very powerful race in particular was noted as having made contact on a survey
mission. They had made contact and stated a request for any knowledge of race
known as the Iggarat and had provided technology
samples for comparison.
    Those tech samples were now visible, and Paul saw that
Davis had linked them with some aspects of Ancient technology. Most of it was
different but the key pieces matched up, but it was the ship profile that
matched those of four such vessels sitting within view of the Sanguine Blade ’s sensors that confirmed
the link.
    “I think these guys were searching for another of the
Ancient races’ remains in order to locate hidden Uriti and the Sety didn’t pick
up on it. They may have quietly put out feelers into their territory later,
which wouldn’t be all that difficult considering how overstretched they are,
and probably, if my guess is right,