"Belden," he whispered.

"Here."

It was Belden. He was sitting on a chair, staring ahead, smiling.

"As usual, you appear before I utter a phrase. It's as if you can read my mind."

Belden was quiet for a moment, and then looked at Weller. "I close my eyes for a second to sleep, open them again, and weeks have passed. It's a disconcerting thing. On my world they think me a little mad. That computer interface has ripped my mind, and you are the hallucination that follows as it tries to fend it off. We are synchronized, that's all. You did not move me, nor I you."

Weller approached Belden. "You seem serious, pensive, yet I feel this mission holds no interest to you. Our world is in the balance, yet to you we are still dreams."

Belden shrugged. "I have no idea what a dream is anymore. Look at me. I am nervous, tentative, and sullen. Now, I'm supposed to save my own world, no, universe. Can you say that for your portion of reality? I must do this by Sunday. I have a week." He laughed pitiably.

"What?"

"Oh, no. It doesn't concern you. I don't think it would effect you in the slightest if my universe went poof! Besides, I have lots of time to sleep, months or years to you!"

"Belden, your time will come. You will deal with it. I can hardly deal with the new worlds thrust upon me, let alone yours. You will deal with it."

"Perhaps. Ariel said as much. I still can't handle it, the doubt you know. Ariel said certainty would drive me mad. Doubt, certainty, maybe it's all the same."

"Have you seen the changes they made to our ships?"

"See them!" Belden exclaimed. "I can feel them! It's an intermittent thing though, like fiddling for your wallet or your keys. They expect us to use these weapons you know."

"But will we Belden, will we?"

His eyes sank. "Yes," he whispered.

"And survival?"

Belden smiled. "Fine words from an explorer! I do know that you don't want me to answer that question. But the answer; it's yes and no. Cryptic, isn't it? It's what I feel; a sort of sixth sense, though I think it's the only one that matters here."

Weller looked out at the Gader. "Hmm. Maybe a more practical and pressing question then. You may know me and the whole arc of the universe, but at least I know Spurling. He will find a way to take credit for this thing."

Belden's eyes widened. "Yes! That's it! A practical joke. It's unexpected really. I like it, though I don't quite fathom the reason. Jan, we must leave now. The ship is prepped, the crew is ready, we will inform the Gader."

"What's the point if we're to be the first," said Weller in a strained voice.

Belden stood back and smiled confidently. "Do it! You'll see!"

Weller stood, and looked grimly at the Gader. From his view port, it was a small thing in the distance, a blue and orange figurine floating about as if hanging from a thread. "Belden," he said softly. "Put my crew on the universal address."

Belden closed his eyes for a second, and with a flourish of his hands, bowed and smiled. "Done!" he said.

"This is Captain Weller," he said in his most magisterial voice. "In a few minutes we will be departing for the new worlds. You know the facts, this will not be a voyage of exploration. We seek no reunion with the new worlds, no exchange of information or trade. Our mission is simple. We must find our ships. We have visited many worlds, and have learned one clear lesson: that we can expect anything, no matter how odd, absurd, or perhaps, evil. Whatever greeted our expedition is I am sure awaiting us. We will come with experience, and intelligence, and with arms. You know you are the best crew in the fleet, the pride of our navy." His voice rose. "And we will be the first in this fray. We represent the spirit of our people, and we will not fail them! May our gods be with us!"

He heard muffled cheers throughout the ship. He turned to Belden. "It's more than a game now. We're entering a gauntlet, and may likely not return. Why is it then that I and my crew feel so charged?"

Belden, as ever, was bemused. "Perhaps because the stakes are higher than a mere box score. It's a universal thing now. You'll see!"

"And Spurling? Did you notify him?"

Belden laughed. "Oh yes! He knows. His whole crew knows. You see, I made sure your universal address was, well universal!"

"What!" he responded angrily. "Then you've done us no service! Spurling will surely move now!"

"Not likely. You see, he's in the bathroom."

"So?"

"I locked him in his bathroom."

"What?"

"His crew is angry, he is seething, but they can do nothing. They will see us leave, and Spurling will stew on his toilet!"

"Damn it! You know they will come after us. They will have a score to settle!"

"Somehow, I'm counting on it. Just a gut feeling, of course."

Weller frowned disapprovingly. "Then we go."

_________________________

Weller took his seat on his command chair. Two shoulder belts unfolded automatically, crisscrossing his torso and tightened secure. His armrest pivoted to his side, controls at the ready. But he didn't need them. Belden was in charge, he was the prime mover. There was no flourish this time in light or sound. The stars simply rearranged. It took only an instant. The seat restraints released, and Weller looked about the bridge. It was as if they had not moved at all, but rather that the universe had moved towards them.

"Belden, I assume all systems are normal? Jacov, do you concur?"

"Yes, captain," said the first officer. "But where are we?"

"Only Belden knows, it's his plan. Total secrecy you know."

"Well, Belden?"

Belden looked at him solemnly. "We are in Doytch space. Their sun is that bright star you see in front of you. I expect them to be here momentarily. You can track them now on your sensors."

"Captain!" said Jacov. "It's true, a ship is approaching us. Their call signals are Doytch."

"Doytch, eh? They are a cultured people, if a bit arrogant. But tell me Belden, how did they know we are here? Why are they waiting for us?"

"I don't know, but I recommend we raise our shields just in case."

Weller waived his finer. "Shame on you Belden! They've come so far to meet us, and all we did was blink into this place. I sense no threat. Jacov, are they within hailing frequency?"

"And more captain. They are approaching us a high speed. We can see its outlines now."

The ship began to fill the screen. It was in the shape of a dagger, and its bow seemed to take aim through them. Weller looked at it silently as it approached.

"Sir, we have visual."

"On screen."

It was a bridge, bathed in red light. The screen was soon filled with something else, a picture that Belden thought ironically fitting. It was a young woman bathed in a glow of red. She was blond, fitted with a black leather corset, and as befitting a space siren, amply endowed.

"Hello!" she said breathlessly. "It's three o'clock in the morning for us. Red light you know mimics the night." She exhaled slowly. "And you must be the captain." Her tongue brushed slowly across her upper lip, while her finger traced the outlines of her left breast. "I am looking forward to meeting with you, and sharing our mutual experiences. I am sure we can answer all your questions."

"Of course," said Weller, visibly aroused. "Belden, prepare my shuttle."

"Captain, we shouldn't. I have a queer feeling about this."

"Belden! No! "Weller snapped. "I can turn you off with a command"

Belden looked at the ship as it turned slightly to the side. The markings slowly revealed themselves. It was a twisted cross. Suddenly he knew. "Jan! No, you mustn't!"

"Off!" cried the captain. At the command, Belden disappeared.

Monitoring the console at the helm, Jacov shouted. "Captain, they are priming their weapons!"

Belden looked to the first officer. "Command macro seven! Now!"

The Nole reeled on its side as the Doytch craft unleashed its torpedoes. Slamming into the Nole's undercarriage, the crew was thrown hard about the ship.

"Do we have shields?" gasped Weller.

"Yes, they hit us as we rolled. Their shots hit us at an angle. We deflected most of it. Thank God you anticipated this."

"But maybe not all. Do we have weapons?"

"We're not in a position to fire. Captain, they're priming their weapons again!"

Belden turned to the helmsman. "Let's get out of here! Belden!" Weller frantically looked about. "Where's the damn machine? We've got to escape. Belden! Belden!"

The ship convulsed violently as a second round of missiles hit the ship. Damage reports poured from every deck.

"Sir!" shouted the first officer. "Our left starboard engine has been disabled. We can't maneuver, we can't run!"

"Then at them! Damn it! At them! We can at least move in a straight line. Full speed on my mark. We'll ram them!"

"But captain!"

Weller looked straight ahead, his face flushed in a focused rage.

"Now!"

The Nole veered slightly, and then rapidly approached the other ship. Weller looked up angrily as it soared above his ship, easily avoiding his desperate maneuver.

"At least they can't fire at me when they're avoiding me!" He turned about. "Belden, you're here! What do these people want? I can buy time by charging like a mad bull. What do they…"

"They want me," said Belden impassively. "You can see them in the distance. They're signaling now. They want us to stand down."

"Like hell! I'll torch this ship before…"

"I doesn't matter," Belden interjected. "They will have me sooner or later. It will only serve your pride to sacrifice yourself and your crew."

Flustered, Weller looked at the ship in the distance, and to its right, what appeared to be a shooting star. "That's it!" he said with a calm intensity. "Readied or not, aimed or not, weapons office, I want you to fire towards that ship!"

"But captain," came the response. "They're too far. We can't maneuver. Your action won't…"

"Do it!" Weller snapped.

The Nole tumbled forward and sideways as if it were a child's top, its weapons trailing into space like entrails from a harmless sparkler. So thought the Doytch commander as she watched the Nole flail about, striking desperately at empty space.

Her helmsman turned to her. "Shall we maneuver out of their way? There is a chance they could hit us."

She smiled confidently. "No need to encourage them on, to display a weakness we do not possess. Double our forward shields, and move towards them. They can't maneuver around us. When they see we are invulnerable, they will surrender, and we will have our prize."

The Doytch commander sat on her command chair, and mentally counted her glories. "So this is a feared foundation cruiser. We will be ready for them all when the time comes. Relay to home world our victory. Now for…"

"Commander!" came the startled voice. "Another ship, de-cloaking on our aft!"

"What?"

She looked out in horror, but the split second was all she had. The ship had fired its missiles as it materialized. They struck her ship's now unshielded aft, collapsing it forward in a consuming aura of white-hot flame and twisted metal. A flash of blinding white light, then it was no more.

The ship approached silently, without a hail. Weller looked out, exhausted. It was an expected visitor, recently liberated no doubt from the bathroom. A familiar figure filled the screen. Captain Spurling was smiling as if recognized the justice meted by the Gods to a practical joker.

"Captain Weller. I hope your crew has emerged from this unharmed. You've taken quite a beating, but from our sensors your critical systems are secure."

"No." said Weller. "They wanted to capture us, and they would have done so without your timely appearance. It was the door lock on the bathroom, timed like a number of other things. This was Belden's idea, even you are not so foolish."

"Oh!" exclaimed Belden, newly materializing on Belden's side. "Why, it felt right, mainly because your arrogance fits into the scheme of things. This is an unintended consequence, that's all."

Spurling was unimpressed. "Hmm. Perhaps the consequences will work out differently next time, Mr. Belden."

He turned to Weller. "Captain, you were attacked without provocation by a ship from a former Transor colony. Why?"

"I don't know. But they were expecting us. No, they were expecting Belden. We were not the target."

"Belden?"

Weller and Spurling turned towards their reluctant computerized avatar. He seemed uncomfortable, uncertain.

"I don't know why they attacked," he said tentatively. "I can't be the reason for their aggression, yet I feel they came for me. My logic and my intuition clash. I don't want to trust my emotions, they have never served me well on earth. But here, they are a second sense. It's as if knowing all would blind me, drive me mad."

Weller surveyed his wrecked bridge. He looked grimly at Belden. "Then that leaves us with more questions, and an obvious peril. If the Doytch wanted you, would the other colony worlds act the same? Were our ships attacked when they entered this space? We're in no shape to approach these people. But we must go quietly, and in stealth. Who can we talk to, what world may listen to us?"

"There is one," said Belden. "I can pick up their transmissions now. Trivial stuff actually, but that's a reflected interest that protects me, and your ships." He waved his hand. "See for yourself." It was a movie in three dimensions, an 'entertainment' of sorts.

"This is what they export from world to world?" said Weller, startled. "My God, if this is the future of the race, I would have sooner never came."

Belden paused and stared ahead silently, as if in thought. "And from what I now know, all of you will probably rue that day!"

"What?"

"It didn't take long. Space is full of this radiation. They use every spectrum. Communications, intelligence, entertainment, it's all in the continuous static between their worlds."

He paused again. "Then what is it man?" said Weller.

"The Transor colonies. We knew them from an echo hundreds of years old. Here, I can hear them speak, see them as if they were a moment away. They have changed, their worlds have changed. It's nothing we anticipated. Both captains together need to discuss this. We will talk on the Gader. Captain Spurling, expect us."

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