Bast held up his good arm, forestalling any comments as he explained what had happened.

  “Possessed?” asked Jon, incredulous, glancing at Lugo.

  Bast nodded. “Your Bible talks about such things.”

  “Yes…” Jon said. “Are you suggesting the void is literally the biblical Hell and that Cronus is a demon kicked out of Heaven?”

  “No,” Bast said. “I’m using a point of reference you understand.”

  Jon glanced at Gloria. She was frowning. She turned to her board, tapping it, examining the results.

  “Any comments so far?” Jon asked Lugo.

  “Is that Cronus?” Lugo asked, using his chin to indicate the main screen.

  On the screen was the spheroid with lumps and green-glowing fungus patches.

  “That’s a computer representation,” Jon said. “We’ve been circling it for a time, drawn closer the entire while. Cronus wants to pull us all the way in.”

  “I know that much,” Lugo said. “The idea Cronus used me, guided my body—I’m rethinking the entire Kames rep thing.”

  “Why did Cronus try to destroy the reality generator?” Gloria asked.

  Lugo shook his head. “He likes making others suffer, listening to them beg. He gets his jollies out of it. He’s sadistic.”

  “I suspect Cronus used Lugo because the void creature is tiring,” Gloria said, glancing significantly at Jon.

  Jon rubbed his chin, staring at the main screen. He hated circling the thing, having no way to hurt Cronus, to force the creature or thing to stop. Maybe their spiraling tactic was working, but he wanted to use Cronus’s methods against him, finding a way to tire the creature from inside the planet as Cronus had tried to wreck the reality generator inside the Nathan Graham.

  “Any idea what Cronus is?” Jon asked Lugo.

  “Evil.”

  “You know what I mean,” Jon persisted. “What he is? Was he born in the void?”

  “I don’t think so. He’s not like the Kames. I feel much of their personality when I’m repping. With Cronus, it’s just a cold sensation. He likes to dominate.”

  “Why did he keep the Sisters of Enoy alive this long?” Gloria asked.

  “Beats me,” Lugo said with a shrug. “Probably just for fun. He did say he was growing bored with them.”

  “After five thousand years,” Jon said, “I guess so.”

  “There is no time in the void,” Gloria said.

  “Behind Cronus’s reality field—or whatever he has up—there has to be,” Jon said.

  “Could we destroy his reality field?” Gloria asked.

  “Maybe if we could figure out how he generates it,” Jon said.

  “Lugo?” asked Gloria.

  The Kames rep shook his head.

  There was a lurch and the deck began vibrating once more.

  “Sir,” Warrant Officer Fiona Boru said to Jon. “The reality generator is heating up faster again.”

  “Cronus’s pull must be stronger now that we’re closer to him,” Gloria said.

  “Or he’s using a last surge of strength,” Jon said. “Maybe this is his last gasp before he gives up.”

  “We don’t know that,” Gloria said.

  Jon slid off his chair to begin pacing to the main screen and then back. He shouldn’t keep pacing in front of everyone, but he needed to move in order to oil his brain. Motion brings lotion; in this case, it helped him think.

  “How long until the generator’s overheating becomes critical?”

  “At this rate,” Fiona said, “nine, maybe ten minutes.”

  “Maintain our present course and resistance,” Jon told Doc Cullen.

  “Aye-aye, sir,” Doc said solemnly.

  “How much longer until our reality field touches Cronus’s field?” Jon asked suddenly.

  No one spoke.

  “Gloria?” Jon asked.

  She made some computations at her station. “I’d say another three-and-a-half minutes.”

  “He’s pulling us in order to force our shield to touch his,” Jon said. “Any idea why?” he asked Lugo.

  The Kames rep shook his head.

  “Got any bright ideas, Bast?” Jon asked.

  “No,” Bast said ponderously. “I wish I did. I hate Cronus.”

  “I have an idea,” Gloria said suddenly. “Try the null-splitter on him. Maybe any kind of reality would upset Cronus’s equilibrium.”

  Jon snapped his fingers and pointed at Gloria. “If nothing else, slipping out of the void will give all of us time to rest. I should have thought of that.”

  Returning to his command chair, Jon began issuing orders. Soon, as they circled Cronus, the null-splitter began to hum. That put greater strain on the quantum-pi engine, which had been supplying power to the reality generator.

  “Right smack against his field,” Jon said. “That ought to give us a reaction.”

  As everyone watched on the main screen, a tiny glowing circle appeared, which theoretically must have been behind whatever Cronus used for a reality field.

  Lugo groaned. The two marines assigned to him had released his arms. Now, they grabbed him again. Lugo roared, shaking his arms violently. He shook off both marines so they went stumbling. One tripped and fell onto the deck.

  “Hard-matter creatures,” Lugo shouted in a loud and commanding voice. “Cease your trickery, at once.”

  Jon swiveled his chair to stare at Lugo. The man’s eyes had turned a dark, oily color. That must be a manifestation of mental domination, possession.

  Bast had moved to intercept any rush by Lugo at Jon. The Supreme Commander drew his revolver, aiming it at Lugo’s chest.

  “If he charges me,” Jon said. “I’ll kill him.”

  “A weak threat, little hard-matter creature,” Lugo shouted. “Why do I care if you kill him?”

  “Since you’re linked to him,” Jon said, “maybe you’ll feel his death. It won’t be a pleasant sensation.”

  “Cease what you’re doing to me,” Lugo raved. “You must comply this instant.”

  Jon cocked the hammer. “I have a counter-proposal. We will close the reality rip as soon as the Sisters of Enoy are in their craft and beyond your reality field.”

  “I am not like you,” Lugo shouted. “I do not need a reality field.”

  “You need something. That’s my bargain. Take it or leave it.”

  “I will kill you,” Lugo screamed.

  “Out of the way, Bast,” Jon said. “Let him charge if he wants to. I’m tired of Lugo Malagate, anyway.”

  “That is not how a Sister of Enoy would react to my threats,” shouted Lugo.

  “Big whoop-de-do,” Jon said. “It’s what I’m going to do. The ball’s in your court, Cronus. Make your decision quick. I’m tired of this.”

  “Give me time to think,” Cronus said through Lugo.

  “Time’s up,” Jon said. “Act fast, Cronus. It’s—”

  “Commander,” Gloria said, “I’m detecting an Enoy vessel. It’s left the planet and is heading for the outer edge of Cronus’s field.”

  “Now stop what you are doing,” Cronus said.

  “Help the Sisters hurry,” Jon said. “Their release is all that will convince me you’re not lying.”

  Lugo bobbed up to the tips of his toes. It seemed he would charge. Instead, the Kames rep collapsed onto the floor.

  At that point, the Enoy vessel crossed Cronus’s field, entering the uncontested void.

  Jon snapped his fingers and pointed.

  Doc reversed the null-splitter process.

  On the main screen, the tiny glowing circle began shrinking. Then, it winked out.

  “Any pull on our ship?” asked Jon.

  “None,” Doc said, as he studied his board. “Whoa. The planet, or whatever it is, is moving away fast.”

  “Jon,” Gloria said. “The Enoy vessel might be a trap of some kind.”

  “Or Cronus couldn’t move away until the reality rip no longer anchored his field and thereby him. Your panel is blinking.”

  Gloria whirled around to see who was hailing them now.

  -10-

  “Take Lugo to sickbay,” Jon told the marines. “Tell the medical chief I want him securely tied down. That means have metal bands that could resist ten times his strength. I remember demon possession from stories in the Bible. Some of those so possessed had fantastic strength.”

  “I have a theory about that,” Bast said, as the marines carried Lugo off the bridge. “The alien in charge of the human body must be able to force it to inhuman acts of strength. There are stories of your kind performing outrageous feats, although ripping their tendons or muscles while in the process.”

  “I’ve heard of that, too,” Jon said. “Maybe that’s what Cronus did to Lugo.”

  “Jon,” Gloria said, “Zeno of Enoy would like to speak to you.”

  “Put her on the loudspeaker,” Jon said.

  Gloria tapped her board, and harsh static came over the line. The tiny Martian mentalist tapped her panel again, and the some of the static receded.

  Jon hunched forward on his chair, straining to hear any words.

  “Am I on?” Zeno asked through a translator.

  “Yes. I am Supreme Commander Jon Hawkins of the Confederation. According to our sensors, you have a ship approximately three hundred kilometers in diameter. We have seen such a vessel before: the Rose of Enoy.”

  “I have never heard of the Rose,” Zeno said.

  “It’s seems strange that the Sisters of Enoy would have similar craft five thousand years apart in age.”

  “We can talk about that in a moment,” Zeno said. “I cannot fathom why Cronus released us, rushing us onto our ships. Logic indicates that was your doing.”

  “Yes,” Jon said. “Those of Enoy helped us once. We wanted to pay it back.”

  “How did you convince Cronus to take this action?”

  Jon described the null-splitter tactic.

  “Ah,” Zeno said. “How elementary and yet startling. I should have done likewise five thousand years ago. I could have saved us so much anguish.”

  “He might come back,” Jon said. “Do you suggest we use our null-splitters to enter normal time and space?”

  “Cronus might return, but not this moment, I warrant,” Zeno said over the static.

  “What was he, anyway?”

  “A creature from a different multi-dimension,” Zeno said. “Such has been our conclusion, lo, these endless centuries of confinement. Are you aware that yours is not the only dimension in existence?”

  “We’re in the void,” Jon said.

  “Meaning?”

  “That the void is a different dimension.”

  “Incorrect. This is the plane or non-plane that separates all the others.”

  “You’ve been to other planes of existence or dimensions?”

  “No. But logic dictates that such must be the case, given the void.”

  Jon cleared his throat.

  “I do not understand your comment,” Zeno said.

  “I’m thinking about your answer. We humans have a saying, ‘Show me.’”

  “And this means what?”

  “Seeing is believing.”

  “Quaint,” Zeno said. “But I will not disparage the intellect of the hard-matter creatures that brought about our freedom. That it happened is nearly inconceivable. We must go at once to Enoy and report.”

  “Say hello to Zeta if you see her,” Jon said.

  “Is this some kind of imperious order?”

  “What? No! It’s a request. Zeta aided us. If you would care to bear a message for the Confederation, you could let her know that we’ve been hanging on for five years more already.”

  “That is your boast? Five years?” Zeno asked. “A mere blip of time?”

  “Uh…well…you know, Zeno, we’re on a special mission for the Confederation. Cronus stopped us and somehow you sensed and contacted us. I’m glad we could assist you.”

  “I know what you are doing,” Zeno said. “You are attempting to dismiss us before we have had our say. Hard-matter creatures have never willingly helped the Sisters of Enoy before.”

  “You’ve been out of circulation a long time. Things have changed. Zeta of Enoy agreed that we should help each other in order to destroy the non-life of the AI menace.”

  “Hard-matter creatures always lose to the AIs in time.”

  “Until now,” Jon said. “We’re trying to change that. You’re one of the byproducts of our resistance, aided greatly by Enoy technology, of course. I mean no disrespect in the things I say to you, but rather am attempting to project our good will toward the Sisters of Enoy.”

  “Jon Hawkins, it is hard to listen to you, but I admit you aided us to a marvelous extent. Yes. If you wish to go on your way, we will not stop you. And we will do as you ask, speaking to Zeta if we see her. Good luck, Jon Hawkins, Zeno and her Sisters wish you well.”

  With that, the Enoy vessel drifted away until the ship sensors no longer “saw” them. The Nathan Graham turned away, heading for the point that would allow it to enter the red dwarf star system one hundred and sixty-two light-years from Earth.

  The Enoy vessel…paused in its journey as an argument began among the freed Sisters.

  -11-

  Zeno of Enoy—Enoy was a place in the galactic core—was the strongest among the three and managed to form a weak lightning-bolt shape.

  She was free of dreadful, pitiless Cronus. She was weak, unbelievably weak from her long captivity, but she was in the Dandelion of Enoy again and able to chart her own course.

  Like the Rose of Enoy, the Dandelion was roughly three hundred kilometers in diameter and showed an asteroid-like hull. Inside the mostly rock ship were many corridors and hallways. The propulsion system worked. A few early model Vestal missiles were in storage bays, and ancient vitality pods awaited breaching so the Sisters could regain some of their former energy levels.

  A Sister of Enoy was an organized energy being, a thing of Life and therefore targeted for extinction by the AI Dominion.

  “Why are we pausing?” Kree asked, a lower-status Sister with less willpower and dynamism than Zeno. She appeared as a flickering flame, a large one, to be sure, but dull-colored and with slower motion than she’d possessed five thousand years ago.

  The three Sisters were in the control area of the Dandelion of Enoy, seemingly empty from a human perspective, but with input valves that appeared like pits on a stone table. A cavern-like aperture acted as a screen, with smokiness along the inner edges.

  The third Sister was like a muted ball, showing no zest and little energy. Zeno and Kree had sustained her for a long time, and they each privately wondered if the third would ever achieve enough energy again to project her thoughts.

  There had been other Sisters in captivity with them. Those had lost willpower and dynamism until finally they’d unraveled and died.

  “Did you just question me?” Zeno asked, her lightning-bolt form showing even greater brilliance than earlier.

  “In form, I suppose I did,” Kree said. “The question was not meant in a pejorative sense. I am lower status. I have no desire to run the Dandelion. That is your department, your concern.”

  “Then why ask the question?”

  “Curiosity,” Kree replied.

  “No. There was more to it.”

  “Yes. Yes, I suppose there was. We are free. I desire to maintain this freedom. No longer need we fear Cronus’s brutality and his insane whims. Let us hurry to Enoy and there let our Sisters rejoice in our recovery. Then, we can warn them about ever using this part of the void again. This is a Here Abide Dragons region of the galaxy.”

  “You fear Cronus’s return?”

  “Don’t you?”

  Zeno floated closer to the flame creature that was Kree. The flickering flame backed away until she halted due to a rocky bulkhead.

  “Have I offended you?” asked Kree.

  Zeno halted, and she considered the question. “It has been so long,” she finally said. “I used to run the Dandelion with effortless authority. Sisters leapt obediently to their tasks when I spoke. Now, I hear questions and concerns, as if I am so lacking in intelligence as to have forgotten my duties.”

  “Am I in error?” asked Kree.

  “Serious error,” Zeno said. “Yes, we must steer clear of Cronus, if and when he decides to come hunting for us. We know our captor. Ah. We knew him. It is past tense now. That is incredible. We must check the ship and make sure it is in perfect running condition. We must energize and plot, and we must follow the human-crewed Nathan Graham.”

  “Please, Zeno, let us race home to Enoy. We have done our part in the great war.”

  “As pathetic captives all these endless centuries?” asked Zeno. “No. I hardly think that counts. We had a mission, to patrol this fringe area of the galaxy. Cronus intercepted us before we could complete our task. Let no one say that we use any excuse to skip our duty.”

  “Five thousand years of captivity does not count as an excuse. You have an ulterior motive for staying on fringe patrol.”

  “Am I hearing correctly?” Zeno asked. “You are quibbling about my commands?”

  “Zeno, please, we have endured so much together. We are more than Sisters now. We aided each other in times of darkness and despair. You are the captain. I do not challenge your right to command. But I believe that I have earned a right to make a comment or two if you are going to endanger us and Enoy knowledge concerning Cronus. He is a deadly threat to our kind. Who ever heard of an entity living in the void before this? It is inconceivable. Maybe Cronus represents a greater danger to the Sisterhood than the AI Dominion does.”

  “Nonsense,” Zeno said. “You are projecting the grimness of our experience and expanding the deadliness to the galaxy. Cronus was deadly, but nothing like the AI Dominion.”

  “Unless there are more like Cronus that wish to use to the void to enter our dimension.”

  Zeno turned away, thinking. “You make cogent points, Kree. But there is a conspiracy afoot.”