The ground shook, startling Nick to awareness. "What was that?" It felt as if his body was trying to give him an adrenaline spike, but that barely made him feel normal.

"Ingot fall," Petra told him.

"What do you mean, 'ingot fall'? How big an ingot?"

"234 centimeters long, 13 centimeters thick."

"We don't have any ingots that size. Besides, the whole hill just shook! Where was this ingot?"

"30,450,500 centimeters up."

"Thirty kilometers?"

"No. Three hundred kilometers," Petra corrected.

"Petra, that's in space." Nick blinked. His brain was trying to tell him something but he wasn't ready. "What is happening?"

"Nick, Ktheg!lik says you are in danger."

Kathy? I told Petra not to take any messages from the fuakalas. Danger? Must be a safety override.

"What the hell did they build over there? Petra, did you build a weapon for them?"

"Yes."

"What weapon?"

"Defense bots 1-40, Security bots—"

"Cancel! Petra, did the fuakalas make the hill shake?"

"No."

"Was it natural?"

"What is 'natural'?"

"'Natural' is no one did it, it just happened."

"No."

"No, what?"

"No, Nick."

Nick facepalmed. "Was the hill shaking natural?"

"No."

"But the fuakalas didn't do it?"

"Correct."

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Nick's brain was still trying to connect the dots. "You mean we're under attack from someone else?"

"Yes."

"From space?"

"Yes."

"GAH!" Nick wanted to tear his hair out. He was finally roused from his miserable stupor, only to find out that it was because once again, people of all planets suck, which was the reason he was depressed in the first place! You stupid fuckers should be rescuing us, but no, that would be too sensible, that might even be decent! Can't have that! God DAMN it!

Adrenaline was finally gaining some traction in his thought processes. "Was that a railgun?"

"What is 'railgun'?"

Good question. Nick tried to remember a space warfare game he had played for a while. "Um...electricity...and magnets...throw metal really, really fast, I think?"

"Yes, Nick."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, it was a railgun, Nick."

"Who is attacking us?"

"Captain Foh."

"Who is Cap—? No, wait, how do you know their name?"

"He said his name."

"He called and I didn't answer." He inhaled through his nose. "Kathy answered, didn't she?"

"Yes, Nick."

"Do you have the transcript?"

"Yes, Nick."

"Show me. Also, play back the video from the aliens—the space aliens. The aliens in space!" Nick clarified in frustration, trying to head off more Petra-isms.

Petra complied, and Nick read and watched. When he finished, he snorted. "Fucking dumbass. All he had to do was pretend to be a decent person for five minutes and they would have welcomed him in with open arms, begging for help. But no..." With an effort, Nick restrained his ranting. Do things now, rant later, dumbass. Don't be as stupid as Captain Foh from planet Satan or whatever.

"Call Kath—no, wait! Has she said anything else to them?"

"Ktheg!lik turned off the camera and sound."

"Right after the hill shook?"

"Yes."

"Smart. I hope you're playing fucking elevator music for the bastards."

"Which music is 'elevator music'?"

"Cancel! Don't actually do it. Let me think..."

Suddenly he had a thought that should have occurred to him sooner. "Did the railgun actually hit the fuakala base?"

"No, Nick."

"A warning shot, then. Anyone killed?"

"No, Nick."

"Good." Nick forced himself to concentrate. "All right. Either this is a random attack, which I seriously doubt, or they are here for a reason. The only things I can think of are me, you, and the aliens who used to own you. Probably you. Can the aliens tell where you are right now, exactly?"

"No, Nick."

"But they can trace transmissions?"

"Yes, Nick."

"So they know where this base is?"

"No, Nick."

"Wait..." He tried to sort that out. "You don't need radio to talk to your other parts, do you?"

"No, Nick."

"Can you talk to Kathy without using the radio?"

"Yes, Nick."

"Can I talk to Kathy without using the radio?"

"Yes, Nick."

"All right. From now on, don't use the radio to transmit or do anything that would enable them to track your location."

"Understood."

"Can you see the alien ship, Petra? The one that fired on us? What was it called...?"

"The Kalash-Quovo."

"Right. That. Can you see it?"

"Yes, Nick."

"Can you tell what it's doing?"

"It is doing nothing."

"Nothing? No changes?"

"A (something something) is leaving the Kalash-Quovo and coming down."

"A railgun shot?"

"No."

"A drop shuttle?"

"What is 'drop shuttle'?"

"Um, smaller craft to take people who fight to a place to fight."

"Yes, Nick."

"Where is it going?"

"The fuak!a base."

"How soon will it arrive?"

"Twenty minutes."

Not much time. But with the ingot reserves we have, there must be things we can build quickly.

He took a deep breath. "All right, Petra. How do we kill these fuckers?"

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