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she said, ‘and yet our stealth technology still seemed to fool them.’
    ‘They probably use electromagnetic systems, like we do.’
    ‘So they’re not that far ahead of us?’
    ‘Maybe. Or maybe electromagnetic systems will always be the best detection system to use at any level of technology,’ Oomoing said.
    ‘Maybe. When they did hit us, they hit us hard,’ said Barabadar. She flicked further through the notes. ‘Your speculations on their home environment are less helpful.’
    ‘I expect Stormer has told you I’m an evolutionist,’ Oomoing said. Barabadar smiled again, with only a little more humour.
    ‘Yes, he wasn’t impressed. Anything that impugns his battle gods will upset him. I think you’ll find that every time he’s prayed to them, he’s won a battle.’
    ‘Has he ever fought a battle without praying to them?’
    ‘Probably not.’ Oomoing noticed Barabadar carefully withheld her own opinion on the topic, but thought she detected it from the tone. Then the Marshal of Space seemed to reach a decision. ‘Learned Sister, from now on the outlanders themselves are of secondary interest. I want your absolute priority to be to find out how they travel faster than light.’
    ‘I never thought you were that interested in expanding,’ Oomoing commented. The entire direction of Barabadar’s tenure as Marshal of Space had been towards consolidating, making things safe and secure.
    ‘I wasn’t. But it’s just possible these creatures could strike at us. If they do, I want to be able to strike back.’ Barabadar for a moment looked something between tired and disgusted. ‘I’ve done this job for twenty years, Learned Sister, and I’ve been good at it. I’ve safeguarded our interests, which is all someone in my position should be required to do. And suddenly I have a whole new frontier to patrol.’
    ‘And new interests to safeguard,’ Oomoing murmured.
    ‘Exactly,’ said Barabadar, missing Oomoing’s point entirely.
Safeguard our interests
was a safely neutral phrase which could mean a lot of things. In the case of extraterrestrials, Oomoing suspected it meant neutralizing the threat before it emerged. And that could only mean one thing.
    ‘I’m sure you’ll do your job well,’ Oomoing said.
    ‘I always have,’ Barabadar said sourly. ‘And look where it got me.’
    ‘It’s the scientific find of a lifetime!’ Oomoing said.
    ‘It’s a political nightmare. Only a few people in our government know about this, so far. The question is, do we tell the other governments? Rather,
what
do we tell the other governments, since our interest in this place has no doubt aroused the curiosity of every mother on Homeworld with a good telescope? Or, do we kill the prisoners, blow up the base and pretend the whole thing never happened? Having, of course, taken as much of their technology as we can understand home with us.’
    ‘That would be insane!’ Oomoing protested.
    ‘For reasons you have no idea about and aren’t going to, it’s an attractive option,’ Barabadar said. Then the Marshal of Space sat casually back on her haunches. ‘So far,’ she said, ‘you’ve made better observations than Stormer ever could, but there’s nothing here any other bright female couldn’t have worked out. You’re better than that. Convince me you really were the right choice for this job.’
    Oomoing paused to collect her thoughts. She had a feeling that Barabadar hadn’t let her Share so that she could be tested more subtly. ‘Ever since I heard of this place, I’ve rehearsed this meeting, Martial Sister,’ she said.
    ‘Really?’
    ‘I’ve longed to greet you with something like, “So, you’re the maniac who ordered an all-out attack on an extraterrestrial base.” ’
    She could see Barabadar was amused. ‘Well, here I am,’ said the Marshal of Space.
    ‘You also,’ Oomoing said, ‘went about it in the most unbelievably unprepared manner. You were woefully ill-equipped. The facilities