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unease. The presence of the alien ship could explain a lot of things, but for the moment it raised more
questions than it answered. And the thought of leaving the pinnace and travelling through the metallic
forest was not a comforting one, even with the marines for protection. Diana got to her feet and then
stood there dithering, unsure what to do first. She'd wanted a little action, a little excitement, but this was
ridiculous. A thought struck her, and she turned to glare at the comm panels.
"Odin, why didn't your sensors detect the presence of the crashed alien ship?"
"Unknown, esper. Either the ship is shielded in some way, or it and its crew are simply too alien to show
up on my instruments."
Diana frowned. "I thought it was impossible for anything to shield itself from your sensors?"
"Impossible for any technology I am aware of. The alien ship's level of technology is unknown."
Diana growled something under her breath, and strode down the cabin to the airlock. Even when the
computer was talking directly to her, she couldn't get anything useful out of it. At least the Investigator
understood her worth. Just let her at that alien ship; she'd show them what an esper could do. She'd
show them all.
The marines accepted their new orders with hardly any fuss. Secretly, Diana thought they were probably
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just as bored as she'd been. The news of an alien ship didn't throw them at all. They just nodded,
checked the power levels on their guns, and led her off the landing field and into the metallic forest. They
walked on either side of her, studying the surrounding trees alertly, their disrupters drawn and ready for
use. Diana looked at the guns and scowled. There was always the chance the aliens weren't involved with
whatever had happened at Base Thirteen, and were just innocent bystanders. The Empire's usual reaction
to a new species was to shoot first and ask questions later, if at all, but Diana was determined that wasn't
going to happen here. First contacts could be peaceful, and she was going to do everything in her power
to see that this one was. The Empire wasn't going to add another servant species to its ranks, another
people to treat and exploit as second-class citizens. Like the espers.
She didn't like the way her thoughts were going, so she concentrated instead on her surroundings. The
metallic trees were very beautiful, shining in the mists like frozen fireworks. Now that she was seeing
them up close, walking among them, they didn't seem nearly as imposing. Their warm glow seemed
friendly, even inviting . . . Which was more than she could say about the entities that had attacked her on
the way down. The day seemed suddenly colder, and she shuddered briefly. She'd never felt a rage like
it, an anger beyond thought or emotion; a force in itself. A force strong enough to break through a
pinnace hull built to withstand atomics. She looked at the marines walking with her, and her momentary
feeling of security was gone, as though it had never been. Guns and cold steel would be little use against
the kind of force she'd sensed.
She thrust the thought out of her mind. She was on her way to an unknown alien ship and a possible first
contact, and nothing was going to spoil that for her. She wouldn't let anything spoil it. She lengthened her
stride, almost skipping along in her enthusiasm. The marines had to hurry to keep up with her. Ripper
studied her thoughtfully, and Stasiak gave her a dark look or two, but she ignored both of them. And
then the smile left her face and the joy went out of her in a moment, as something moved in the trees, not
far away. She stopped dead in her tracks, and the marines stopped with her. They looked at her
enquiringly, and she tried hard to stop trembling.
"Didn't you hear it?" she said quietly.
"Hear what?" said Stasiak, trying to look in every direction at once, and almost succeeding.
"There's something moving in the mists, not far away. It knows we're here." She focused her
concentration, trying to touch whatever it was with her esp, but it stayed obstinately just at the edge of
her awareness.
"Can you at least give us a direction?" said Ripper quietly.
Diana indicated the area off to her right with a quick movement of her chin, and they all strained their
eyes against the curling mists. It was cold and quiet, and nothing moved.
"There's nothing there," said Stasiak, lowering his gun. "Not a damned thing. You're just nervous, esper.
Jumping at shadows."
"It's there," Diana insisted. "I can feel it."
"Well, whatever it is, I think we'd be safer on the move," said Ripper. "Lew, you lead the way. I'll watch
the rear. Esper, you stay between us, and if you see it again, try and let us know without alerting it. Don't
worry, we won't let anything happen to you. Now let's move, shall we? Nice and easy . . ."
They set off again, and Diana strode jerkily along, looking left and right, her back crawling. Something
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was watching her, and she could feel its menace like a sharp taste in her mouth. Her hands clenched into
fists at her sides, and she almost wished she had taken a disrupter for herself after all. The thought
shocked her calm again, like a faceful of cold water. She was an esper, not a killer. Whatever it was out
there she should be concentrating on making contact with it. Except there was no other living thing on this
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