TWO MONTHS AFTER CASE OMAHA

MONTH THREE OF THE BATTLE FOR HESSTLA

Bo'okdu'ust stared at the data on his holotank. He was staring at what the Terrans called the "Cygnus-Orion Galactic Spur", watching the various stars change color according to the data he had input. It started at the Silent Filter (When his people started history, a few centuries after the Precursor War) and ran until current day at approximately ten thousand years per second, slowing down for any major expansion or contraction events.

What bothered him the most was the beginning. Over a thousand systems were what the Lanaktallan started with, every time. The same thousand systems in a wide streak a good distance from the Great Empty/Long Dark. The Lanaktallan spread out at the same time that the Mantid had a single system. The Lanaktallan spread out rapidly at first, moving from a thousand worlds to nearly ten thousand in less than fifteen hundred years, the lifespan of 3 generations of Lanaktallan, although Lanaktallan generations were measured every fifty years by his computing software. So within thirty generations the Lanaktallan had taken nearly ten thousand worlds.

The Mantid had taken ten.

The Terrans were nothing more than little primates, most likely lemurs, existing in a world full of giant reptiles. It would be forty million years until an asteroid strike would end the reign of the superfauna reptilian avians and make room for the lemurs to develop into the primates that everyone knew and loved.

The Treana'ad were unintelligent insects at the time. Multiple warring subspecies fighting for dominance, a few million years before the rise of intelligence.

The rest of the systems were marked with icons indicating damage or destruction at the hands of the Precursors.

Then the Lanaktallan controlled area shrunk, had empty spaces appear in the controlled area. He had always been unable to find a reason for the shrinkage and gaps, at least an official reason. It was long enough ago that most historians were not interested the data.

Which always struck Bo'okdu'ust as strange, that an epoch made of an irregularity would be ignored by his fellow researchers.

His simulation put out the data as it paused, flashing icons that there was in irregularity in the data.

Again, there were only three reasons for that contraction and the internal systems dropping from Lanaktallan control.

Rapid spread pandemic

Internal Warfare

Agricultural and Industrial Collapse with Material Transportation Failure

He had examined those systems, looking at what records he was privy too. The problem was, plain and simple, that a hundred million years meant that even geological records could have been wiped away.

However Bo'okdu'ust had added new data to his sociomathematic formulae. By working to understand the Terrans and ensure his system worked in regards to them, he had begun to look at his own species in a slightly different light.

Terrans knew and admitted that at one point there were genetically unique species of Terrans, called homo in their scientific parlance. Apparently, far before recorded history, the different types of Terrans performed genocidal purges. The longest was between the Neanderthals and modern human, a primitive savage war that went on for quiet some time.

Bo'okdu'ust had to admit that he had not considered sub-species and parallel evolutionary branches of the same species. None of the species in Lanaktallan space contained such a thing.

But then, the species in Lanaktallan space had been gentled repeatedly, their history and culture destroyed.

So he had built formula to account for the possible rise of sub-species.

His fellow Lanaktallan researchers would have undoubtably told him that it was ridiculous, if there was distinct sub-species of Lanaktallan it would have been recorded. That there would be records pertaining to this sub-species somewhere in the vast archives.

Bo'okdu'ust had his doubts.

According to his simulations, especially once he had included data for the Treana'ad and the Mantid, the only way the common Lanaktallan could have withstood the Mantid and the mythical lost Precursor race, is if there had been a sub-species.

It also had a bizarre symmetry to it.

The Lanaktallan people had much in common with both the Mantid and the Treana'ad. Hexapod creatures made somewhat in the shame method if you ignored that one was a mammal and the other two were insects.

Bo'okdu'ust looked at his visitors: Several Terran officers, including the Digital Sentient "Day".

"As you can see, my sociomathematical model has severe deficiencies using my previous available data, logic, and intellectual theories as well as current Lanaktallan belief," Bo'okdu'ust said.

Everyone present nodded.

Bo'okdu'ust started the simulation again, this time with the evolutionary data he had gleaned from working with the Terrans.

He had included 'castes' into the system. A leader caste, a warrior caste. Evolutionary pressures would ensure that they would be larger than the other Lanaktallan, and because of such, would undoubtably consume more resources, meaning that they would be far fewer in number than the rank and file Lanaktallan.

This time when the contraction and missing planets started, his simulation put up signals. Each system that went black was centrally located to the others, each of them having a sphere of control that slightly overlapped but included roughly twenty-five systems each time.

"There," Bo'okdu'ust said. "A period of steady expansion, each radiating out from central hubs. It is analogous to how the Mantid spread out."

"And has parallels to the 'Filter of Too Many Hives' that plagued my people," a russet mantid said.

A greenie looked up, flashing rapid icons.

**the software is solid** 7.4.A stated, his voice synthesized.

"Thank you, Professor," Bo'okdu'ust said. He knew many of his colleagues would have taken offense that another was examining his software and data, but he knew that Professor 7.4.A was a professor of advanced mathematical theory as well as a cutting edge software designer.

"Now the fall," Bo'okdu'ust stated. "Elimination of control by the central hubs, loss of system control."

Everyone watched patiently. This time the simulation did not stop but rather continued on.

"Here I have added the data from the defector researchers regarding when the Lanaktallan met each species and began the process of revolving gentling," Bo'okdu'ust stated. "Before this, it was just assumed that they took millions of years to recover due to the Precursor War."

"Yeah," the russet mantid said. "Food species," she sounded somewhat embarrassed.

"Indeed. My people escaped the Precursors by hiding within the remains of your people's larder," Bo'okdu'ust said, the dry joke bringing several uncomfortable chuckles.

"Now, if you look here, the Telkan people are, at this time, little more than a trinary sex creatures roughly analogous to a Terran weasel or meerkat," Bo'okdu'ust said. He held up his hand toward the sole Telkan present. "No offense."

"Oh, none taken. This is fascinating. I've always wondered what kind of evolutionary pressure led to my people developing a three sex system," the female Telkan, one Selmina'ak, stated, her voice mild. "As soon as you requested the data, System Director Brentili'ik sent me here post-haste."

Selmina'ak knew that Bo'okdu'ust was a researcher and academic, which meant that some of the political niceties would be ignored and the blunt ugly truth would be just put right out in the open.

It was part of working with academics.

"A wise decision," Bo'okdu'ust said. "Your willingness to allow me access to your people's cultural and evolutionary data the Terrans possess was part of the critical in some of my decisions."

Day simply smiled, leaning back in the chair, sipping at a glass of wine.

The simulation kept running, speeding up as there was no 'critical data' to pause over. Just the Lanaktallan absorbing system after system after system. Some showed an icon of other species present on those worlds but little else.

"During this time my people were expanding their hold on the worlds at the base of the galactic stub," Bo'okdu'ust stated. "It gets rather boring after this, just the Great Herd expanding its influence with nothing to stop it."

Day made a hmm-ing noise, sipping at her wine.

"It does not help that the majority of the data of this time is either lost or glossed over," Bo'okdu'ust sighed. "This is all reconstruction, mind you, based on the data that you were able to provide me."

He turned and pointed at a second holotable that was running the same one, only with huge gaps in the data. "That one is preforming a reconstruction based only on what data my people have publically available," he said. He pointed at a third holotable. "That table has only the data that my people allow researchers access to," and then he pointed at the fourth and final holotank. "That one is running the data as provided by the defectors."

"And the data recently delivered to you that was acquired before our diplomatic corps left the Unified Council?" Day asked.

"Still compiling for a separate analysis, but included with the primary simulation," Bo'okdu'ust stated.

It took nearly an hour for the entire simulation to play through. When it was over, it showed Lanaktallan space as a Terran Confederacy Protectorate.

The core systems of the Confederate's member races were all dark with the exception of the Rigel System.

The systems of the Long Dark were "under Confederate Control" according to the simulation.

The simulation beeped and came to an end.

"That's... promising," General Mwrakawk, a Rigellian, stated slowly.

"It's also in error," Bo'okdu'ust stated.

Everyone turned and frowned.

"What makes you say that?" the russet mantid, Path to Understanding, asked, frowning.

Bo'okdu'ust tapped the simulation, bringing up a list of species variables.

"Because it just told me that it is in error. The error catching system has reported that there are specific errors," Bo'okdu'ust said. "In macro, there is an error."

Icons flashed. **I see no errors** 7.4.A stated.

"Check the warning files, not the error files," Bo'okdu'ust stated. "My apologies, I stated error when I should have said that the system recognized an Event that is strong enough to cause a cascading error in the simulation. It requires my, our, input."

"What is the Event?" General Mwrakawk asked.

Bo'okdu'ust shifted the holotank's view, zooming over to one particular system.

It burned a bright red.

"This is Hesstla, three months ago," Bo'okdu'ust stated. "An analysis of media and GalNet traffic from that system as well as other factors is resulting in my sociomathematics warning of a signifigant event occurring in that system three months ago," he stated.

Red ripples slowly moved out from Hesstla.

"Is that an estimation of the effects of the unknown event?" Path to Understanding asked.

Bo'okdu'ust shook his head. "No. The ripples represent GalNet posts discussing what has been termed 'Red Stack' regarding the LED's on the back of Terran Descent Human's necks."

A set of blue ripples appeared.

"What is that?" One of the visiting academics, Tcharlz Harmok asked.

"That is a slowly advancing wave of quark interaction disturbance," Bo'okdu'ust said. "As you can see, my simulation is not in error."

He turned and looked at his guests. "An Event, with a high probability of spreading influence, has occurred on the disputed planet of Hesstla."

"What kind of event would you guess?" General Mwrakawk asked.

"I do not guess, my dear General," Bo'okdu'ust said, steepling his fingers on all four hands.

"Then what kind of event is it?" the General asked.

"We, including the Precursor Autonomous War Machines, are all under attack by an enemy capable of temporal and fourth dimensional manipulation," Bo'okdu'st stated.

He also pointed at the leading edge of the Confederacy. "There are also signs, here, of increased aggression, specifically the type that points at the latter days of the Human/Mantid Interstellar War," Bo'okdu'ust stated.

He turned and looked at everyone again.

"The Third Precursor Race has returned in Hesstla and a powerful Hive Queen approaches Terran Space."