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Ilkot continued scanning. There are also unidentifiable weapons and debris - similar to those we encountered on Wollamor.'

'On Wollamor?'

'I postulate that the Klikiss are also to blame.'

QT drew the obvious conclusion. 'Are the Klikiss allied with the Ildirans?'

'How would the Klikiss get here?' Sirix said. 'Maratha has no transportal.'

'That is one of many questions,' PD said. 'How have the Klikiss survived at all? They were extinct, according to data you provided.'

'Blanket the ground with our signals. I want to know if any robots remain functional. Every one of them is precious to us.' Sirix transmitted his own image, searching for a response. He could not believe that all of their ships and gathered weapons had been so woefully insufficient.

'We could also send scavenging teams to the site,' Ilkot suggested. 'Some of the memory cores could be intact. We could extract those cores to determine what occurred here--and salvage their memories. Otherwise our ancient and unique comrades are entirely lost.'

Suddenly, the hull of the Juggernaut rang with a loud reverberation. The deck and walls shuddered. Moving like a pack of predators, six Solar Navy warliners skimmed the edge of Maratha's atmosphere, racing over the curve of the planet toward Sirix's battle group. Their solar sails were extended, weapons powered in an intimidating posture.

Another dull impact struck them. We are in EDF ships. They should believe we are the Earth military.' He turned to the vacant communications console as Ilkot scuttled toward the controls. 'Transmit one of our recorded images of Admiral Wu-Lin to deceive them.'

PD asked, 'Are the Ildirans at war with the humans now?'

In a maddeningly cheerful voice, QT said, 'Sirix, you already transmitted your own image to search for surviving robots. The Ildirans know who we are.'

The warliners raced forward, commencing a barrage with their most powerful weapons. Sirix's Juggernaut reeled; sparks flew from control panels. Warning indicators signalled fourteen hull breaches and explosive loss of atmosphere.

'Return fire.' EDF weapons lanced out, grazing the Ildiran vessels, ripping apart one of the mostly decorative solar sails.

'It is understandable that the Ildirans are upset with Klikiss robots,' QT pointed out. 'The robots did not ask permission to establish a base here on a sovereign Ildiran world, and they caused great damage.'

'But Ildirans should not be here at all,' Sirix replied, amplifying his voice.

'Perhaps they believe the robots should not have been here.'

'This is completely different.'

The Soldier compies on the accompanying Mantas continued to shoot, damaging two of the patrol warliners, while enduring powerful blows in return. In the frantic battle, Sirix watched the inventory of projectiles and jazer batteries and realized that he was wasting firepower that he had intended to use against humans - and the Klikiss. He had not intended to fight the Ildiran Empire as well, especially not with this small battle group, without the reinforcements he had expected to find on Maratha.

The Ildiran warliners continued to bombard them. Sirix swiftly calculated whether or not to continue the engagement. Comparing the weapons capabilities aboard the Solar Navy warliners to his own defences, he determined that while his EDF ships might be victorious, it would cost him much of his battle group. Those were losses he could not afford.

'Withdraw. Do not continue firing.' Sirix altered the transmission burst, directing it toward the Ildirans. 'We will remove ourselves from this system. There is no need for you to persist in your attack.'

The Solar Navy apparently disagreed. They continued to pursue Sirix and his battle group, still firing, even as the robots accelerated away from Maratha. Already, he knew that the repairs would take a great deal of time.

Sirix revised his plans. Again. This was not how events had been meant to unfold! He had imagined a magnificent victory over the humans, conquering all their