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of the Vithian power units seems covered in danger pheromone!”
    Ssor-Fel blinked. When the Race was still confined to the vines, members of a pack would alert one another to danger by releasing a strong pheromone from glands in their abdomens. It was a signal unique to the Race, one only they would detect and recognize. A power unit soaked in pheromone would go unnoticed by the Voldar’ik. However, Daz-Ven’s fur must have stood erect the moment he removed the device from its vacuum packaging.
    “The concentration was quite high,” Dal-Vas continued. “The contamination was deliberate. It must be a warning, or perhaps a cry for help.”
    “And did Daz-Ven analyze the genetic signature?”
    “He did. He isolated the genetic markers and achieved a positive identification.”
    “Who is it?”
    “A member of the Sar-Dva clan, one Sar-Say by name.”
    #

Chapter Five
     
    Toronto shimmered golden in the strengthening dawn as the sub-orbital shuttle from Europe flared for a landing at the capital’s airport. Lisa Arden and Mark Rykand waited their turn to retrieve their bags and file across the passenger bridge into a glass-and-steel terminal just beginning to stir. They had been summoned before a committee of parliament to report on the expedition to the Crab Nebula and to officially lay out Mark’s vision for defeating the Broa. They were not alone. Many of those who had been aboard the Ruptured Whale at Klys’kra’t had been summoned as well.
    It had been two glorious weeks since they set foot on Earth. Most of that time they spent touring the sights and enjoying one another’s company. The latter activity resulted in neither of them being particularly rested, especially when one considered that it was seven hours earlier than when they had boarded the shuttle outside of Kiev.
    “Well, I guess it is back to work,” Mark said as he slung both of their bags over his shoulder and strode toward the long tunnel leading to the main part of the terminal
    “It had to happen sometime,” Lisa agreed. “Too bad our holiday couldn’t have lasted forever.”
    “Sorry, but I probably wouldn’t be up to it… forever ,” he said with a leer.
    “I believe the expression is “up for it,” she responded in the same vein.
    Exiting the terminal, they took an auto-taxi to their hotel. The desk clerk gave them a difficult time about checking in so early, but eventually found them a room. After a communal bath that took longer than it should have, they each prepared for a busy day. Mark shaved while watching Lisa dress in the mirror. Both had procured brand new ground outfits for the occasion.
    It was just 09:00 hours when Lisa asked, “Ready?”
    Mark nodded, slipped into a coat that felt unnatural after so long without wearing one, and ushered her out the door. Ten minutes later, they were on a moving slidewalk, headed for the tower that held the administration offices of the World Parliament.
    #
    A gray-haired man looked up from his reading when they entered the committee anteroom. “Hello, Mark, Lisa.
    “Hello, Mikhail,” Lisa replied. “When did you come down?”
    “Just this morning. The doctors seemed to suddenly be less concerned with my sniffles. Why do you suppose that is?” he asked in the tone of someone making a rhetorical point.
    “I’m sure I don’t know.”
    The reason Vasloff had been stuck in orbit had been obvious to everyone; including him. He was a born agitator and had molded his organization, Terra Nostra , into one of the best lobbying groups in the world. The mere hint of what was waiting out among the stars had caused worldwide rioting three years earlier. When news of the Broan Sovereignty leaked, there would be hell to pay. Terra Nostra ’s membership was about to balloon, possibly into the billions.
    Everyone expected Vasloff and his organization to lead the opposition to Mark Rykand’splan. For one thing, Vasloff had had a year to think up ways to thwart what he called “those idiot