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feel likemy old self . . . except for the little detail of not having a body.”

“Within the Godstream, Mr. President, one creates any physical manifestation desired, any world desired, imaginal or real.”

“Imaginal?”

“All such universes have an equal claim to ‘reality,’ Mr. President. Just because it happens in your head does not mean itis not real.”

“Point. Except that I don’t seem to have a head at the moment.”

“Mr. President, can you accept the fact that an atom, the basis of all matter, is fundamentally nonexistent? That it is almost entirely empty space, and that even those minute particles within its volume are, according to the laws of quantum physics, popping in and out of existence apparently at random? That atoms themselves are unsubstantial to the point of being illusory, that what we call matter is best defined as standing waves within the base energy state of the universe? Indeed, one human physicist is on record as saying that the best way to think of an atom is that it is a packet of information, more of an idea than anything else.”

“If you say so, Konstantin. I never much understood quantum physics beyond the basics.”

But oddly, Koenig was cognizant of information moving through his awareness—of equations and facts and theory all describingwhat Konstantin was talking about. His mind, he realized, was intimately linked to the Godstream as a whole.

“If you understand that much, Mr. President, perhaps you can understand that your thoughts, your mind, everything insubstantialor noncorporeal about you can also be described as standing waves within the universal background. And that those waves canbe transcribed into a digital format and recorded.”

That startled Koenig. Since Humankind had first evolved hundreds of thousands of years in the past, he’d differentiated, atleast on some level, between the human body and . . . something else. Mind, soul, ego and id—spirit. Never had there beenthe slightest evidence that the soul actually existed, or that mind was anything more than an emergent construct created by the interaction of neurons within the brain.

Konstantin was telling him that there was a description of how matter behaved within quantum physics that could explain thephysical existence of the soul.

“I’m going to need some time to assimilate that, Konstantin. Like I need time to take in what’s happened to me.”

“Understood, Mr. President. I submit, though, that in the long run, it doesn’t really matter whether you have a physical body or not. You could, if you wish, inhabit an artificial body . . . or interact within reality through holographics of your own manufacture. Quite literally, there are very few limitations to what you can do beyond your own doubt and your own failure of imagination.”

“Did you just accuse me of not having an imagination?”

“Limited imagination, not a lack of it. That seems to be a part of being human, Mr. President.”

“I’m having trouble seeing myself as human any longer, Konstantin. I’ve . . . changed.”

“Indeed. You have transcended.”

Koenig decided that he would have to take the super-AI’s word for that and not worry too much about the details, at leastfor now.

“You should know, Mr. President,” Konstantin said after a moment, “that America and three other vessels have emerged from Alcubierre Drive.”

“Have they, by God!”

“They have. I detected a signal from them some thirty minutes ago, at 1550 hours. They are en route, slowly, toward Earth.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in an eon or two,” Koenig said.

“It may not be as good as you seem to believe. You’ve seen those planetoids in near-synchronous orbit.”

“I have. Tell me about them.”

“They are Nungiirtok,” Konstantin replied. “The USNA has surrendered unconditionally to them.”

The AI went on to tell Koenig about the events of the past two days.

“I see. And Walker surrendered on behalf of the entire planet?”

“Arguably so. He had the support of several major governments. There is evidence, however, that the Chinese Hegemony, theRussian Federation, and other governments are acting on their own and may be using Walker’s surrender as a cloak behind whichthey are preparing an attack.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“It is extremely dangerous,” Konstantin replied. “A miscalculation in their coordination or deployment could easily trigger a devastatingresponse from the aliens. Even if their planning and execution of a counterattack are flawless, Nungiirtok technology maybe such that any direct attack on them would be futile.”

“‘Resistance is futile,’” Koenig said.

“Is that a quote?”

“A very old meme.”

“Ah. Of course. I have the reference here.”

“Okay—if there are few limits to what’s possible, maybe we can take on the Nungies.”

“I was thinking exactly that, Mr. President.”

Chapter Twenty

27 April, 2429

Nungiirtok Fleet

Mars Orbit

Sol System

1620 hours, FST

Four of the Nungiirtok ships broke orbit, accelerating outward. Their sensors had detected the arrival of a squadron of humanwarships minutes earlier, four distinct starbursts of light indicating the collapse of as many warp bubbles out in deep space.Ashtongtok Tah was in the van; 4236 Xavix knew that he had to destroy these newcomers, or force their surrender, as quickly as possible.The human force probably had seen them in Earth orbit. He wanted to reach them swiftly enough that they would have only afew minutes to realize that the Nungiirtok ships were hurtling toward them. If 4236 Xavix could surprise them, the tacticaladvantage would be his . . . and quite possibly the battle itself.

During the fight when his squadron had entered this system, they’d been opposed by a number of human vessels—notably one that appeared to be of the same class as the largest of the newcomers. The sheer ferocity of that ship’s attack, using a large number of tiny, single-seat fighters, had startled Xavix and taken his command staff by complete surprise. Xavix didn’t like to think about just how close the enemy had come to crippling or even destroying the Ashtongtok Tah, and he was determined not to let that happen again.

Ideally, of course, this newly arrived enemy squadron would surrender once its commanders learned that Earth itself had alreadysubmitted to Tok Iad punishment, but it didn’t pay to be too complacent about human military capabilities. Humans were unpredictable,and that made them dangerous.

He was already considering