:Neither can I: 

's my father. Funding it, at least, and he's not stupid and he's very hands-on so almost definitely authorizing it.

- How does one possibly respond to that. 

:I - am sorry: 

A pause. 

:...Was it - also his doing, that you were exposed to it...?: 

No. Or, I mean, it's not a coincidence but I'm sure he didn't want that. He hired people to kidnap me and take me back home. That was - one of the things that tipped us off, that they were planning their move. And then we tried to stop their ship - the Anubis - on its way to Eros, and we lost, and they killed everyone else but not me, presumably because -

- and then the proto got loose on the Anubis, and killed all of their crew, and I was locked in a cargo hold, and I kicked my way out of it, saw what happened, hid the Anubis, took a shuttle, and tried to go to Eros to contact my people. But I was infected. And also I didn't make it to Eros, I ended up here. No idea how that part happened. Maybe the proto's fault?

:...Maybe? By accident, perhaps - I am not sure it is intelligent enough to plan ahead to that extent - unless the mass of it back in your star system is much larger than what is here: 

A pause. 

:...I cannot remember if I said, yesterday– whenever that was: he's very much lost track of time, :but - I learned what it is for. What it was made for, I think. It...makes interstellar transit routes. Wormholes: 

Well shit.

So I guess there's not just the question of whether we can make the proto friendly, there's also - whatever's on the other side.

If Leareth had any more energy right now, he would probably have thought ahead that far, but in fact he hasn't. 

:Yes: 

Julie's not very with it but her society has a lot more background tropes about first contact with aliens. I need to get home before they try again on Eros. Doubt the sample in the Anubis was the only one they had.

:I know: 

Leareth takes a few slow breaths. 

:If I am to do this in the next day or two, I will need to ask the Proto for help. With the calculations and theory - it is really quite well specced for this. I do not think we know enough, yet, to make a call on whether to trust it. I...also do not see many other options. It would take me months if not years, alone, and - that is assuming I, we, recover from this illness at all...: 

You still have it contained, right? We could get its help with the math and then - still nuke it, if we need to later -

:For now, yes. Other than the small quantity on your ship, it is contained to two locations, both underground and surrounded by bedrock, both of which could be - taken out by Final Strike: 

That's an alarming telepathy-concept.

My world has non-suicide ways to do very big booms. It'd be a hassle to steal them but, uh, you stole a spaceship, so you could manage it.

:Noted. Though I observe the spaceship was, at the time, unguarded, and I hope your people have reasonable security precautions around these technologies: 

Every spaceship has a fusion reactor, it's how they move. Uh, fusion is...the thing the sun does, to be hot. 

:- Oh. And - how difficult is it, to turn one into a weapon?: 

- not.

Some got in the ground here, when I first got here, and Shavri thinks I got it all with the thrusters but on a planet that wasn't so goddamn impoverished I'd have used the drive to make sure. The only hard part would be overriding the safeties that'd try to prevent you from firing up the drive in atmosphere.

:...Ah: 

He closes his eyes. Why does he have to be so tired right now, when the most important events of the last millennium - no, possibly this is more important than the Cataclysm - are in the middle of happening? 

:Has - that happened? In your world - people using this as a weapon...?: 

Ship engines? Belters use whatever they have on hand, when they have to. Earth and Mars have better weapons.

:- What can the better weapons do?: 

- there hasn't been a war in a long time, not a real one. But Earth and Mars could both wipe each other out if they wanted to. It's just - not that hard to destroy shit, right? If you can make an asteroid spin to give it artificial gravity to turn it into a mining hub, you can also chuck it at your enemies. I think even before we were in space we had nukes, and mutually assured destruction, all that. ...maybe that was after we were in space? I'm not really a history buff. It was before we colonized Luna and Mars.

Unwanted memories surge up. Leareth nudges them aside. 

:- Yes. It is not that hard to destroy: 

The Mindspeech overtones are controlled, but still bleak and tired. 

I don't think Earth and Mars'll blow each other up. Not smart, picking a fight with someone who can fight back. I'm worried for the Belt.

So is Leareth, but he doesn't know what to say. 

:...Is there - someone in a leadership role who you trust, back home?: he asks her eventually. :Because, well, neither of us is in ideal condition for high-stakes decisionmaking, currently: 

Anderson Dawes. He sent us out to meet the Anubis. He'll be looking for me. He'll know what to do.

:What is his role? And background, experience?: