The heart of the War Sun was an artificial sun, held in place by powerful electromagnetic fields so that it could form the core of a mobile starship. Built all around it, sustaining the field and drawing on the energy output of the sun was a shell. The interior of the shell was covered in energy receptors that converted the sun's entire energy output into power. The exterior was littered with weapons, sensor towers, and other protrusions giving it the appearance of a fortress city up close, or a spiked ball from afar. Sandwiched between these two sides was the ship's vast living space, which could hide away entire armies and fleets of smaller starships.

The War Sun boasted several unnecessarily large mass drivers, some of the biggest ever built. It was also armed with arrays of ion canons, fighter bays, plasma accelerators, and torpedo bays capable of firing all kinds of devious exotic ordinance. The War Sun was designed to single-handedly conquer worlds, but it could happily destroy a whole fleet of Magellan's in a pinch.

"Broadcast the following on all frequencies," said the Captain "This is Captain Alexandria Littlecrow of the Huxley Foundation Starship Armstrong. We come in peace."

"Do you think that will help?" asked Gibson.

"Probably not," said the Captain "But it's true, and it sounds a lot better now than after we've been captured."

"They're trying to open a tachyon link," said Ensign Marceaux.

"Do it," said the Captain "On screen."

The image of the War Sun's Captain materialized on the main screen. He was dressed in the grim black uniform of the Hegemony of Marduk Starforce, sleek but authoritarian.

"This is Captain Nazir Zahawi of the Babylonian War Sun Sol Invictus. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded or you will be destroyed."

"Hold on," said Captain Littlecrow "The war is over, Captain Zahawi. Our governments are not enemies any longer. We are peaceful explorers who meant no violation of your territory."

"You make a desert, and call it peace," said Captain Zahawi "Lower your shields."

"You're abusing Tacticus," said Captain Littlecrow "The Huxley Foundation is not the Roman Empire."

"If I was abusing anyone it was Calgacus because that's who Tacticus was quoting and thus who I was paraphrasing," said Captain Zahawi "We can continue our discussion of Roman History together in my office on the Sol Invictus. Now lower your shields."

"You know I can't do that," said Captain Littlecrow.

"I'm giving you an out here, Captain Littlecrow," said Captain Zahawi "I should have destroyed your vessel already. Now accept my generous offer and Lower. Your. Shields. This will be your final warning."

Littlecrow looked at Guildenstern who shrugged. They still lacked helm control.

"You win, Captain Zahawi," said Captain Littlecrow "Commander Gibson, lower shields."

Commander Gibson was at tactical in Mitzner's place. He punched in the command but it failed to execute.

"The ship isn't responding, Captain," said Gibson "I can't lower shields."

"You really expect me to buy this little performance?" asked Captain Zahawi.

"It's not a performance," said Captain Littlecrow "We're having a similar problem with helm control. If we didn't, we'd have left this system the moment we detected your ship."

That did make a lot of sense to Zahawi. Why wouldn't they have fled, being so hopelessly outgunned? It started to occur to Zahawi that either Littlecrow was telling the truth and her vessel was stuck, or she was lying and this was all part of an elaborate Foundation scheme to trick him into capturing her ship. The Huxley Foundation was always full of dirty tricks. Either way he wasn't as confident that his first instinct was the right one.

"Your ship will be held in a tractor beam and your communications jammed until further notice," said Captain Zahawi "If you make any attempt to break the tractor beam I will end this game and destroy your ship. End transmission."

The ground shuttered slightly.

"The War Sun has us in a tractor beam," said Ensign Marceaux.

"Yes," said the Captain "Thank you Ensign."