McCollum - GIBRALTAR STARS by Michael McCollum

intended for?”
    The lopsided grin returned, broader than ever. “We propose to build a few hundred of these little beauties, and distribute them judiciously through the length and breadth of the Broan Sovereignty.
    #
    Susan didn’t know what she had expected him to say, but that certainly wasn’t it. She was so startled that she hiccupped, and then, for good measure, said, “ You can’t do that!”
    Pembroke paused for several seconds, regarded her with a calm look, and finally asked, “The idea bothers you?”
    Susan felt her face get hot as she flushed, embarrassed by her outburst. “Doesn’t it bother you?”
    “Not since I was briefed into the project, as I am now briefing you. Relax. You’re going to pass out if you don’t get control of your breathing.”
    She hesitated, and then took several deep breaths. He was right. The pounding in her temple abated considerably. Finally, when she was once again in control of her emotions, she asked, “WHY?”
    “Why what?”
    “The stardrive is our only advantage over the Broa. Surely you aren’t going to give it to them.”
    “Not to the Broa. To their slaves.”
     “Same difference.”
    “Not at all. You’ve studied Broan history, of course.”
    She nodded. Everyone who attended the Space Navy Academy was well-schooled in their enemy’s physical, societal, and astrographic characteristics.
    Pembroke continued. “The Broa are neither strong nor swift. They are small by our standards, and by those of almost every intelligent species in the Pastol database. They reproduce slowly and do not seem any more individually capable than a typical human. Yet, they rule the known universe. Can you explain that?”
    “The stargates.”
    He nodded. “Correct. Their power comes from absolute control of star travel in their realm. Like the ancient iron horse, everyone in the Sovereignty travels the tracks laid down by their masters, or they do not travel.”
    “But the stardrive…”
    “Is already known to the Broa.”
    “It is?”
    “It must be. Stargate and stardrive are brother technologies. If they discovered one, surely they must have discovered the other.”
    “Then why don’t they use it?”
    “They can’t afford to. The stardrive gives its possessor mobility the Broa don’t want their subjects to have. It would destroy the control they have over them. In fact, our intelligence types think that once enough slave species know about the stardrive, the Sovereignty will come apart at the seams.”
    She considered the new thought for long seconds. When she spoke again, her tone was dubious. “It seems logical, I suppose, but won’t that take time, maybe even generations? Once the Broa learn about these Trojan horses, they are going to come looking for us. Then it will be a race to see whether we can subvert their subjects before they find and kill us. From what they told us at the Academy, it’s a race we are liable to lose.”
    “What if we throw them off the scent? What if we convince them that the Trojan horses are coming from inside the Sovereignty rather than outside? What if they think one or more of their slave species invented the starship?
    “That is the plan, and the reason we need artists so badly. It isn’t enough to build our little starships. We must also disguise their human origins; lay a false trail to send the Broa on a wild goose chase.”
    “Wild goose?”
    “Sorry. Antique expression. It means to send them into a skewed orbit. Our engineers are good at the technical details, but they lack imagination when it comes to creating an entire alien species out of whole cloth. For that we need artists.”
    “You want me to think up an alien species?”
    “They are pretty well thought up. They’re small, cuddly beings with six legs. They have to be small to fit in the Trojan Horses we are building. They have a language and a script of their own, but of course, everything in their computers will be duplicated in Broan. Otherwise, how will