form of

  The Niss hologram shrugged, as if it all seemed obvious UGG Boots Clearance now. The entity made no apologies for taking so long to catch on.
  "Clearly, the higher orders of life have either confided in or manipulated senior officials of the Great Institutes, so the governing bodies of oxy-civilization would make preparations."
  "But there's so much we still don't understand!" Sara objected. "Why must the affected galaxy be emptied of starfarers? How does all this affect Jordan Heels the other life orders? What does it--"
  Gillian Baskin interrupted.
  "I'm sure you will help us pierce those veils as well, Sage Koolhan. Meanwhile, this news is disturbing enough. When you said a galaxy was about to split off, I thought you meant the one containing Earth--the Milky Way. That might help explain why our planet was isolated for so long. And why we Nike high heels created such commotion when we finally made contact."
  The Niss answered with some of its old patronizing tone.
  "With all due respect, Dr. Baskin, do curb your innate human tendency toward solipsism. Despite some petty excitement caused by this little ship, the universe does not revolve around your kind."
  Sara found the rebuke snide and unfair. But Gillian accepted it with a nod.
  Suessi Nike heels reported on efforts to cast off the ship's transparent sheath, an armor layer that once had protected it against devastating weapons, but now seemed a death shroud. It had proved nearly fatal just two hours ago, when Streaker tried to depart the white dwarfs funnellike gravity well, sneaking away from the swarm of "candidates for transcendence."
  Unfortunately, the Jophur battleship, Polkjhy, lay waiting just Nike high heels above, swooping in to launch a new form of attack. Emitting complex pulses on a hyperspatial resonance band, the enemy stroked a response from the strange atoms locked in Streaker's outer shell, turning the throbbing layer into a huge antenna, drawing a flux of energy from D Space! As the Niss predicted, temperatures soon climbed. The deck plates warmed steadily, with no apparent way Nike heels to slough the mounting heat.
  Lacking any effective means to fight back, Streaker could not even tear free of Polkjhy's grasping fields to dive back amid the mob of craggy arks, spiraling inexorably toward the white dwarf star. If the assault continued, the Earthlings would have to surrender... or else broil.