Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

"Only ninety percent of my psionic energy left. That was close, but I can still handle it." Lin Zhichen watched as most of the Golden Flame burning in Scott's Eye abruptly vanished and couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief.

Pulling this colossal object out of the depths of time took a great deal of power. The biggest problem was that there were no anchors in the real universe, such as the wreckage of a civilization's creations, so extra psionic energy had to be spent locating it in space-time.

Link instinctively stood up from the command chair aboard the Battle Star, staring in stunned amazement at the area in space barely a hundred light-seconds from the Expeditionary Fleet. A "living planet," over fifty thousand kilometers in diameter and resembling a gigantic, beating heart, slowly took shape.

"It's magnificent!" Liu Manyun patted her chest. She seemed to sense the megastructure's contractions and pulses falling into rhythm with her own.

"It's alive." The thought startled her. She quickly recovered and studied the megastructure closely.

"Zhichen, am I imagining things? I keep feeling like this beating planet is alive," Liu Manyun said hesitantly.

"Of course a living megastructure is alive. Let me take a look." Lin Zhichen's expression turned serious as he examined the flesh-and-blood megastructure that had just materialized.

After a long while, he stopped and furrowed his brow in thought.

"Does it have a soul?" Liu Manyun asked impatiently.

"There's a faint Soul Wave, but that shouldn't be possible." He sounded puzzled. "There aren't any clear signs yet. Let's wait a few months and see."

He had already noticed that the barely perceptible Soul Wave grew stronger by a tiny amount with each beat of the megastructure. The change was too subtle to notice without close attention, but accumulated day