The Fourth Coordinate

"Three parties were involved in the destruction of the Bodu civilization. The Spirit Realm was one party, and the destroyed Bodu people were the second."

"Information gathered from the Bodu civilization's colonial planets indicated that the force which destroyed those colonies was a fleet capable of interstellar travel. That was the third party. The Bodu colonists called it the 'Combined Fleet.' In other words, the destruction of the Bodu civilization's colonies was not the Spirit Realm's doing."

The Collectors conducting the information consolidation and analysis voiced their views over the channel.

They classified the Combined Fleet as a third party because the Spirit Realm did not do fleets. Collectors who knew something about the Spirit Realm understood that, although intelligent life existed within it, they would not take the initiative to build warships, nor would they gather those manufactured warships into a fleet. And even if they did form a fleet, they certainly would not call it the Combined Fleet. It was far too contrary to the Spirit Realm's usual style.

The Collectors would sooner believe that the Spirit Realm had hypnotized the entire Bodu civilization into committing collective suicide than believe it would assemble a fleet, race back and forth through several star systems, and destroy Bodu civilization.

One Collector opened the discussion, and another voiced the doubt in its mind.

"What I find strange is that the Bodu civilization's colonies had mastered interstellar travel. Knowing they could not defeat the enemy, why did they not make strategic redeployment plans to expand the front? They clearly had cloning technology."

The Bodu civilization possessed faster-than-light technology. Although it relied on the Spirit Realm to achieve faster-than-light travel, faster-than-light was still faster-than-light. The universe was so vast, with so many unclaimed resources. Combined with cloning technology, the speed at which they