"The result was a stalemate, in which neither side appeared able to gain any real advantage.
"This situation continued for well-nigh two hundred years, until a disastrous break through in which the Kel wiped out the entire population of Bejak II.
"The next four years saw a whole series of renewed assaults on the human race. Interplanetary shipping was disrupted so badly that in many areas worlds were virtually without mutual contact save through the limited and highly restricted facilities of FedGov space-warp.
"The final climax developed on the bastion world of Rizal, when it became apparent that in this struggle man was faced with enemies within...."
—Hedikawa, GALACTIC HISTORY
CHAPTER I
THE LUCKY ONES
Outside the space-warp chamber, Rizal's great green sun had already set. Thick olive dusk eddied through the interplanetary transit center.
I swore under my breath and slammed shut the warp-hatch switch.