A Hunger for the Infinite(1999)

Gregory Benford

A Hunger for the Infinite, which first appeared in Robert Silverberg's "Far Horizons" anthology, is a novella that takes place in the universe of "The Galactic Center Saga", detailing a galactic war between mechanical and biological life. Here, the pilots had made it to True Center in order to destroy something, anything, important to the Mechs, but Paris had something else on his mind. A story of the Mantis, and the decline of humans beginning in 3600 AD.