An hour or so later, the entire team is in Prathea’s office. Maxim and Gabe have secured the Ghost on the landing pad and joined the rest of the crew.
Bennie is in one corner of the room, touching things that Prathea has already said not to touch, at least twice now, and Gabe is doing his usual stand-in-the-corner-quietly thing.
Wil puts down the cup of something like tea that Prathea has offered him. “So. Prathea, no offense here, but you called us for a reason, and while this visit has been fun, and I’m glad you and Zee have reconnected and all…” He leaves it hanging there, as she lowers her own cup.
She sighs. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you a whole lot. What I can tell you is that it’s serious and could have big repercussions for the GC.”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound ominous,” Wil says.
“One of our long-range probes picked up something,” she continues. “Something big. Really big.”
Bennie turns around, leaving off poking at something that looks expensive. “This sounds interesting.” He comes over and hops on to the arm of the chair Maxim is sitting in. Maxim glares at the small Brailack, then looks over at Zephyr, then Prathea. “A big something, like how big? What is it?”
“A ship.”
Wil leans forward in his chair. “A ship? Whose ship? How big are we talking? Peacekeeper-Command-ship big? Where?”
Prathea shakes her head. “Bigger than that. Beyond that, I can’t say, not yet.” She raises a hand, as Wil opens his mouth to interrupt. “Partly because I don’t know the answer, partly because it’s too dangerous.”
“What do you mean a ship? A big ship? Where? Like a colony ship or something?” Bennie is leaning forward on his perch.
“A few light years beyond the border, at the edge of the Sargul Nebula. We’re not sure exactly how big, there’s too much interference. We picked it up, and when our probe scanned it, it scanned back. Then the probe went offline.”
Prathea reaches over to a terminal set in her desk, taps a few buttons and a hologram appears over it. The image is grainy, but Wil can see what looks like a ship outlined against the orange and purple haze of the nebula. With nothing to serve as a point of reference for scale, it’s impossible to make out its size, but however big it is, it’s certainly mean-looking. Along its sides are several ridges, with weapons emplacements evenly spaced along their length. Massive engines fill the entire aft section. The forward section is long and rounded.
Prathea looks at the holo-image. “We need more time analyzing the data. To analyze the images we captured.”
“Bennie can take a stab at it, Gabe too,” Wil offers. “Has it done anything else? Moved? Scanned the probe again or anything?”
“Like I said, after our probe scanned it, it scanned back, then the data stream from the probe stopped. We started to analyze the data from the scan, the ship is, as far as we can tell, made of an unknown material.” She looks around. “We need to get this information somewhere else. We need to get it to the corporate office. That’s why I called you. It’s not safe here.”
Wil and Maxim both tense, and Zephyr looks around. “What do you mean, not safe?” Maxim asks, his hand resting on the butt of his pistol.
Prathea raises her hands. “I didn’t mean right now. You’re safe—as safe as anyone—here. This secret is just too big; it can’t stay a secret, it won’t. We have to move the data archive out of this facility, off this planet. Farsight Corporation can secure it. Investigate the ship, send a team. It’ll only take one technician letting this slip in a comms to their family and every government and treasure hunter for light years will swamp that nebula.”
“Your entire staff knows about it? The ship—that it scanned you?” Wil asks, standing and walking over to the hologram and leaning to peer more closely at it.
Prathea shakes her head. “Not all of them, no. Once we realized what we were seeing, and detected its sensor sweep, I compartmentalized it. Senior staff only, and only those who were in the room at the time. That’s still fifteen people, though. It’s only a matter of time until one of them mentions it to other staffers.”
Zephyr, who’s been sitting quietly during this entire exchange, looks at Prathea. “Why us? You didn’t answer Wil earlier. Surely Farsight could send a ship, or a dozen ships to collect you and this data, get it safely to the corporate office.”
Prathea smiles a sad smile. “I’d have to tell them the truth about why I want the escort. I knew you’d come without any details. Farsight wouldn’t do the same, the company is very conservative.” She looks at each of them in turn, then simply says, “Please.”