Andy had never seen Bache look so worried. His face was ashen as he made a report and sent it off to Dasos. Other than that, it was eerily quiet on the Gabriel’s bridge as everyone sat and tried to come to terms with what they’d just witnessed.
‘How long?’ he asked, as Bache finished.
‘For what?’ Bache asked, his haunted face catching Andy’s look.
‘A reply.’
Bache sighed and stared back at the holomap.
‘A day or two, I suppose.’
‘What will they do?’ Rayl asked.
‘What can they do?’ said Phil. ‘There was no attack – yes, the Klatt had almost five hundred ships surrounding the cruiser, but none of them fired and they were all destroyed too.’
‘Is there no way it could’ve been an accident?’ Andy asked. ‘Perhaps a faulty reactor?’
‘The 28 has been in commission for twenty-four years. I think any reactor problem would have surfaced long before now,’ Bache answered. ‘But, as I said before, the systems in place to eradicate any remote possibility of this occurring are huge and completely fail-safe. My father was part of the design team on those ships and even he used to moan they went way over the top with safety and multiple layers of redundancy.’
‘Sabotage then?’ said Rayl.
‘It’s the only thing I can’t discount,’ said Bache. ‘Even so, that would be a huge undertaking and would necessitate the cooperation of many levels of personnel. You just can’t wander into the engineering decks of a starship with a nuclear device. Because that’s what it would take – even that would have to be inside all the containment fields and there’s four of them, all capable of protecting the core from a nuclear detonation.’
‘It was lucky they weren’t in system,’ said Phil. ‘If they’d been in orbit around one of the Klatt planets the death toll would have been in the billions.’
Andy thought for a moment before speaking.
‘Were those four hundred-odd Klatt ships from multiple clans or from just one?’ he asked, angling his question towards Rayl.
‘How can we tell?’ she said.
‘Pickyrd was conversing with High Secretary Zikk’La,’ said Bache. ‘He’s the current representative of the Klatt nations and is from the Grondalle clan. They’ve been the most influential and largest clan for many generations and it’s unheard of for as long as GDA records go back for the High Secretary to be from any other clan.’
‘Well, if all those ships were Grondalle,’ said Andy, ‘they’ve just lost a considerable chunk of their power base.’
‘And face,’ said Bache. ‘Which is everything to the Klatt.’
‘So, this could all be about an attempted Klatt coup?’ asked Phil.
‘They’re sneaky little shits,’ said Bache. ‘So, I wouldn’t put it past them.’
‘It’s all just conjecture isn’t it?’ said Andy after a pause. ‘We can sit out here and invent theories till the cows come home. It doesn’t make any of them right. We’re here to retrieve Ed and Pol and not to get involved in any Klatt clan infighting.’
‘Erm, w-what if they were on one of those Klatt ships?’ said Rayl, her voice wavering as she said it.
They all turned to face her.
‘Well, someone had to say it,’ she said quietly.
‘They weren’t,’ said Cleo loudly, making everyone jump and appearing sitting cross-legged on the bridge floor. ‘None of the Klatt ships destroyed had a Uly ship onboard or anyone with a DOVI.’
‘You can detect a DOVI even when it’s deactivated?’ Andy asked.
‘Yes.’
‘What if they had them enveloped with a shield of some kind?’ questioned Phil.
‘No internal shields apart from their reactor cores.’
‘So, you’re saying they’re not in Klatt space?’
‘It seems not.’
‘What about planets?’ Bache said.
‘Planets are a different matter,’ Cleo said. ‘I would need to get closer and orbit them a couple of times and even then with certain rock types and if they were being held underground…’ She shook her head slowly.
‘Okay,’ said Andy. ‘What about all the other ships in Klatt space?’
Cleo continued shaking her head.
‘I’ve investigated all vessels within sixty-three light years of Zee-Klatt III.’
‘No Uly shuttle?’
‘No Uly shuttle.’
The bridge went momentarily quiet again as they all looked up to the holomap as it panned out to include the whole Klatt region.
‘Planets then,’ said Bache, breaking the silence.
‘How many are there?’ Andy asked.
‘Fourteen in Klatt space,’ said Cleo. ‘And thirty-seven well-guarded outposts.’
‘One of which is Uskrre in the Centauri system,’ said Andy, nodding at Phil. ‘Where we nearly went in the Cartella.’
‘You’re welcome,’ said Phil, his usual jovial inflection absent this time.
‘Where do we start?’ Rayl asked.
‘I think we ought to wait,’ said Bache, before anyone else could speak. ‘See what the council decides.’
‘But that could take days,’ said Rayl. ‘For all we know they’re being tortured as we speak.’
They all turned towards Andy as, in Ed’s absence, he was the captain.
‘Ah shit,’ he said, standing and strolling around and through the holomap. ‘There must be a couple of outlying planets we could sneak around and check out while we’re waiting. After all, the council aren’t known for making snap decisions.’
‘It’s your ship, Andrew,’ said Bache. ‘You get caught uninvited inside Klatt-controlled space, don’t expect the GDA to come bail you out this time.’
Andy glanced over at Rayl and Phil, who were both contemplating him with wide eyes.
‘Cleo,’ he said. ‘Can you indicate two of their most outlying planets, please.’
Two worlds began flashing in red on the far side of Klatt space.
‘We jump in somewhere hidden, cloak, a quick couple of orbits and out again. We need to start narrowing the playing field while the GDA juggernaut slowly grinds its wheels.’
‘Aye aye, Captain,’ said Phil with a wry smile. ‘I’ll take us in that direction.’
Rayl grinned and Bache shrugged, but neither said a word.