‘Dasos, this is the starship Gabriel reporting as requested,’ said Andy. ‘Permission to enter the Prasinos system and approach Dasos.’
‘Permission granted, Gabriel,’ came the reply. ‘Please remain uncloaked, shields and weapons powered down and follow this course to dock 138d on Vasi Stathmos station.’
‘Roger that, Dasos,’ said Andy, watching Cleo as she sat opposite him with her eyes closed and concentrating hard.
The Gabriel slipped into the Prasinos system at point seven light and followed the designated course to the letter. The crew, all on the bridge, sat and watched the holomap intently as the ship powered through a mostly deserted region of the system.
For ten minutes nothing happened, until everything happened. Twelve incoming red missile trails suddenly lit up the holomap, all converging on the Gabriel. They were so close; it only took three seconds before detonation. Cleo made a concerted effort in changing course and raising shields to avoid destruction, but twelve of the GDA’s largest nuclear warheads all discharging within a handful of kilometres of the ship had only one outcome. The Gabriel vaporised instantly, leaving nothing in that region of space except for an expanding cloud of radioactive dust.
Cleo opened her eyes and puffed out her cheeks.
‘Don’t ask me to do that too often,’ she said, staring round at the still shocked faces surrounding her. ‘You wouldn’t believe how much computing power a hologram of that size and that distance takes.’
‘I can believe it,’ said Bache, his eyes still fixed on an empty area of space where he would have died had he trusted his old employers.
‘Well, that was a good call, Andy,’ said Phil, the colour beginning to return to his face. ‘At least we know now where we stand.’
‘Nowhere really,’ said Rayl. ‘Everyone in the galaxy wants us dead.’
‘As far as everyone in the galaxy is concerned, we are dead,’ said Bache. ‘Which in a way is a good thing as they’re no longer looking for us or expecting us.’
‘He’s right,’ said Andy. ‘From now on we have to consider everything we do as a black op.’
‘Ello, ello,’ said Rayl, suddenly sitting up and touching icons busily. ‘What’s a Klatt ship doing there?’
She pointed up at the holomap as a red target appeared travelling very fast away from where the Gabriel hologram was destroyed. As everyone looked up at it, it jumped and disappeared again.
‘It was a Klatt cruiser,’ said Cleo. ‘Fonias class and, oh that’s interesting.’
All four heads on the bridge turned towards her.
‘It’s the same ship that threatened us, the one that Ed messed up when he first got his DOVI.’
‘What, the one just before we went to Andromeda?’ said Andy.
Cleo nodded.
‘Are you sure?’
She gave him a withering look.
‘Okay, sorry, yes, you’re sure.’
‘Can we track it?’ Bache asked.
‘It embedded the jump but Klatt technology, even their newer kit, still has a noisy exhaust,’ said Rayl.
‘Follow them,’ said Andy. ‘It’s gotta have something to do with what happened to Ed and it’s our only lead.’
The cloaked Theo Mitera class starship moved forward from its previous static position just outside the Prasinos system, spun around on its axis, then using its four massive Alma drives achieved point nine light in less than eight seconds before jumping unseen into an unpopulated system one hundred and twenty-seven light years away.
‘I didn’t think the Klatt had cloaking kit,’ said Rayl, as an empty holomap faced them on arrival.
‘They shouldn’t,’ said Bache. ‘But that Grondalle ship certainly does and I want to know how they got it.’
‘How do you know it was a Grondalle clan ship?’ Andy asked.
‘The Fonias class cruisers are all Grondalle, as with the majority of their fleet,’ Bache replied. ‘To give the Klatt society some clarity, the Grondalles are like queen bees in a hive. There’s not many of them and the other two lesser clans are like the workers and drones and do all the grafting.’
‘What are they called?’ Rayl asked.
‘Bekon and Spleeta.’
‘Grondalle, Bekon and Spleeta,’ muttered Andy. ‘Sounds like a dodgy firm of lawyers.’
‘Or real estate agents,’ growled Phil.
Bache glanced at Andy with raised eyebrows when he chuckled and winked at Phil.
Noticing Bache’s unspoken question, Andy decided he’d better explain.
‘He’s had a thing about them since a California agent tried to sell him a house next to some beautiful open countryside,’ said Andy.
‘Yeah, so?’ said Bache, shrugging.
‘That countryside had just got permission for California’s newest and largest spaceport,’ said Phil, through gritted teeth.
‘Ah, now I see,’ said Bache, smirking back at Andy.
‘There they are,’ said Rayl. ‘They’ve just uncloaked to jump again.’
‘Have they detected us?’ asked Andy.
‘With that ship, doubtful,’ said Bache, watching the red icon on the holomap wink out of the system again. He glanced across at Rayl with a questioning look.
‘Well, I never,’ she said, looking over at Andy and then back down at her console again. ‘They’ve just jumped to the Alpha Centauri system.’
‘You’re kidding,’ said Andy. ‘Bloody hell we might actually be getting somewhere.’
He turned and pointed at Phil.
‘Take us there, jumping chef.’
Phil smiled at his new epithet and touched the blue jump icon he already had programmed.
The Gabriel winked into Alpha Centauri in between the two main stars and the red dwarf, immediately scanning for the Klatt cruiser.
‘There,’ said Rayl, pointing at the holomap again.
The red icon was travelling at point six two five light and heading straight past the red dwarf and towards Uskrre. The planet’s ring of defence satellites showed up clearly, spanning the globe.
‘Hello, old friend,’ said Andy. ‘Not quite such a threat to us this time are you?’
Phil smiled as they followed at a distance and waited to see what the cruiser would do.