Page 10 of Across The Stars
“There she is,” Salukh sighed.
I hit a round icon on the control panel in front of me and lights illuminated the darkness in front of the ship, giving us a glimpse of the full-scale destruction. They left nothing to be salvaged. The vessel was shredded and I wilted at the sight. Nearby, the Kalpuh was sliced in half, drifting like a carcass in the expanse.
“Atom,” I said heavily. “Scan for living organic matter.”
“No living matter detected. All traces have been deteriorated by extreme outside temperatures.”
I lowered my eyes from the wreckage and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Search the debris field for any transmissions or working data entries. Audio. Anything. The ship’s computer had to have logged something.”
“I’m detecting an energy spike before the Yutan went offline.”
“Like an energy-based weapon?” Salukh asked.
“Likely one that attacked internal mechanisms, causing the ship to stall. Defenses may have been disabled and the structure was compromised.”
Salukh growled into the air. “They stranded it and then just shot it down. Maybe they used it as bait to bring the escort close?”
“Which would mean the escort didn’t track it.”
“Which means they were using some kind of cloaking tech.”
“Cowards,” I said under my breath.
“Well? What do you want to do?”
“Return to Sylos. I’ll speak with the council. Military needs to be reinstated fully.”
“Urgent,” Atom cut in. “Foreign signatures detected.”
“Where?” I demanded.
“Gama Quadrant. Unknown ships are in close range of the Nexus and approaching their blockades.”
“Sjak,” Salukh hissed. “Should we notify—"
“We’re the closest ship,” I said. “Contact the Nexus and inform them of a possible threat. They may not have picked up on it yet.”
“What about the escape pods from the Kalpuh?”
“Contact the base on Phypso and make sure they’re sending rescue. We don’t have time to pick them up.”
“Got it.” He entered a few quick commands into his control panel and shook his head. “There’s interference.”
“Atom?” I said.
“This area is affecting your coms,” Atom spoke.
“Map a course to the Nexus blockade. We need to intercept those unknown vessels.”
“This is a security ship,” Solukh pointed out. “What are we going to do if –"
“Atom? How many signatures?”
“I’m reading two signatures. I’ve calculated the odds of it being other known races, but signatures do not match. There is a high chance it is gek’tal. Human transport shuttles are en route to the Nexus. A new shipment of human recruits will be docking within the hour.”
“They’re just a bunch of human workers,” Salukh said. “You think the gek would go straight for them?”
“They did this,” I gestured toward the debris outside. “Which means they’re trying to send a message. Atom, are we cleared to jump?”
