Page 3 of Shadows Approach

It was her worry for Selt’s and the away team’s safety, more than Kila’s growing frustration, that kept her trying every avenue to forge a com link. She tried them again when they failed.

As the minutes stretched and she continued to search for an answer, she was aware Lokmi wasn’t merely trying to find a path to restore the coms. He ran computations, which appeared to have nothing to do with the communications issue. No surprise; his engineering brilliance allowed him to work on multiple issues at once. Under normal circumstances, Hope would have asked him what he was up to, but her energy was focused on confirming the away team’s safety.

Kila snarled, “I’ve waited long enough. Weapons Commander Jado, put together another away team to find our guys—”

“Captain.” Lokmi spoke at a normal level, but his tone got everyone’s attention. “I believe the alien objects are phased.”

Piras took a step toward him, his elegant frame floating in unconscious grace. “How can you tell without any readings?”

“We’ve been tied into Bi’is’ alert system since we began monitoring the planet five years ago. Anything that doesn’t burn up in the atmosphere sets it off, unless it’s phased as we are.”

“The alarms aren’t going off?”

“No, Admiral. The objects are passing through the grid as if they’re not there.”

“Based on rate of descent, the larger twelve-meter objects should be reaching the ground now,” Hope grimly reported.

Kila rounded on Jado. “Get the second team to the planet.”

“Yes, Captain. Captain!” Jado pointed at the vid.

The massive inscrutable alien craft was moving out of orbit. It abruptly shrank and blinked out of sight.

The bridge crew chorused gasps. It took a couple of seconds for Hope to realize the tentacled vessel hadn’t shrunk. It had raced away at a velocity impossible to fathom.

“It left its invasion team behind?” Piras gaped.

“It would appear so.” A member of the Nobek warrior breed, Kila appeared less shocked, but his gaze remained on the screen, as if he hadn’t quite grasped what had just happened.

“Do you think it was an invasion?” Hope broke protocol by questioning the senior officers, but she was willing to take advantage of her privilege.

“Most likely reconnaissance,” Kila muttered. “What I want to know is who…what they were.”

“I have the away team on com, Captain,” Veko said. “Subcommander Selt confirms his group is fine and awaits your instructions.”

“They saw nothing? No little dark creatures with tentacles dashing around?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Nath, you were certain they were homing on the away team’s location.”

Hope squared her shoulders. “For as long as the ship was able to keep a visual on them, it was their trajectory.”

“Confirmed.” Lokmi winked at her. “I’m certain they were phased.”

“As is the team, Chief.” Kila pointed out. “If they’d shown up, our guys would have seen them. The unidentified objects might have veered off course once they were beyond visual range.”

“I agree, Captain.”

Kila scowled, making his crooked nose seem more so. He and Piras exchanged a glance. “I trust Selt to handle any trouble coming his way. But leaving his team down there when we don’t understand what we’re dealing with—”

“It doesn’t sit right with me either, Captain.”

“Veko, tell them to get their asses back to the ship now. Chief, Nath, go over what information we gathered. I know it’s only visual, but before we confront the minions of whatever that was, I want as much intel as possible.”

“The Bi’isils don’t have phasing tech,” Hope pointed out. “They won’t realize there’s something alien on their planet.”

Kila’s devious smirk gleamed. “Yeah, well, since they’ve tried to obliterate my people for the past few centuries, that’s their tough luck. Your space squids are welcome to them.”

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