“We don’t want to hurt you,” Riina said, at his side.
He didn’t look at her, though he wanted to. Had she picked up on his reluctance, or did it come from some place inside her.
“Why?” he asked.
“They are probably prisoners here, too,” she said.
And then he got it. They weren’t so unlike, he and the other crew of the Najer. Trapped by circumstance. Dangerous by necessity. Angry and frustrated. As he now looked at them, others had stared at him and the others as they were forced to attack. How he’d hated it.
“No,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
The canine stopped, his head tipping to one side, as if considering what he’d said. Was that even possible?
It lifted its head in a long, mournful howl and then turned and disappeared back into the shadows. His sensors showed the other canines following suit.
T’Korrin dropped down, landing on his shoulder again and made a sound that was almost approving, or so it seemed to him.
“Thank you, T’Korrin,” Riina said. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you before.”
T’Korrin made a huffing sound, then hopped onto her shoulder and rubbed the side of her head.
“I hope that means I’m forgiven,” she said.
T’Korrin chirped again, then lifted off as the empty center once more swirled into a small storm around an invisible object.
Trac was bringing the shuttle in to collect them.
21
“What is it?” Kellen asked, as the ship’s sensors found a large, apparently solid object in the swirling mass of the cosmic cloud.
“The readings are unusual,” Veirn said. “But the element trail leads directly to it.”
“Does it also lead away from it?” Kellen frowned, wondering if the entity had stopped here for long and why? This region of space had little to recommend it. No close planets. Debris and asteroid fields. The cosmic cloud. Only a very distant sun.
“Yes, it does,” Veirn said, “but we need to be sure our people aren’t here before we move on.”
It was correct, and Kellen felt something stir inside at Veirn’s words.
Our people.
The AI had risked as much or more than any of them in trying to find their people. If he had wondered if it was sentient? He didn’t now. He wished he knew how to tell the AI this.
“We might have a problem, Captain,” Veirn said. “But there is some good news.”
Hadn’t one of the Earth people said something about good news and bad news? And how to receive it?
“Let’s start with the good news,” he said, and then was sure he’d got the order wrong.
“I’m picking up a signal from the shuttle.”
Well, that was good news.
“And the bad news?”
“There is a small fleet of ships between us and the shuttle’s location. It’s coming from that unknown solid object,” Veirn added.
“A blockade?”
