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Around him on the triangular-shaped bridge, his crew muttered amongst themselves as they kept an eye on their instruments. There was no reason to reprimand them for their casualness. It was merely a flight from the marauder’s former orbit around Earth II to a dead rock of a moon on the other end of Kalquorian Empire space. They were less than a day’s flight to their destination, next to the Bi’is’ kingdom’s border. With Bi’is an impotent shadow of its former self, the rush was on to colonize and create colonies near what had once been intermittent battlegrounds.
Guarding a lifeless moon as it was terraformed for the next two or three years was hardly an assignment worthy of a decorated captain and crew. It was certainly beneath the status of the empire’s latest state-of-the-art fighting vessel. Nako found no angst beyond a slight sense of disappointment he wasn’t on his way to kick someone’s deserving ass.
His Imdiko Ulof was part of the terraforming crew, a dream they’d once thought impossible for him to realize. Better still, their Matara accompanied them. Having her aboard a fighting vessel would have been unfeasible had the assignment been dangerous, especially since they were trying for a child.
Nako was willing to set aside the aggressive urges of his warrior heart for clan and family. Becoming a father filled him with sentimental warmth that he’d rather die than have anyone beyond his clanmates aware of. Had he been told five years prior he’d be more excited about a baby than blasting the empire’s enemies to bits, he’d have laughed in their faces…just before punching them senseless.
His weapons commander and Nobek clanmate Terig, who stood at a computer podium a couple feet from his right, spoke. “Captain, sensors are detecting an intermittent signal fifty degrees from our route. Artificial source.”
“Intermittent? Could it be a distress call?”
“It matches the parameters. I’m boosting our reception to verify.” Terig’s beard didn’t hide his frown as he concentrated. “It is a Kalquorian craft, too small to be so far from port. Subcommander, get a configuration and see if you can pinpoint where its home vessel is.”
His second’s fingers flew over a second weapons console. “Standard shuttle for transporting away teams from a larger vessel. I detect no other craft in the area it might belong—” Nobek Lon stopped talking, blinking at his readouts.
“Subcommander?” Nako and Terig both barked in concert.
“Apologies. It’s…Captain, the shuttle is phased.”
Nako and Terig exchanged glances. “I’m unaware of any marauders besides ours this distance from Earth and Kalquor. We wouldn’t necessarily know if a spyship is stationed nearby,” the captain noted.
“There’s nothing in the vicinity to spy on,” Terig said. “The closest inhabited areas are Laro Station and Bi’is, each more than three days’ travel in opposite directions.”
“Navigation, can you tell which direction the shuttle is moving from?”
The navigation officer muttered to his computer, then answered. “It appears to be drifting from the Bi’is border, sir.”
“Drifting?”
“Nominal power signature,” Terig confirmed, bringing up multiple holographic screens over his station. “Our readings indicate a power signature adequate for backup life support and little else.”
“I’m picking up no sign of a ship in this quadrant besides ourselves, phased or otherwise,” Subcommander Lon reported.
“Why the hell would someone broadcast a distress call when damned few can pick up a phased craft? Unless the spyship it came from is close, those on board can’t expect to be found.”
“Maybe whoever’s on board doesn’t realize they’re still phased. Or they have no idea they drifted far from their home ship. If sensors are dead, the shuttle’s main computer might have failed to detect the additional drain.” Terig’s fingers continued to fly over his console.
“Which means they’ll lose life support sooner than they realize. I wonder how long they’ve been waiting for rescue. Com, try to contact them.”
Seconds later, the com officer said, “Attempts to hail them have received no answer, Captain. They may have no com ability due to the lack of power.”
“I was afraid of that.” Nako spoke to his navigator. “Can you backtrack their trail, maybe figure out where they lost power? There has to be an ion trail from what little energy they’re emitting.”
“Working on it, Captain. If they’ve been drifting for longer than a couple of days, it could take some time.”
Nako eyed his Nobek. “Which leaves us one question.”
Terig nodded. “Do we answer the distress call. If a spyship’s out here beyond sensor range, High Command doesn’t necessarily want anyone else to know of its presence.”
“I’m betting it has something to do with keeping tabs on Bi’is.” Nako thought of Admiral Piras and his clanmates. Nobek Kila captained a spyship. Because their lives were in danger following Kalquor’s civil war, they’d disappeared soon after the end of hostilities. Nako had often wondered if they’d ended up on a secret detail at Bi’is. It would have kept them from sight and safer than if they’d returned to the home planet.
What if something had happened to the heroic clan reviled by many of their own kind? His stomach curdled to think of them in trouble, especially their innocent and brilliant Matara.
“Helm, set a course for the shuttle, full speed. Terig, watch for its home ship. If it appears, we’ll keep our distance. Otherwise, we’ll take the shuttle on board and try to determine what’s going on. Com, inform Fleet High Command what we’re doing…see if you can send an encrypted message to Admiral Tranis. Inform Medical we might be taking on injured people.”
“One hour until we intercept the shuttle, Captain.”
“Our com will be received at Fleet Headquarters at approximately the same time.”
