《Through the Stars, Darkly》22. Where traces are followed and choices are made

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The thilium leak led them to more stars. But there was something else here, too. Debris. Tons and tons of debris. Some of them were large enough that you could tell they had once been part of a ship. Not so long ago.

Bregg was worried.

“Are those from the ship we’re after?” he asked.

The Lieutenant gave him a strange look.

“No, Colonel. From the fragments we see, I can tell it was a much more modern model. Smaller, too. A stealth vessel, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Stealth?”

Why would such a ship be after his prey? Or was it?

Perhaps this had nothing to do with his business. Pirates fighting it out at the rim. There would be nothing unusual about that. Except... such battles usually involved multiple ships. Only one had been destroyed here.

“So it would seem, Sir.”

That makes no sense.

“Can we determine who destroyed it?” he asked out loud.

The Lieutenant shook his head. “Afraid not, Sir. There’s not enough left of it. Their emitter must have been fried, as I can’t pick up a signal. That could have given us access to some data—perhaps even video recordings—but there is nothing left to salvage.”

Bregg grunted, his eyes still glued to the screen. A small dark shape floated amid the debris. He squinted, then realized it was a corpse. He turned away in disgust, looking at his second-in-command.

“Do we know where they are headed?”

Ferris looked at his displays.

“Not with certainty, but the trail of debris does give us some clue of the direction they were going in. And there are some planets if you keep going straight from here.” He tapped on the screen and a globe grew. His eyes scanned the associated data as it scrolled across the screen. “This one’s populated, Sir. Sepharon. I’d say it’s their most likely destination.” He glanced at his commanding officer. “Should I set us a course?”

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The older man walked up to the console and leaned over to stare at the screen. He remained quiet for a moment, then looked at the Lieutenant.

“Is this the closest world to us?”

Ferris frowned. “No, Sir. But it’s the most likely place they would go to seek refuge. Lots of people there. Would be easy to disappear in the crowd.”

“Why would they want to hide, Lieutenant?”

The other man pointed at the screen and the floating debris.

“Someone’s obviously after them.”

That was a good point.

“Still. From the Rimzana reports I’ve seen, their ship was damaged. The pilot entered Uthyn claiming she was looking for a fixer. And their ship was spotted and pursued as it lifted off. Enough was caught on camera to ascertain the damage. I’m sure they’ll want to fix it as soon as possible. Show me the other options.”

The Lieutenant did as commanded, and three other worlds appeared on the screen.

“These are the two closest,” said Ferris as he pointed at the display. “But they’re both harsh and hostile planets, Sir.”

Bregg leaned closer, enough to reach out and tap on the display. He had chosen the one closest to them, and it grew on the screen as the other had before. He read the data and pointed at the text.

“Harsh and hostile, but not uninhabited.”

Ferris stared at the data, then at the Colonel.

“But, Sir, there is nothing there but wind storms and snow. Who would go there?”

“That’s what I’d like to find out, Lieutenant.” He straightened and stepped away from the console. “Set a course for Alterica.”

“Yes, Sir.”

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