CHAPTER 10 – UNWANTED ENCOUNTER
Planet 55 Cancri f (Harriot), 41 light-years from Earth.
09:49 (Universal Time)
Thursday, December 17, 2331
Bridge of the Spacers’ League’s corvette MARCO POLO
Entering the star system 55 Cancri (Constellation of Cancer)
41 light-years from Earth
‘’Our arrival point is confirmed, Captain: we are now entering the 55 Cancri System.’’
Captain Emiliano Agosta, in command of the exploration corvette MARCO POLO, nodded his head once at the announcement from his navigator, Lieutenant Carla Ponti.
‘’Good! Let’s start our system survey! If the high degree of metallicity of this star system is confirmed, then we could very well find a source of heavy metals able to rival the Klondike Asteroid Belt of Trappist-1. Carla, what are the possibilities that we could find life, or even intelligent life, in this system?’’
The young navigator answered Agosta at once, having studied in depth the data known about 55 Cancri before they had started their exploration mission.
‘’Only one of the five planets of the system is situated inside the habitable zone of the primary star 55 Cancri A: Harriot, previously known as 55 Cancri f. However, it is supposedly a large planet, with a mass 2.54 times that of Earth. If there is life on Harriot, then it is liable to be quite different and also limited, compared to Earth. Of course, things would change if we find a moon or many moons around Harriot, something that would have skewered the mass estimations made by observations from Earth. That would not be the first time by far that the presence of previously undetected moons would significantly change evaluations of a planetary system made strictly from distant observations.’’
‘’Well, time will tell. We are here to do just that: verify the data about this star system. Mind you, finding a habitable world around this K-class orange star would be really nice. Humanity could use more habitable worlds turning around a star resembling the Sun rather than turning around a red dwarf star.’’
‘’But red dwarf stars compose by far the majority of the stars in our region of the galaxy, Captain, so we can’t be too picky about what we find.’’
‘’True! Still, one can keep his or her hopes up.’’
Agosta then fell mostly silent for the next couple of hours, listening and watching from his command chair as his bridge crew collected observation date while the corvette went deeper into the binary system, composed of a primary K-class orange star and of a secondary M-class red dwarf star. Preliminary observations confirmed the presence of five planets in the system, plus that of a sparse asteroid field halfway in. That asteroid field soon showed some very interesting characteristics when scanned with the corvette’s spectrometers, making Carla Ponti speak up with a trace of enthusiasm in her voice.
‘’Sir, most of the bodies in that asteroid belt are confirmed to be M-class asteroids, some of which are quite massive. Furthermore, some of them seem to be made out of elements heavier than iron. I can read the presence of chrome, vanadium and iridium, among other metals. It seems that 55 Cancri is true to its reputation as a ‘super metal rich’ system.’’
‘’Excellent! What about the fifth planet, Harriot? Does it look as large as expected?’’
‘’Uh, it is hard to say at this moment, Captain: Harriot is presently on the opposite side of its sun and quite far from us right now. I will be able to give you a better answer once we get closer to it.’’
‘’Fair enough! Send out a low frequency radar ping, so that we could start mapping precisely this asteroid belt.’’
‘’Aye, Captain! Radar pulse sent! I will send a second radar pulse in twenty minutes.’’
The first return echoes from that first radar pulse were coming back, having bounced on the nearest asteroids, when Agosta saw Carla Ponti suddenly stiffen. Before he could ask her if something was wrong, she swiveled her chair around to face him, alarm on her pretty face.
‘’SIR, WE WERE JUST PAINTED BY A RADAR OPERATING ON A DIFFERENT FREQUENCY THAN OUR OWN RADAR. OUR RADAR PING MUST HAVE ALERTED SOMEONE ABOUT OUR PRESENCE IN THE SYSTEM.’’
‘’Damn! Hopefully, that someone will not prove to be hostile. Can you locate the source of that radar, Carla?’’
‘’It came from the direction of a large, metallic asteroid situated about six light-seconds from us. However, I can only confirm the azimuth of that radar, not its distance to us.’’
‘’Do your best to refine that point of origin, Carla. In the meantime, I believe that we have to play it safe until we know more about that contact.’’
Emiliano then raised a cover on the instrument panel attached to his right armrest and pressed a large red button, starting the blaring of a ship-wide alarm.
‘’Attention all hands, this is the Captain speaking. We have an unknown contact ahead. Man action stations! I say again, man action stations!’’
Next, he spoke out to the bridge crew around him.
‘’Put on your spacesuits in relay, half of the bridge crew at a time. Also, grab a pistol at the same time.’’
What he didn’t say was the possibility that now worried him: that this contact could prove to be a Space Predator asteroid ship. Emiliano stayed in his command chair as half of his bridge crew nearly ran down to the locker room situated under the bridge, where their spacesuits were stored. He left his chair only when is second-in-command, Commander Toru Tomonaga, entered the bridge, wearing his spacesuit with its helmet visor still open. Going down to the bridge locker room and putting on his spacesuit took him seven minutes, after which he ran back up to his command chair.
‘’Do we have more details about that unknown contact?’’
His sensors officer, Lieutenant Brian Musa, had a look of utter horror when he answered Emiliano.
‘’SIR, THAT METALLIC ASTEROID JUST MOVED OUT OF ITS ORBIT AND IS COMING TOWARDS US AT HIGH ACCELERATION: IT MUST BE A SPACE PREDATOR SHIP!’’
Before Emiliano could utter the single word he was about to say in reaction to that terrifying announcement, another sensors operator spoke out in alarm as well.
‘’A SECOND METALLIC ASTEROID IS MOVING OUT OF ITS ORBIT AND IS HEADING FOR US, CAPTAIN.’’
With the bridge crewmembers all paling at those news, Carla Ponti then managed to offer a suggestion.
‘’Should we withdraw and jump back to Alpha Centauri, Captain?’’
‘’NEGATIVE!’’ replied at once Emiliano. ‘’Remember what happened to the Drazts: when one of their ships fled the Vorkonia System to escape a Predator ship, the Predators followed it to the Ross 128 System. If we jump back to Alpha Centauri, we would then lead those monsters into the heart of the Spacers’ League. Carla, program as quickly as you can a micro-jump that would lead us past but near the primary sun. Once behind 55 Cancri A, we will then launch a courier drone out of direct detection range of those Space Predators. Mister Mehta, prepare at once the following message, to be sent via our courier drone to New Providence: Have encountered minimum of two Space Predator asteroid ships in the asteroid belt of the 55 Cancri System. Am going to try to evade them within the system. Need immediate assistance. Mark as Flash Priority and address it to Fleet Headquarters and to all armed ships in the Alpha Centauri System. Make it quick! Carla, can we jump now?’’
‘’Just one second more, Captain… Jumping now!’’
Emiliano then saw the brief orange flash of a space jump, then saw on the viewing screens of the bridge sphere that they were now very close to 55 Cancri A.
‘’pilot! Fly to a position behind the star, until we are out of sight of those monsters. Mister Mehta, launch our courier drone as soon as we are safely behind the star.’’
Emiliano’s next move was to hit the button of the ship-wide intercom system.
‘’Battle stations! Battle stations! We are being pursued by two Space Predator ships. Close all airtight doors and hatches! Arm yourselves and seal your spacesuits!’’
Closing the intercom link, Emiliano then addressed his weapons officer, Lieutenant-Commander James Lovell.
‘’Mister Lovell, activate our anti-teleportation scramblers and deploy our weapons turrets.’’
‘’Aye, Captain!’’
On pressing a button, Lovell then made their two medium disintegrator cannons emerge from their protective wells along both sides of the corvette, while six smaller disintegrator cannon turrets also rose to the hull surface. The weapons officer then switched on the scrambler emitters distributed around the outer hull, setting them to cover a wide frequency band. Those scramblers had been part of a recent refit meant to improve protection against Space Predators’ attacks. Unfortunately, they were still unproven, having never been used in real action before.
‘Hopefully, these things will work. If not, we all are going to end on those monsters’ menu.’
Emiliano Agosta, watching intensely the position of his ship relative to the orange star now nearly filling one side of the viewing screens, then shouted an order.
‘’Mister Mehta, launch the courier drone now!’’
‘’Courier drone launched, Captain!... Our drone has now jumped away!’’
Only seconds after the communications officer had announced the departure of the courier drone, James Lovell shouted out a warning.
‘’A Predator ship just rounded out 55 Cancri A! It is now in pursuit at our five o’clock, 14,000 kilometers behind us.’’
‘’Pilot, dive towards the surface of the star! Level up only once at the absolute minimum altitude over 55 Cancri A: we will try to hide in the star’s corona.’’
‘’But sir, we could end up like a big barbecued chicken.’’
‘’Hopefully, those space predators prefer raw meat to overcooked meat. Do it!’’
‘’Er, aye sir!’’
12:08 (Universal Time)
Bridge of the A.M.S. NOSTROMO
About to dock with the New Horizon orbital station
Low orbit of New Providence, Alpha Centauri B System
As Tina was watching her crew effect a slow, cautious approach to the New Horizon orbital station over the planet of New Providence, she saw her duty communications specialist, Ingrid Holtz, tense up and raise a hand to her right ear, which was covered by a headset. The 41-year-old blonde soon snapped her head to look at Tina, agitation visible in her expression.
‘’Tina, the corvette MARCO POLO just sent a courier drone with a flash message: they encountered a minimum of two space predator ships in the asteroid belt area of the 55 Cancri A system. The MARCO POLO retreated to near the system’s primary and is asking for urgent help.’’
Tina couldn’t help mentally swear at that piece of news: she was presently about to dock with the New Horizon orbital terminal, where she was due to take over 18,000 passengers heading for New Venice. However, she did not hesitate about what to do next.
‘’Frida, abort our docking maneuver to the station! Retract our docking clamps and move away from the station under gravity sails at full power! Dana, plot a jump to the 55 Cancri A system and jump as soon as we are safely away from the station. Renée, activate all of our defensive and offensive systems and armament, including our anti-teleportation scramblers. Call our fighter squadrons to cockpit alert!’’
Next, Tina hit the ship-wide intercom button of her command chair.
‘’To all hands, this is your Captain! Battle stations! I say again, battle stations! All passengers and non-combatant occupants are to don their emergency spacesuits and report at once to the emergency evacuation stations. Don’t waste time packing a bag! I want all the airtight doors and hatches to be closed at once.’’
The next button she pressed was that opening a direct link with Spirit, the ship’s central AI main computer.
‘’Spirit, we are going to the 55 Cancri A System, where our corvette MARCO POLO has encountered at least two Space Predator asteroid ships. I give you full liberty to maneuver the ship and direct the firing of our armament in the most efficient manner possible, in order to both evade Predator lasers and to destroy them as quickly as possible from a safe distance. Also, put our internal security force on maximum alert and coordinate its actions if some Predators manage to board our ship.’’
‘’Understood, Tina. You can count on us.’’
The use by Spirit of the term ‘us’ instead of ‘me’ took Tina a bit by surprise but she quickly went over that and she shouted a warning to Dana Durning while nearly running down from her command chair.
‘’DANA, YOU HAVE THE CON WHILE I GO DON MY SPACESUIT. AS SOON AS I AM BACK, GO DON YOUR OWN SPACESUIT, ALONG WITH HALF OF OUR PRESENT BRIDGE CREW.’’
‘’GOT IT, TINA!’’
In the passenger terminal of the New Horizon orbital station, the four members of the Conway Family had been watching with growing excitement the approach of the gigantic ship, which was due to carry them to a long-awaited vacation on New Venice. Twelve-year-old Steve Conway then spoke up while pointing at the NOSTROMO, visible through the thick transparent windows of the terminal.
‘’Hey, the ship stopped approaching! It is now backing away!’’
‘’My god, you’re right, Steve!’’ replied his father. ‘’What is going on?’’
His nine-years-old daughter Karen then spoke as well.
‘’Father, I see some huge guns come out of the sides of our ship.’’
‘’What?’’
Fred Conway could not say more then, as the P.A. system of the terminal came on at full volume, while a sinister horn started resonating.
‘’GENERAL ALERT! ALL OCCUPANTS ARE TO STAY AWAY FROM THE OUTER WINDOWS OF THE TERMINAL AND ARE TO ASSEMBLE IN THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION HALLS.’’
Elizabeth Conway, Fred’s wife, was the first to understand what was going on and became as white as a sheet.
‘’Oh my god! We are under attack!’’
When Tina came back at a run to her command chair, wearing her spacesuit, she saw that they had not jumped yet out of the Alpha Centauri B System, thus gave an order to her chief navigator and executive officer, Dana Durning.
‘’Delay our jump to 55 Cancri A, Dana: we will jump once everybody will have their spacesuits on. We risk appearing in the middle of a battle and I want all of us to be fully ready then. While you go suit up, I will refine our jump’s precise destination, in order to appear close to the system’s primary, where our corvette has retreated. GO SUIT UP NOW, ALL OF YOU!’’
Dana did not waste time in replying back and ran out towards the bridge’s locker room with the rest of the bridge crew. Now left alone in the bridge sphere, Tina sat down at the navigation and contacted Spirit again.
‘’Spirit, did the courier drone give the precise last known location of our corvette?’’
‘’Affirmative, Tina!’’
‘’Then, calculate a jump arrival point to as close to that location as it is safely possible to do. Once we will have emerged in that system and if we see an asteroid ship, then don’t waste time asking for my permission to open fire and blast away at once.’’
‘’I will be on hair trigger alert, Tina.’’ promised Spirit, a hint of a malicious tone in her voice. Six minutes later, all of Tina’s bridge crew were back at their post in record time, fully suited up but with their helmet visors kept opened. Sitting back in her command chair and buckling up her safety harness, Tina then gave an order to her pilot, Frida Skarsgard.
‘’Frida, jump now!’’
12:25 (Universal Time)
Bridge of the corvette MARCO POLO
Fifty thousand kilometers from the surface of 55 Cancri A
‘’A LASER BEAM FROM THE SHIP BEHIND US JUST CLIPPED THE TOP OF OUR SHIP, SIR! THREE OF OUR TOP COMPARTMENTS HAVE DEPRESSURIZED.’’
‘’CASUALTIES?’’
‘’UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME, SIR!’’
‘’MISTER LOVELL, HAVE YOU COMPLETED THE PROGRAMMING OF OUR MISSILES?’’
‘’I JUST ENTERED THE NEW DIRECTIVES, SIR.’’
‘’THEN, FIRE FOUR MISSILES, NOW!’’
‘’FIRING NOW!’’
Emiliano Agosta watched on anxiously as the four missiles fired by Lovell flew out of their stern launch tubes, then disappeared for a fraction of a second as they effected a micro-jump. His heart then jumped inside his chest when he saw the blinding flashes of the detonations of four anti-matter warheads directly against the frontal surface of the pursuing Space Predator ship: the missiles had succeeded in jumping through the electro-magnetic shields of the enemy ship. He couldn’t help shout in triumph when he saw nearly one third of the forward part of the Predator ship be either vaporized or being blown up to pieces. Now completely out of control, what was left of the Predator asteroid ship then dove to its doom, soon crashing into the hot surface of the K-class star. However, Emiliano didn’t waste time in celebrating for more than a couple of seconds: a second Predator ship, that one even bigger than the first, had just appeared ahead of him after rounding the orange star.
‘’Aisha, keep piloting like a drunk driver! Don’t give them an easy target!’’
Emiliano’s heart sank when his sensors operator shouted another warning.
‘’SIR, A THIRD SHIP JUST APPEARED, AHEAD OF US AND BEHIND THE SECOND PREDATOR SHIP. IT IS A BIG ONE!’’
‘’Aaw fuck!’’ said Emiliano to himself. Then, to his utter astonishment and that of his bridge crew, the Predator ship facing his corvette blew up, vaporized by half a dozen anti-matter blasts. A stunned silence fell in the bridge for a couple of seconds before Suraj Mehta let out a cry of joy.
‘’IT’S THE NOSTROMO! IT CAME TO OUR RESCUE!’’
‘’Thank God!’’ said Emiliano, who had come from a family which still had religious roots. ‘’Establish a link with the NOSTROMO, Mister Mehta. Toru, do you have a casualty and damage report from that laser hit to our upper hull?’’
‘’Yes, Captain! Only non-essential compartments were hit and depressurized. Unfortunately, one crewmember, Assistant Cook Tanya Orlov, was in one of those compartments and was killed.’’
Emiliano tightened his jaws on hearing that: Tanya Orlov was a young, well-liked woman on the MARCO POLO. The beeping of his communications display panel then made him look down at its video screen, on which Rear Admiral Tina Forster’s head and upper torso were now visible.
‘’We are happy to see you still in one piece, MARCO POLO. Have you sustained any damage?’’
‘’Yes, Admiral! While those damages are limited, we unfortunately lost one crewmember. I would like to thank you and your ship on behalf of my crew for your prompt and efficient assistance. We were truly being cornered here.’’
‘’The pleasure was ours, Captain Agosta. We saw one Predator ship plunge into the primary. You did damn well against such a powerful foe. Are you still able to operate and jump back to New Providence?’’
‘’Probably, Admiral, but I would hold on jumping right away: we encountered those two Predator ships in the asteroid belt, doing something still unknown to us there. There may well be more Predator ships present in that asteroid belt, which is very rich in M-class asteroids. Maybe these Space Predators were mining out some of those asteroids, or even could have been gutting out choice asteroids in order to turn them into ships.’’
‘’That is a distinct possibility, Captain Agosta. I thus propose that you fly your MARCO POLO into our large craft hangar complex, where we could start making some emergency repairs to your ship.’’
‘’Your complex is big enough to accommodate a corvette, Admiral?’’ asked Emiliano, more than a little surprised. In response, Tina Forster broke into a grin.
‘’Hey, you are talking about the biggest ship of the Spacers’ League, Captain Agosta. We already carry ten heavy shuttles and flying cranes, each of which are at least as big as your corvette. Don’t worry about crowding out my hangar complex. We also happen to have extensive repair and reconstruction facilities aboard the NOSTROMO.’’
‘’What about those possible Predator ships which could still be around the asteroid belt, Admiral?’’
‘’I am going to send a dozen stealth reconnaissance probes in order to explore that asteroid belt. It will be much safer that way and will also allow us to locate any extra Predator ship without alerting them. Since this battle happened behind this star, any Predator ship still around the asteroid belt will take some time before becoming suspicious about why their two ships did not reappear. That should give us enough time to complete our reconnaissance of the asteroid belt. I will now light up the entrance to our large craft access tunnel. Just enter it slowly and our tractor beams will then do the rest. I will be on hand to greet you once you are aboard.’’
‘’And it will be an honor to finally be able to meet you, Admiral.’’
Emiliano then closed the video link and allowed himself to relax a bit in his command chair.
12:38 (Universal Time)
Large craft hangar complex, Frame Level # 2396
A.M.S. NOSTROMO, On station over 55 Cancri A
Emiliano Agosta was greeted with a solid handshake by Tina as soon as he stepped out of the ground access elevator of his corvette.
‘’Captain Agosta, your idea of making a micro-jump and seek cover behind this star was a truly inspired one. You and your crew are to be commended for your actions today.’’
‘’Pah! That was nothing compared to all your past exploits, Admiral. Huh, may I ask at what time you received my call for help in the Alpha Centauri B System?’’
‘’We got your courier drone message at 12:08, Universal Time.’’
‘’A seventeen-minute reaction time, from receipt of my message to your ship coming in sight of my corvette? That’s quite an impressive reaction time, Admiral. And the firepower of your NOSTROMO was also quite impressive. Talking of reaction time, do you know if other warships of our fleet are about to arrive in 55 Cancri?’’
‘’Frankly, I don’t know, Captain Agosta: I had time to alert our fleet headquarters on New Providence about my departure but only got a simple acknowledge before jumping to this system.’’
Agosta couldn’t help make a smirk then.
‘’Well, hopefully Fleet Headquarters will not react to this with its typical Red Tape speed. We could use some reinforcements here.’’
‘’Agreed! I will lead you up to my bridge complex, so that we could follow the situation in detail from there. I already launched a dozen stealth reconnaissance probes towards the sector of the Asteroid Belt where you encountered those Predator ships. Hopefully, we will soon know if there are more Predator ships there. If you will please follow me, I will leave your ship in the good hands of my chief-engineer.’’
Walking across the vast hangar, which contained half a dozen heavy shuttles, Tina led Agosta to the central core spine rotunda and entered a lift cabin with him. The cabin then traveled upwards for nearly two kilometers in four minutes before it stopped at the level of the entrance to the bridge complex. Emiliano Agosta couldn’t help eye with curiosity the two security officers posted at the entrance to the bridge complex: one was a short and stocky but also muscular man of Asian ethnicity, while the other guard was a medium height and very sexy looking young redhead of Caucasian blood. Both wore tactical vests, helmets and a pistol belt. Emiliano, who had heard about the security androids built for Tina Forster, then asked a question to the latter after they had entered the base level of the bridge complex.
‘’Those two guards, were they…’’
‘’Androids? Yes! They were Officer Timur Genghis and Officer Norma Jeane Mortenson. By the way, don’t be fooled by Norma’s sexy look: she could break you in two as easily as Timur Genghis would. We will now go up to the long-range sensors center, where the data from our probes is received and analyzed.’’
They then took another lift and got up by three deck levels, ending up in a large compartment measuring eighteen meters in diameter and filled with data display stations and holographic spheres. Once in the compartment, Tina led Emiliano to a large holographic sphere which showed the inner part of the star system and presented him to a mature woman with an impressive chest which filled the front of her ship’s coverall.
‘’Captain Agosta, this is my second-in-command, Dana Durning, also known as ‘DD’. That nickname also hints at her body mensurations.’’
‘’I kind of guessed that, Admiral.’’ replied Emiliano, making Dana Durning smile.
‘’And proud of them, Captain Agosta.’’
‘’Anything yet from our probes, Dana?’’ asked Tina, making Dana nod once.
‘’Our probes have already located two probable asteroid ships, each of them parked next to an M-class asteroid and apparently engaged in either mining or digging operations. Those ships were detected via their radio communications between themselves. Spirit has started to work on those exchanges, in order to eventually be able to decode and translate their contents but that could take quite a while, since we have no comparison base to work from. One feature of note about those two probable asteroid ships is that they are roughly spherical in shape, while the two ships we destroyed near this star’s surface were long and cylindrical. However, I couldn’t say why they have such different shapes.’’
‘’I believe that I can explain that, Tina.’’ said an old Koorivar sitting at a nearby station. ‘’Those elongated, cylindrical asteroid ships may be actual warships, while the round ones may be support ships of some kind. The reason for that assessment is that the Predators’ teleportation system requires a long base of at least a few kilometers between the pair of teleportation beam transmitters, in order to have some range with still a significant intersection angle for their beams. That is why their teleportation system has such a short range of only a few hundred kilometers. As for the support ships, since they are not true warships, they probably don’t have long-range teleportation systems, something that allows them to be made out of roughly spherical shape. Since cylindrical-shaped metallic asteroids are quite rare, it would make sense for the Predators to reserve them for the production of warships.’’
‘’A logical assumption, I must say.’’ said Tina. ‘’By the way, Captain Agosta, this is Doctor Koomak, our chief scientist and top physicist.’’
‘’THE Doctor Koomak, the inventor of the interstellar drive?’’ said Emiliano while staring at the old Koorivar.
‘’The one and only, Captain Agosta. About those two support ships, I…’’
Koomak was then interrupted by a sensors operator who nearly shouted a warning from his own holographic sphere station.
‘’Admiral, an unknown ship just emerged into the 55 Cancri A system. It emerged in the eastern quadrant of the system, close to the equator. It definitely didn’t come from spacers’ league territory.’’
‘’Quick! Establish its line of flight on emergence as precisely as you can!’’ then said Koomak in an urgent tone. ‘’That could help us approximate from where it came.’’
‘’Right away, Doctor!’’
A tense forty seconds later, the operator spoke again.
‘’I have the emergence line of flight down to half a degree, Doctor. I am now transferring my data to your station. That ship has now changed course and is heading towards those two spherical ships at work in the asteroid belt.’’
‘’What general shape is that ship, Mister Feng?’’ asked Tina, now tense.
‘’Generally round, Admiral.’’
‘’Then, it may be another support ship, possibly coming with fresh supplies or extra equipment.’’
‘’Decidedly, this looks more and more like an important Space Predator operation, possibly one geared to the production of new Predator ships.’’ said Dana Durning. ‘’It seems that you stumbled on something really big, Captain Agosta.’’
‘’Something that could provide us with some vital information about our enemy.’’ added Tina. ‘’If we could immobilize and board at least one of those Predator ships, it could then prove to be a priceless catch for us.’’
‘’Board a Predator ship? But that sounds like pure suicide, Admiral!’’ objected at once Emiliano Agosta.
‘’Normally, you would be right about that, Captain, but I have a few aces up my sleeve for such an occasion. Dana, have our stealth probes gather as much data and imagery as they can on those three Predator ships. We may soon need that data. Damn, it would be nice to finally get some extra help from New Providence.’’
To their collective frustration, no other Human ship showed up in the system during the next thirty minutes, while the newest Predator ship went to park very close to one of the two support ships glued to a raw asteroid. While that tardiness