“Shields at sixty-two percent,” Ranel intoned.
I returned to my command chair, tapping the comm. “Dashel to Grenek. All of the converted escape pods were returned to their ports before we left, right? With their augmented propulsion and weapons systems still installed?”
“Yes, sir,” he answered immediately.
“How long would it take you to rig one of them with a reflective holographic projection system to make it look like a rippling section of space that's about four times its actual size? Nothing fancy or long-term—just enough to work for five cleks, tops.”
“About forty cleks.”
“You've got ten. Let me know when you've done it. Dashel out.”
“What's the plan?” Natalie asked.
“Simple. They only think we're behind the nebula because there's no other place we could have hidden ourselves so quickly. So we're going to give them something else to chase instead—make them think we've been cloaked all this time, but that our cloak has failed and we need to run off before it dissolves entirely.”
“Won't they know it's an escape pod instead of a whole ship?”
I grinned. “They won't expect an escape pod to have advanced weapons and propulsion capabilities. Odds are, they'll assume it's a real vessel and pursue it – figuring anything they don't understand from their sensor readings, they can easily study later. And by the time they catch up to it and the holo-projectors conk out...”
“We'll be long gone.” Natalie smiled. “That's a hell of a gamble, Dashel.”
“So is giving human astronomers a front-row seat to a battle between starships.”
The cleks ticked by one at a time until the comm buzzed with Grenek's voice. “We've rigged it, captain, and it's in Pod Bay Four. But I'm not sure the holograms will have enough power to give you the full five cleks you asked for.”
“It'll have to do. Activate the projectors, chart a course away from the Sol system, and launch it.”
“Shields down to fourteen percent,” Ranel rumbled, “in case you were wondering how screwed we'll be if this doesn't work.”
There was a whoosh from the Wyvern's undercarriage, and a round, rippling ball of empty space soared off at top speed. The Pax vessel made a sharp turn and took off after it.
Natalie gave out a sigh of relief as the rest of the crew cheered.
I turned to Ranel with a sly smile. “Commander, take us to the third planet from the sun, maximum speed.”
29
Natalie
When the Wyvern got within visual range of Earth, I couldn't help but stare at my home planet with my mouth hanging open. I'd never seen anything so beautiful and majestic in my life – the way it hung in space like a cloudy blue marble, so untouched and pristine, blissfully ignorant of the horror and strife that raged through the rest of the galaxy.
At the back of my mind, I still remembered everything that was wrong with Earth – the wars, the poverty, the pollution and overpopulation, the fear of nuclear armageddon. But all of those things seemed so harmless and distant now, compared with the things I'd seen and done over the past few years.
“Well?” Dashel asked, standing next to me. “Is it everything you remembered?”
“Even better,” I replied, giving him a big hug.
“Now remember,” Ranel reminded me for what felt like the hundredth time, “we'll have to severely limit the number of trips you make from the Wyvern to the planet's surface. We won't be able to just buzz by and grab you whenever we feel like it. We'll have to wait for the right conditions so we're not spotted by any people or monitoring equipment, and in the interim—”
“—you'll have to remain in a synchronized orbit behind the sun so you won't be spotted,” I finished for him. “Yes, I know.”
“Just make sure the comm systems are operational at all times,” Dashel told him, “in case she goes into labor and we need to be picked up in a hurry. We don't want to have to rely on these Earthers' primitive medical facilities.” He turned to me. “I've stitched together some simple clothes based on the specifications you provided, so we won't stand out. How shall we arrange for currency while we're down there?”
“That'll be a bit tricky,” I said, thinking it over carefully. “After my abduction, I was probably listed as a missing person, so I won't be able to access my old bank account without a lot of alarms going off.”
“Do precious metals have value on this world?” Ranel asked. “Gold, silver, that sort of thing?”
“Absolutely, why?”
He grinned widely. “Then currency won't be a problem. We have plenty of these metals in our storage chambers below deck. As long as you're confident you'll be able to sell it without attracting attention?”
I thought of all the times I'd passed jewelers and pawn shops with signs that boasted WE BUY GOLD and laughed. “I'm sure we'll be fine.”
“In that case,” Dashel said, “let's head for the drop-shuttle and take you home.”
In a couple hours, the shuttle touched down on Earth's surface at dusk – just outside of Baltimore, the city where I'd gone to college. It felt so strange to be back. The streets and buildings almost seemed unreal, like a stage set that had been constructed solely for my benefit. Still, it was easy to find a place that wanted to buy gold and silver from us (though the owner of the pawn shop kept staring at Dashel's scales). Since it was in a bad neighborhood, we weren't asked to provide any identification; the owner probably just assumed we'd stolen it and felt lucky that he was the beneficiary of our larceny.
Even though it was a neighborhood I'd have made sure to stay out of when I lived here, I had
