Samson didn’t know of any way to dress it up. ‘The Sidewinder’s been destroyed.’
Price laughed, but stopped abruptly when he saw the expression on Samson’s face. ‘She’s been what?’
‘When we powered up the screens and scanners, there was nothing left of the Sidewinder but a debris field. There are no survivors.’
‘How?’
‘We’re trying to work that out at the moment. We’ve completely scanned the wreckage, and I can confirm to you no one survived. We need to think about our own survival now. We’ve powered up, and sent out comms and scans, so whoever did this might realise that we aren’t a derelict hulk after all and come back to finish what they started.’
‘Whoever did this?’ Vachon said.
‘Our initial scans suggest a second ship’s energy signature, and a weapons discharge.’
There was a moment’s silence as they all dealt with the shocking news. They didn’t have time to dwell on it, however.
‘We need to get out of here,’ Samson said, ‘and quickly. As soon as Lieutenant Harper has completed her sensor scans, we’ll make all speed for the unmanned naval depot orbiting Capsilan 2. This ship only has a local comms system. We’ll need to use the Galactic transmitter at the depot to report back to command.’
‘Who do you think did it?’ Corporal Féng said.
‘We don’t know yet, but questions and answers can be dealt with once we’re moving. Mister Vachon, I want you back in the engine room squeezing every joule out of that power plant. I need the agitator ready to fire the moment we get to the Nexus portal. Understood?’
‘Aye, Lieutenant. She’s been used recently enough, so I’m not expecting any problems.’
‘Rating Kushnir, help Lieutenant Harper with whatever she needs,’ Samson said. ‘Price, you and Corporals Féng and Smit finish your search of the ship. I want eyes on every nook and cranny. Until I have reason to believe otherwise, there may be objects on this ship that present a danger to us.’
‘Aye, sir,’ Price said. ‘We don’t have much more of the ship to cover. There’s not that much of her.’
‘Good. Harper, any sign of the orb or the piece of metal in the debris?’
‘No, sir. I uploaded the details to the ship’s computer from my personal scanner, and there’s no trace of them.’
‘Well, either they were destroyed, or that’s what the mystery ship came to take. For some reason, I suspect the latter. Otherwise, it’s all just a big coincidence, and as a Navy lawyer recently told me, there’s no such thing. Now we just need to know why, and who the hell they are.’
‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to get anything else, sir,’ Harper said. ‘These scanners just aren’t powerful enough. We can leave whenever you want and can try to piece together the data we have on the move.’
‘Excellent, thank you, Lieutenant. All hands, prepare to sail.’
With the Bounty’s navigation computer running, albeit at far from an optimal level, he was able to locate the nearest Nexus portal in the system, and set the computer to calculate a course. Gorged on more power than it had received in some time, it processed the complex calculations at a respectable rate. He waited for it to complete, then, satisfied that everything was in order, he executed the navigation solution and fired the engines. The sensation of thrust pushing him back into his seat came as a relief. The sooner they were clear of the danger area, the better.
He looked around at everyone carrying out his orders, and felt like he’d conned them into believing he was a real bridge officer. It was too surreal to accept that he was dealing with this. As bizarre as it felt, he knew the danger was still very real, and it was up to him to lead them out of it. With no weapons and a paper-thin hull, they would be a sitting duck if the attacker came back. He couldn’t even hope they were fast enough to get away if whatever destroyed the Sidewinder gave chase.
With the ship’s computers taking care of the trip to the Nexus portal, there was nothing to do but sit back and try to make sense of everything that had happened. And worry.
6
Samson could feel his temples throb as he tried to comprehend what had happened. The destruction of the Sidewinder. The discovery of strange artefacts—artefacts that Samson couldn’t help but feel looked like they’d been made by a civilisation that was not human. He couldn’t quite bring himself to use the word ‘alien’. Despite all that had happened, that simply felt like too much of a stretch. Now there was a mystery ship to consider too. Even with all the questions buzzing around in his mind, there was one thing dominating his thoughts. Aliens. Might they really have stumbled onto evidence of their existence? Might the ship have been the aliens coming to collect their property?
He didn’t know why he’d moved to thinking of the mystery ship as an alien one, but he couldn’t envisage a human vessel with the power to so completely destroy the Sidewinder out in this part of space. A technologically superior race that was happy to solve its problems with weapons was about as bad a scenario as could be imagined.
Samson couldn’t dismiss Harper’s suggestion of corporates. Considering the alternative, it was the preferable explanation. As she had said, it wouldn’t be the first time one had tried to use force to get what they wanted, and there were always rumours that one of them was trying to set up their own independent star system. An alien technology was certainly a big enough reward to risk facing down the Navy, and he could think of nearly a dozen companies that rivalled the Navy for resources.
He wondered where Arlen had found those things, and when. Might they have been his first discovery, or had he been smuggling objects like these for a while? It was an intriguing thought, and was entirely possible considering
