“If we can get to them quickly enough —”
“And then what? Wave to them through the window? We can’t risk hailing them!”
“We’ll work it out! Just get me that intercept course!”
For the next minute they urged the Raven on, Angelique poring over her sensors for any signs that the Lumina may have been alerted to their presence.
But they were never going to make it to the ships in time. Even before they were in visual range, Ryann spied the unmistakable flashes of laser fire off in the darkness as the trailing ship finally caught up with its prey.
Ryann cursed and pressed on towards them.
“What the hell is that thing?” muttered Angelique as she began to make out the dark silhouette of the lead ship, lit up in the laser fire.
“It’s the Ibis,” replied Ryann in surprise. “It’s a colony-ship, full of Outlanders from beyond the Edge.”
“How old is it?” Angelique peered into her scanner display as they raced towards the two ships. “It looks like an antique. It wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Great Expansion.”
“You may well be right. Those Outlanders don’t have much to do with civilisation. They work the asteroid fields that nobody else thinks are worth the risk — live their whole lives onboard their ships, entire families. They keep themselves to themselves and don’t much like us Inlanders, as they call anyone that was born on solid ground.”
“So what the hell are they doing in New Eden?” asked Angelique in confusion.
“They were running from the Lumina like everyone else,” replied Ryann. “They were one of the last groups of refugees to come in, but that old ship broke down just off Viridis Prime. My dad and some of the others towed them into the Halion Belt literally minutes before the Lumina broke through the frontline.”
“Well, it looks like they got their ship up and running again,” said Angelique shaking her head in disbelief. “I guess that someone from New Eden is trying to stop them from getting away.”
The Ibis lit up in flashes of blue and orange light as the trailing ship poured shot after shot upon the larger vessel. Arcs of electricity coruscated over her tortured shields.
And then there was a blinding flash and the blue trails of the Ibis’ drives began to fade. One by one, the lights all over the ship flickered and then went out. She drifted down into a slow tumble, her power-plant obviously disabled.
Ryann leaned forwards, squinting at the view screen to make out the shapes in the distance. He could just discern the second ship now, a small single-seat Patroller by the looks of it. As he watched, the little craft approached the Ibis, docking against the underside of the vessel; it looked tiny in comparison to the great colony ship.
“What is that? Is that old Jenna’s Patroller?” murmured Ryann as they approached the two ships.
“Jenna?” asked Angelique in a distracted tone, still focussed upon her scans. “The big ship’s lost all power completely — and that Patroller’s powering down its weapons now.”
“Yeah, I’m taking our systems offline again,” murmured Ryann, and the throb of the engines quickly fell away to silence. “We’ll coast in from here. Old Jenna is one of the security officers on New Eden. Dad introduced me once. She used to be one of the Ghost-Runners but took a hit from a Luminal out on Asheen — left her just about crippled. She used to be one hell of a pilot from what dad says. Doesn’t fly as much now, but I bet she has a few stories to tell.”
As they drifted towards the silent bulk of the Ibis, they could just make out arcs of light from the underside of the Patroller as it cut its way through the outer airlock doors.
“I guess those Outlanders on the Ibis must have tried to leave New Eden for some reason and old Jenna has come after them,” continued Ryann as he surveyed the lifeless ship.
“So much for disabling all the ships in New Eden then,” muttered Angelique, the relief palpable in her voice now that their systems were offline. “Let’s hope we’ve been lucky and got away with all of this. No sign of any Luminal activity yet.”
“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way,” agreed Ryann. “I’ll take us in and see if we can get Jenna’s attention — she might need a hand dealing with the those Outlanders. Though judging by the state of their ship, I think they’ll be grateful for a tow back to New Eden now.”
“I don’t fancy our chances trying to tow that hunk of scrap through the Halion Belt,” muttered Angelique, studying the ancient craft. “It must be about fifty-thousand tonnes, maybe more.”
Ryann nodded distractedly as he let the Raven drift slowly around the dark shape of the Ibis, traversing the length of her pockmarked hull. He could just make out the small shape of the Patroller in the shadows, still clamped to the main airlock.
“Jenna sure gave them a pounding,” muttered Ryann as he counted multiple laser blasts along the hull. “Doesn’t look like their shields were up to much. I think I’ll set the Raven down beside her and then suit up for a —”
“Ryann!” Angelique’s shout of alarm made him jump, at the same instant as the squat shape of the Patroller’s landing lights suddenly flashed on. “Power surge! Get our shields up!”
Ryann’s hand was barely half-way to the console before the cockpit erupted in a shower of sparks and he was thrown back in his chair from the blast. He looked up in disbelief as two bright trails of light sped towards him while the Patroller powered away from the hull of the Ibis.
“Missiles!” he yelled, but there was no time to react. He just had time to see the Patroller loose off another volley of fire upon them before the missiles struck with a deafening explosion and the
