He paused for a second, glancing around the chaos of ships. He suddenly realised that there was no sign of the Ibis anywhere amongst the fleet.
“Dad, what happened to the Ibis?” he called into his radio.
“Don’t worry, we let them go,” came back his father’s voice. “They headed out of the Halion Belt just after we arrived.”
Ryann almost cried out in frustration.
He stared longingly up to where Angelique and the others were engaged with the Luminal battleship, and then turned back to the dark shadow of the corridor leading out of the ice-field. He felt helpless, torn in two.
With a last look up at the glowing clouds he turned the Interceptor about, heading at full speed in pursuit of the Ibis.
“Ryann! What the hell are you doing?” called his father as Ryann plunged into the corridor that would lead him out of the Halion Belt.
“I have to catch Jean-Baptiste!” he called, throwing his ship this way and that through the narrow channel between ice and rock.
Lightning arced across the open space and his comms were already disappearing behind a sea of interference as he plunged deeper into the field.
“Grande’s people know secret routes back through the occupied territories!” he called out, unsure of whether his father could still hear him. “We need to get those star charts!”
There was a long pause where Ryann heard nothing but static, and then he just made out Grayell’s distant voice.
“It’s too dangerous Ryann! The Luminal battleship is right on them! Get back here — there’s nothing more you can do!”
“I have to try and get those charts,” said Ryann with grim determination. “Don’t worry — I’ll make it back!”
“Half an hour Ryann! We leave in half an hour!” He just made out his father’s words before they were abruptly cut off.
“I’ll be there,” he called, but he had no way of knowing if his father had heard him.
Ryann made out a thinning of the gas clouds up ahead, and he urged the Interceptor on faster. He burst out into clear space, and for a brief moment everything seemed calm and serene, the familiar depths of space scattered with twinkling stars.
And then he glanced to his left, and to his horror saw the brooding shadow of the Luminal battleship silhouetted against the Halion Belt.
It was the very same ship that had almost destroyed the Raven, only now it looked even larger than he had remembered. And it was steering a course directly towards him.
He could see a huge battle raging in the distance, as hundreds of Luminal fighter drones engaged the Ghost-Runner fleet. Bright streaks of laser-fire lit up the gas clouds like some immense firework display, as the Ghost-Runners attempted to draw their enemy away from the corridor that led into the ice-field. It appeared to have worked for the drone-ships at least, but the main battleship had obviously broken off and turned to pursue the Ibis as it had appeared from its hiding place.
Ryann tried desperately to catch a glimpse of the Marianne amid the spiralling shapes of the battle, but they were far too distant to make out any detail.
He powered his ship onwards, running up his scanners in search of the Ibis. He quickly found her heat signature, burning a trail across the open space as she tried to outrun the Luminal battleship. It was some way off, heading out on a similar course to when Ryann had first sighted it from the wreck-field in what seemed like a lifetime ago.
He gave his drives full-burn, cancelling the warning alarms as he pushed them way into the red.
Soon, he found himself caught in a slow pursuit as the Interceptor crept ever-closer to the old ship. After a few minutes he began to make out the distant trails of the Ibis’ engines.
But his scanners told him that the Luminal battleship, though still some way off, was closing inexorably in on them both. At least the Ibis was drawing the battleship away from the Halion Belt, thought Ryann gravely. They were buying extra time for Defiance and their evacuation.
He willed his ship on as he tried to hail the Ibis over the communications channel. After a moment’s silence he heard the familiar sombre tone of Jean-Baptiste Grande in his earpiece.
“It seems that you are the most tenacious young man I have met in some time Ryann Wade.”
“What the hell are you doing?” called Ryann frantically. “If you turn back now you might still be able to get back into the Halion Belt before that Luminal battleship cuts us off! You can get your people aboard the Defiance. We can fight our way out past that ship!”
There was a long pause before Grande spoke again.
“My people belong aboard the Ibis,” came back the slow, melancholic voice. “This ship is our home.”
“But you’re defenceless! Your jump-drives are still down — you can’t out-run them!” pleaded Ryann.
“We were born aboard the Ibis, we will die here if we have to. It is our choice to make.”
Ryann cursed, banging his hand down on the control panel in frustration. He was closing in on the old ship now. It was struggling to keep up its pace, and smoke still streamed from numerous points along its hull where it had been damaged by the Luminal drone-ships.
“Hell, it seems that you are the most stubborn man I have ever met Jean-Baptiste,” growled Ryann, and he heard the big man’s laughter over the comms.
“Save yourself Ryann Wade, there is still time.”
“Not until you tell me the way through to the Luminal source,” said Ryann.
There was a long pause, and Ryann checked the progress of the Luminal battleship. It was inexorably gaining upon them; he thought that he would reach the Ibis before they were in range of the Luminal guns, but he wouldn’t have much time.
“You ask for something that is not in my power to give,” he
