With a quiet click the comms went dead.
Ryann swore to himself. He was closing in on the Ibis now, and he searched along her rusted hull for the same airlock door that he had docked the Raven alongside. He caught sight of its dark shadow, still broken open: if he could get the Interceptor attached he would still be able to get aboard.
He brought the little ship up alongside the Ibis so that he was in line with the airlock. But to Ryann’s dismay, the great ship began to roll slowly, as Jean-Baptiste fought to keep him from boarding.
Ryann veered the Interceptor away as a navigation strut swung around, almost colliding with him.
“Damn you Jean-Baptiste!” yelled Ryann into his comms. “If you die, then all that knowledge of yours dies with you! All of it, for nothing! Can’t you see, I’m trying to save my people too! You, your people, everybody! Don’t let them die for nothing! At least give me the chance to get revenge for them!”
He waited desperately for a reply, but all he heard was static.
And then, the ponderous bulk of the Ibis slowed its spin, resuming a straight and level course, the airlock aligned with Ryann’s ship.
“Thank you Jean-Baptiste,” he breathed. “Oh god, thank you.” He swerved the Interceptor in towards the Ibis, flipping it over at the last moment. He feathered the controls, concentrating on the docking computer as the two ships swayed and shook, still travelling at full speed.
There was a low boom that echoed throughout the little ship, and he killed the engines as the docking computer flashed green.
In an instant, Ryann was crouching down through the escape hatch at his feet, squeezing out into the Ibis’ airlock.
There was a hiss of air and vapour as the inner airlock door slid open and Ryann was confronted with the imposing bulk of Jean-Baptiste Grande.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE RELIQUARY
For a long moment the two men stared at each other in silence, before Grande slowly raised his hand, offering up a curious object.
Ryann reached forwards hesitantly. The object was a brass disc, around fifteen centimetres across and ten deep. It was decorated with ornate engravings, and seemed to be comprised of many layers. The symbols upon it shone faintly as a white light glowed from within. He took the disc tentatively in his hand, and for a moment Jean-Baptiste kept hold of it as though he struggled to let it go.
“This is a small part of our treasure,” he said, finally releasing the disc. “It is a reliquary; it holds many secrets.”
The object felt cold and unnaturally heavy in Ryann’s hand. As he studied the symbols, he realised that they described star systems and planetary orbits, and that some of the lines were cut into the surface in concentric circles that appeared to be moving incredibly slowly, altering the interactions of the symbols to create new shapes.
He studied the reliquary in fascination.
“Keep this memory of my people alive Ryann Wade,” murmured Jean-Baptiste, laying his great hand upon Ryann’s shoulder and pushing him gently back into the airlock.
“Thank you Jean-Baptiste, thank you,” croaked Ryann as Grande stepped back into the corridor, staring down at him with those eyes that seemed to contain all the sorrows of his people. “But, what do I do with it? How does it work?”
“Take your people to Stormfall,” replied Jean-Baptiste solemnly. “Find the system with the triple-suns. From there the reliquary will guide you through.”
“Stormfall?” exclaimed Ryann; he had heard tales of that nebula — it marked the very edge of the Outer Rim systems. No ship had ever navigated it, and the expansion of humanity had ceased in that direction, choosing safer systems to explore instead.
“Return to the alien source and destroy them,” said Grande fiercely. He looked up as the ship rocked, reverberating to the unmistakeable sound of heavy gunfire striking their hull. “Go quickly! Have revenge upon the aliens. For my people.” He paused a moment and then added: “For all our people.”
“But, you haven’t told me how it works!” called Ryann. But the airlock was already closing, and he had a last, brief glimpse of Jean-Baptiste Grande smiling sadly down at him before the door slid shut with a boom.
For a moment Ryann thought he had seen tears wet upon the great man’s cheeks.
Ryann stood in shock, pondering the strange feel of the reliquary in his hand. And then the realisation of his situation came crashing back and he dragged the Interceptor’s hatch open, scrambling back into his ship.
In a few seconds he was powering up the little ship as the locking bolts disengaged and he drifted free from the Ibis.
A streak of green plasma roared past his ship, and he looked around in alarm to see the dark shape of the Luminal battleship in the distance. Another volley of green trails issued forth from the ship and he threw the Interceptor to one side as explosions burst all around him.
He saw the Ibis wreathed in flame, rocking as multiple shots found their target. But still the craft carried on, rolling slowly once again in a vain attempt to evade the incoming fire.
Ryann looked around in panic as the Luminal’s launch tunnel opened up to disgorge the bright shapes of distant fighters. In an instant, they too opened fire and the space all around was filled with hundreds of streaks of laser-fire.
He veered madly away, trying to draw the fighters from the Ibis as it was struck time and time again. As he looked back he saw a couple of fighters break off from the main group, but the rest kept on towards the old ship, strafing all along her hull sending up bright blossoms of flame.
The Luminal warship was almost upon them now, dwarfing everything around it.
Ryann brought up his rear display as the Ibis receded slowly into the distance, and
