“Only they’re right in the centre of those Luminal ships,” murmured Ryann. The scanner was a cluster of hundreds of red dots that displayed the amassing fleet, and at its very centre a single orange point indicated the new arrival.
“Well it looks as though they won’t be here for long,” breathed Mellarnne. “All Luminal vessels are changing their course towards the new ship.”
“All of them?” asked Grayell. “What about the ones nearest to us, this far out from the way-station?”
“All of them,” replied Mellarnne.
“Okay, match their course and speed — don’t give the Lumina any reason to alert their suspicions. How far out from that new ship are we?”
“Still two hours at our present speed.”
“Well, it looks like there’s no way out for that ship, whoever they are,” said Grayell solemnly. “But it might just give us a chance to slip away if they cause a distraction. Are we coming up on that planetary cluster? Anything there that might help us?”
“We’re still an hour away at our present speed,” replied Mellarnne, bringing up a new view of three planets orbiting a blue sun. “So, we haven’t been able to get much detail on the passive scan, but there are a couple of hopeful signs.”
“What have we got?” asked Grayell, leaning forwards, his face bathed in the golden glow of the projections.
“Three planets. Two are barren, no atmosphere or moons. The other one is a gas giant.” The display zoomed in on the planet farthest from the sun. Its surface was a bright swirl of purples and pinks. “It has fourteen moons and two ring systems, but, this is interesting here.” The display zoomed in again until the surface of the gas giant filled the projection high over their heads. Dwarfed by the planet’s surface was a cluster of specks glinting in the sun’s cold rays, too distant to make out clearly.
“Looks like a small planetary collision,” said Mellarnne. “A rocky moon struck by an asteroid perhaps — anyway it looks like the best place to hide. There’s a localised debris field that appears dense enough to give some shielding from Luminal scans.”
“That’s it,” whispered Grayell. “That broken moon. Great work ‘Larnne, it looks perfect!”
“So now what?” asked Ryann as Mellarnne zoomed back out on the scanners. The bright specks of the Luminal fleet were converging inexorably upon the lone vessel, which remained motionless at their heart.
“We wait,” replied Grayell, spellbound by the scene. “The second they open up on that ship we take our chance and change course for that broken moon. But nothing more than is necessary — same speed — let’s pray that they don’t notice.”
“The course is keyed in. Just give the command,” said Mellarnne in a grim voice.
They waited, barely daring to breath as a thousand points of light slowly converged upon the lone vessel.
The closest must surely be coming within weapons range, thought Ryann, but still the scanner image of that ship hadn’t moved.
He wondered whether they might have been disabled when they were knocked out of hyperspace, or whether there was simply nowhere to run. From every direction hundreds of Luminal warships bore down upon them.
He glanced up at the view screen along the front wall of the bridge. It still showed a serene image of space beyond their ship. The distant sphere of the gas giant was visible off to their left, the swirling pastel hues of its surface beautiful to behold. And alongside their position were the distant shapes of Luminal battleships travelling silently with them, their numbers stretching out into the distance. The nearest vessel was so close now that Ryann could make out the lights glittering beneath the surface of its semi-transparent hull. It gave the impression of some enormous city behind those heavy plates of armour.
He steadied himself as a tremor ran through the control room. He glanced across to his father and went to speak, but before he had chance, the sound of an alarm split the air.
“What’s going on?” demanded Grayell.
“Some sort of electromagnetic turbulence — I’m not sure,” replied Mellarnne, studying the scans.
“Sir, the view-screen!” called one of the officers, and Ryann looked up in alarm.
Static distorted the image, but through it he could clearly see arcs of plasma playing over the Luminal ships in a dazzling light show. Green and blue trails of energy coruscated up and down their dark hulls.
The control room shook once again and Ryann had to steady himself against the display table. A low boom reverberated throughout the ship, a long drawn-out sound like some monumental fanfare of deep trumpets.
“What the hell’s going on?” yelled Grayell as the whole deck pitched and shook. “Mellarnne, are the Lumina engaging that ship?”
“No! They’re almost upon it, but it hasn’t moved an inch!”
“Now’s our chance!” called Grayell, hanging on to the table as another blast ran through the ship accompanied by an ominous creak of strained metal. “Turn on a heading for that broken moon! Do it now!”
Ryann saw the incandescent shapes of the Luminal craft sweep away as the helmsman changed course for the gas giant. The great orb of the planet was growing ever larger in the view-screen now, but the broken moon and its debris-field were still only bright specks in the distance.
“How long until we reach the debris-field?” yelled Grayell. Ryann could see the shimmering arcs of plasma playing over their own shields now, partially obscuring their view; it had a deadly beauty to it, as though the ship were encased in its own aurora.
“About seven minutes!” replied Mellarnne, his face ashen. “But this energy disturbance is growing fast — it’s already off the scale! It runs the entire length of the Luminal fleet!”
“Are they creating it? Is it a weapon?”
Mellarnne went to speak but another shockwave almost knocked him off his feet.
“I have no idea what the hell it is!” he shouted at last.
“Sir! One of the Luminal craft is changing course towards us!” called out an officer across the bridge as the ship continued to pitch and
