“It’s hard to tell,” replied Grayell solemnly. “We just dragged every ship aboard that we could fit down the launch tunnel. We’re still trying to get all the fires under control. But I’d say there are well over a thousand refugees — maybe even as many as fifteen hundred.
“We had to leave a couple of the biggest ships. We evacuated the refugees off them — they’re all down in the docking levels. Over three hundred in there alone, frightened, injured, close to panic.
“It won’t take much for this to turn into a disaster. Just a few more Carl Ransomes stirring things up, trying to profit from the chaos.
“That’s why I need you on my side Ryann.” Grayell turned, placing his hand upon his son’s shoulder. “We’re in real trouble here. That’s why we can’t fight amongst ourselves — especially not you and I.”
Ryann stared self-consciously at the floor.
“Sure Dad. You know I’m on your side. I’m sorry. What can I do to help?”
“Thanks Ryann,” murmured Grayell, turning to look back out over the chaos. Ryann followed a utility shuttle as it picked its way through the maze of metal. It reminded him of the time he and Angelique had been trapped in the wreck-field, in what already felt like a lifetime ago.
“For the moment, I just need everybody ready to fight,” sighed Grayell at last. “I won’t lie to you though, I can’t see a way out of this.”
Ryann was shocked by his father’s words.
“You’ll find a way Dad — you always do,” he said softly. Grayell gave him a weary smile.
“Come on, the officers should be in the conference hall by now,” he muttered, turning back to the airlock. He disappeared inside, leaving Ryann alone to take one last look at the sprawling chaos of the refugee fleet.
CHAPTER THREE
DISSENT
“Okay then,” whispered Grayell with a sigh. “Let’s see how this goes.” He got stiffly to his feet, gazing over the rows of officers that filled the conference room. After a moment, their murmurs died away to a tense silence.
Grayell began in a solemn voice.
“Thank you all for your patience. I wish we were here to celebrate your incredible achievements in rescuing so many refugees from New Eden — but I’m afraid we’ll have to hold off on the party for a little while longer.”
A ripple of nervous laughter ran through the assembled officers.
“Some of you may have heard varying amounts of information, while others will still be in the dark. So, I hope that you will indulge me while I go over the outcome of recent events.” He paused a moment to look into the eyes of the waiting officers; they hung upon his every word.
“Your skill and courage at the battle of New Eden averted a disaster. While many of you were fighting the Luminal drone ships in a diversionary mission out on the edge of the Halion Belt, you will be aware that the remainder of the Ghost-Runners were evacuating ships and refugees from New Eden itself.
“Though many of their ships had to be left behind, I am proud to say that you recovered virtually all the refugees with only minimal casualties. And further more, we didn’t lose a single Ghost-Runner ship.”
A murmur of approval ran throughout the assembled crew, but Ryann was struck with a sudden image of Jean-Baptiste Grande and the Ibis. How many Outlanders lost their lives aboard their home-ship? he thought ruefully. He glanced up from his sombre thoughts as he realised that one of the officers was speaking.
“So, how many refugees did we get aboard the Defiance?”
“We can’t be certain at the moment,” replied Grayell, turning to Mellarnne with a questioning look. “The fire and rescue crews are still hard at work trying to evacuate survivors from any damaged ships. We’re setting up aid points aboard the control station, as well as using some of the bigger refugee ships as temporary housing and hospitals. But we estimate that we evacuated between a thousand and fifteen hundred refugees aboard the Defiance.”
A gasp went up from the officers, quickly followed by a chatter of questions. One voice rose above the rest, and to Ryann’s chagrin, he recognised the confident sneer on Carl Ransome’s face as the big man got to his feet.
“Fifteen hundred people?” he called out, turning to the other officers as though seeking encouragement. “Grayell, you do realise that we have almost a thousand crew aboard the Defiance already? We’ve limited resources enough without any extra dead weight. Fifteen hundred extra mouths to feed? Never mind the air processing, hospital resources —”
“Do you suggest we should have left them to die on New Eden, Carl?” interjected Mellarnne.
“Well it looks like that’s all academic Mellarnne, seeing as you’ve flown us into the middle of a fleet of a thousand Luminal battleships.”
There was an audible intake of breath from many of the officers, and Ryann jumped to his feet shouting angrily across to Ransome. The room descended into a furore as more joined in, but Ransome merely stood his ground, glaring across at Grayell.
“Quiet damn you!” came a roar over the chaos and all eyes turned to Grayell Wade. One by one, the storm of voices abated, until there was silence once more.
“You will remember who you are,” said Grayell icily, enunciating each grave word. “You are some of the most experienced pilots in the galaxy. Let us behave accordingly.” He paused, glaring at Ransome, daring him to speak. After a tense moment he continued. “To escape our attackers at New Eden we risked a short, calculated jump into hyperspace, hoping it would get us out of the Viridis system at least.
“It worked, and we made it part-way to the Lokhus system, before some unknown type of field-suppressor knocked us out of our jump.
“As our talkative friend Carl has informed us, we appeared out of hyperspace right into
