With a final dab on his docking jets, he brought the Raven alongside the tanker and quickly powered down the ship’s systems. They waited, hidden silently within the deep shadows of the hulk’s empty hold.
“Drive systems offline, talk to me Angelique, what have we got? Is it Luminal?”
Angelique didn’t respond for a moment, lost in concentration.
“Dammit! It’s one of ours!” she cursed at last. “A single mark just clearing the Halion Belt — running hot, full thrusters.”
“What?” exclaimed Ryann. “From the Halion Belt? Can you get an ID on them?”
“Not on passive scanners,” she replied. “Do we risk an active scan? The Luminals might catch it if they’re looking.”
“It hardly matters,” cursed Ryann. “That ship’s going to bring every Luminal in the system down on us? What the hell are they doing, burning up their drives like that?”
“Well, by the looks of it, I’d say that they were being chased,” said Angelique. “Another ship has just appeared out of the Belt, same heading as the first. What do you want to do?”
“Aw hell, what can we do?” he spat. “We can’t hail them, the Lumina will pick up our transmission for sure.”
“Well, they’ll spot those drive trails soon enough,” replied Angelique. “It might take a little longer, but it’s only a matter of time.”
Ryann sat in silence, trying desperately to come to a decision.
“Ryann?” cut in Angelique. “If they bring down a Luminal ship, there’s every chance they’ll discover us too.”
“I know, I know!” he muttered. “How far away are those ships from us?”
“Still a fair distance. At their present speed they’ll fly right past our position in about ten minutes.”
“Then we wait,” said Ryann nervously. “And hope that we’re lucky and they don’t bring down every Luminal ship from here to the frontlines.”
“Wait? Ryann, they’re on a course for Lunar-15. If they alert the Lumina they’ll lead them straight to the Defiance!”
CHAPTER TWO
THE IBIS
“Anything on the scanners?” asked Ryann; his throat was dry and his voice came out as no more than a hoarse whisper.
“Not since you last asked a minute ago,” snapped Angelique without looking up from the scanners. “Though it’s a wonder the whole Lumina fleet hasn’t shown up yet — those ships are burning up their drives like they’re trying to get caught. They’re lighting a trail across this sector like a damn beacon.”
“Can you make out anything about them yet?” breathed Ryann. His position, out in the dark and silent hemisphere made him feel isolated, unable to help out now that all his systems were offline.
“Not yet. Only, judging by the thermal signatures, the lead ship is a lot bigger than the one behind. A lot bigger. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was something like an inter-system supertanker or a passenger ferry. From the heat that they’re giving off they’re pushing the drives way past the redline. The trailing ship’s much smaller, but it’s gaining on the first. Weren’t all the ship’s in New Eden meant to have been disabled?” she muttered, her eyes never leaving the displays.
“That was the plan — all except a small security force of single-seat fighters,” replied Ryann.
New Eden. A fanciful name perhaps — an attempt to bring some small shred of hope to the survivors, who, if the Defiance ever completed its mission and defeated the Lumina, then New Eden would be the wellspring from which humanity would rebuild itself.
Deep within the Halion Belt were the ones that the crew of the Defiance had left behind — the families of the Ghost-Runners, brought with them for their safety when the refit of the Defiance had begun. And then there were the construction workers and their families — the refitters, scientists, engineers — all the hundreds of personnel that had been recruited by Grayell and Mellarnne.
By the time work on the Defiance had been completed there was a workforce of over three hundred, plus several hundred families with children. They had all joined the cause on the promise of sanctuary, hidden within the impenetrable ice clouds of the Halion Belt as the Luminal invasion swept over them.
And then, towards the final moments before the Lumina scorched through the Viridis system, the Ghost-Runners had taken in as many refugees as they were able, those trapped aboard inner-system craft unable to jump to safety.
The numbers within New Eden had swollen rapidly, until the heart of the Halion Belt was a mass of ships all huddled together, fed power and life-support by two old C-class space stations at the centre of the ragged flotilla.
It was thought that the refugees would be safe there, hidden from Luminal scans by the dense magnetic fields of the Belt.
But everything relied upon secrecy. Nothing could go in or out of the Halion Belt without running the risk of giving them away.
To that end, every ship in New Eden, apart from the security force, was supposed to have been disabled. No exceptions.
So, why in hell were two ships blasting out across the sector, risking everything? cursed Ryann to himself.
“I’m reading a power spike in the trailing ship,” came Angelique’s urgent voice, snapping Ryann instantly back into the moment. “Looks like they’re powering up their weapons!”
“What?” exclaimed Ryann, sitting up in his seat. “These guys are insane!” Angelique looked up in alarm as Ryann began bringing the Raven’s systems back online. “Plot us an intercept course, full-speed!” shouted Ryann, and the ship shuddered as he gunned the engines. The Raven swept out from its hiding place, its thrusters sending the burned-out tanker spiralling back into the wreck-field.
“What the hell are you doing?” called Angelique in horror as Ryann increased their speed. “You know the risks if that ship starts loosing off its guns
