The Quarry

[Rage Menelas]

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]The target ship was proceeding as expected, right on schedule. Saar'floe was drifting like interstellar flotsam in the asteroid field surrounding the vortex the other ship had just traversed. Charlie assured Ryan she would be invisible to all sensors as long as her engines were dead, her systems set to minimal life support.

The two now watched the craft intently through the bridge window. It was a very large disc crowned by a glowing bridge section, the typical design of a Ka'Ossafetti transport. It seemed to be drifting aimlessly. It always took several moments for even seasoned crewmen to regain their senses once they came through a vortex. Once they did – if they set course for Hei'a 12 – they would assume it was the ship they were after. It pretty much had to be; the Sedrepfahn System was too far off the beaten path. You had to be going there to get there.

Sure enough, after a short spell the mystery vessel began to accelerate in the direction of the gas giant: Hei'a. That's when Saar'floe made her presence known. Charlie sprang into action, diving on the target, firing a burst of plasma across the front of the bridge, announcing his ability and intent to use deadly force if necessary. Then he hailed the ship and ordered it to stop in the name of federation law. This, Ryan later learned, was procedural; it indicated that he was a duly-appointed investigator.

The ship, ignoring the hail, never hesitated but began to zig-zag wildly in an obvious attempt to elude pursuit. Charlie took off hot on her trail, mimicking the crazy flight path of the fleeing disc and Saar'floe closed gradually, began firing bursts that knocked sparks and current from the vessel's aft shields. Soon she had burned through the shields there and was now scorching sections of the bare hull. Then Charlie ceased his attack and fell away, just short of breaching her.

“What are you doing...?!” Ryan asked, exasperated, alarmed by the master's sudden reticence to continue the battle.

“If what we suspect has merit, there are innocent humanoids aboard... Pella'agrenes... your people, as you call them. I do not think you would want me to harm any of them... and neither would I.”

“Okay then... what's the plan...?”

“Follow them. Once they land on Hei'a 12 we will have the evidence we need... we can land and search their vessel.”

“Oh... good idea...” Ryan would have fouled that one up. He was always prone to shoot when in doubt. Hmmm... probably why he had not opted to join the Portland Police Department after his hitch in the service. And now he was some kind of interstellar cop... Who would'a thunk it...? he mused shaking his head in wonderment, watching Charlie back off just enough to allow the target to think it was getting away...