Smoke and Mirrors

[Zapp]

A stream of gunfire flew through the Barrier ice field in Magellan, lacing through space to punch through darting fighters that, despite their best efforts, were getting chewed up by the much larger ship. As the last fighter went down, jagged tractor beams snaked out and scooped up the pods of the Hacker vessels. Once safe in the cargo hold of the Orca, crew members, armed with various blasters, opened the pods and put the Hackers on their knees in a row as Esther Carson came down from the bridge. Her hands were behind her back and she walked slowly up and down the row of seven Hackers.

"First one of you to talk gets left off at Freeport 4 and is free to go. The rest of you are going to Sheffield. I'll give you some time to think that over."

She turned her back on them and counted to thirty, noting how deathly silent the cargo bay was. She turned around and took the picture of Taviz and Anne out.

"All you gotta do is tell me where I can find these two."

All was silent for a few moments.

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