"Not our quarry," I say.
"Well, no, boss, but it's kind of interesting." I swivel the seat round to face him. "It's on a line for one of the possible loci Admiral M'eioi's team mapped out -"
"Those possible loci cover half the quadrant," I mutter.
"- and the ID transponder lights up on the persons of interest list," Thala continues. "Captain Denver Serton, and the SS Arcturus Sunfire. Absolutely not a criminal, we can be quite certain of that - even though he's turned up on the sidelines of more crimes and misdemeanours than you could shake a stick at."
"Arcturus Sunfire. I have heard that name." I eye my exec pensively, while he sits at the science station, looking plump and blue and cheerful like every Bolian caricature I have ever seen. "So what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that the Beauregard is probably working on some sort of commission," says Thala. "And if I was the person doing the commissioning, and the Beauregard was getting too much attention - from angry Orions, say -"
"Then the Arcturus Sunfire might be a more discreet way to finish whatever job the Beauregard started," I finish for him.
"That's right, boss." He nods happily.
I swivel round again to face front. "Put that trace on the main screen." I will not waste any more time squinting at this wretched repeater. "Let me think...."
"We should, perhaps, intercept this intriguing rapscallion and bring him to book," says Niquoeb.
"He has committed no crime, as yet. And we would gain nothing by questioning him...." I consider the star chart on the screen. "People like this Serton do not prosper by letting information slip. But he cannot hide his current course." Thala is right - the projected line of the Arcturus Sunfire's course takes it straight into the heart of one of M'eioi's possible areas of interest. Of course, that "possible area" encompasses several cubic parsecs of space -
But if Serton continues on his current course - I smile. "Helm. Steer one one six by two seven four. Warp eight."
"That takes us way away from the Sunfire's course." Thala looks puzzled. Good.
"Signal the transwarp gate at sector 171 for a priority transit to -" I glance at the screen, considering "- Delta Anchises III. At warp eight, we should reach them just nicely in time." I settle back in the command chair. "Serton's ship has commercial registration. We can use Starfleet's transwarp gates."
"And get nicely ahead of him," says Thala. "Good thinking, boss." Approval. Well, it is better than condescension.
"This is a slim lead to follow," I remark to the bridge as a whole. "Serton may be engaged in some entirely different enterprise - possibly even a legitimate one. Or he may yet change course. But we have few enough possibilities.... Thank you, Mr. Thala, for bringing this to my attention."
"Glad to help, boss." Perhaps, eventually, I can reach a working relationship with Thala. It should take no more than a few decades.
---
Transwarp gates have revolutionized ordinary interstellar travel, I muse as the hollow hexagon expands on the screen. They are no help with exploration - since, after all, someone must go beyond the frontier by more conventional means and build one first - but the day-to-day business of trade and diplomacy, of travelling between already known locations, is faster now and safer than ever it was.
"Gate confirms our departure coordinates with commendable exactitude, noble captain. We are cleared to proceed at your command."
"Make it so," I snap.
The Amphicyon cruises smoothly into the open mouth of the gateway. Beacon lights flash, warning of the energies gathering inside the massive warp coils. The field grows in intensity, synchronizes with our own drive, flips us neatly through subspace across the intervening light years -
There is a crash that almost throws me out of the command chair, and the lights go out, then come back in emergency red. Amphicyon jolts and bucks, her structure groaning as shockwaves run through it.
"Red alert! Damage report!" I yell. The blare of the alarm adds to the din around me.
"Working on it," gasps Thala, as he holds on tight to the science console. "Surge in the EPS grid - contained - structural integrity at ninety-five per cent -"
"It's some kind of subspace shockwave," Kali Lillian adds. "The arrival gate's been - destabilized -"
The ship is steadying, the lighting returning to normal. "Get me long range scans," I snarl, and hit the comms panel on my armrest. "Medical. Casualty report."
"I think we're riding it out, boss," says Thala. He wipes his forehead. "SI field returning to normal. EPS is stable."
"Sickbay here," a voice says over the intercom. "We have seven injuries reported so far, all minor. Sprains and bruises, sir, from awkward falls, nothing more."
"Subspace shockwave," I say, as I lean back in the chair and try to relax a little. "That cannot be a coincidence. Plot the epicentre."
"You reckon we'll find the Beauregard at the middle of it, boss?" says Thala.
"Or the Arcturus Sunfire. Or both. Get me those scans."
"On it, boss. Want to cancel that red alert?"
"On no account. I want this ship at battle readiness." I shoot him my best forbidding glare.
"I've got subspace radiation and diffraction patterns," says Lillian. "Plotting.... Got it. Looks like it's about two parsecs out from the middle of Admiral M'eioi's possible locus, sir. There's a live warp core signature - hold on." She bends down over the scanner, her eyes intent, her fingers moving with micrometer precision on the controls. "Reading two emission patterns there - very close, almost merging -"
"Do we have warp drive?" I snap.
"At your discretion, noble captain!"
"Maximum warp to that location!"
On the viewer, stars turn into streaks as Amphicyon surges forwards. "Still analyzing," says Lillian. "Huh. Looks like there was quite a blast in subspace - consistent with previous subspace rifts, though there's a different radiation pattern - and, in among it, I've got what looks like Arcturus Sunfire again, and -" She frowns. "They've separated. Arcturus Sunfire has gone to warp."
"And the other?"
"Stationary. I can't confirm its warp signature, sir, until it actually goes into warp, but all the other readings are compatible with an Ouroboros-class temporal raider."
"And how many of those are there wandering around the quadrant?" adds Thala.
I am trying to replay the sequence of events in my head. "The Beauregard set off the subspace rift... then the Arcturus Sunfire warped in, closed to rendezvous briefly, then warped out again. Just time for a fast transfer of something - materials, data, personnel -"
"Should we switch to pursue the Arcturus Sunfire, sir?"
"No. Not yet. It might be better if that ship does not know we know about it. And, so far, they have not done anything illegal, that we know of. Whereas the Beauregard...."
"Intercept range in one minute," says Lillian. "I'm getting their subspace transponder now.... Confirmed. This is the Beauregard, all right."
"Excellent." I allow myself a smile. "If they go to warp, pursue them. Closely. If they do not, so much the better." There is a little bright dot on the repeater screen, with targeting reticles already slotting into place around it. "I want words with the captain of the Beauregard."
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