Aki looked into the eye. Chills ran through her. She had the unmistakable sensation that the eye was looking right back at her. The probe was positioned slightly off to the side but the opening seemed to be staring directly at the hound.
“It’s watching us.” As soon as Aki spoke into her mic, the image disappeared from the screen. Warning messages began to flash.
<STRONG ENERGY SURGE DETECTED>
“All stations, report!” Before she finished her command to the crew, the computer system was displaying its quantitative analysis of the situation.
<HIGH PROBABILITY OCCURRENCE: PROBE DESTROYED>
<THERMAL DISRUPTION DETECTED AT PROBE LOCATION>
The computer system displayed the recorded video from a camera on the Phalanx. It showed the probe in flight then, suddenly, the image went completely white at the moment of the explosion as the imaging sensors clipped. When the video returned, the probe had been replaced by a visible explosion—one similar in appearance to the result of a nuclear detonation.
Aki played the video in slow motion. Probe, static, explosion—followed by a fluctuation in the nuclear pulse engine.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“The probe’s communication systems stopped with no warning in just under five milliseconds,” Igor said.
“Could the probe’s engine have exploded?”
“Nil chance of that. The sensors would’ve picked up an initial change in temperature or pressure. The telemetry readings were normal right until the end.”
“There’s no doubt about it—the probe was intentionally destroyed,” Raul said.
Concerned that her disappointment was not appropriate to her role as commander, Aki did not respond, remaining silent even though a command was clearly expected.
“Aki! You loco? Snap out of it. We need to report this to the fleet.”
“It’s true. I’ll send the message.”
Even as she tried to accept what had happened, Aki sent a voice recording to the rest of the fleet.
“Priority message from the UNSS Phalanx. It appears that the hound was attacked as it approached the alien vessel at a distance of fourteen thousand kilometers. Observations indicate that the blast from the nuclear pulse engine was concentrated into an intense beam directed at the probe.”
Just then, the warning again appeared on Aki’s screen.
<CHANGE DETECTED IN ALIEN VESSEL>
The iris dome that had closed over the engine opened. Once the dome had fully retracted, the nuclear pulse engine began to fire, obscuring the view of the center of the Torus.
“Had the probe been approaching head-on, that beam would’ve passed right through the hound and destroyed us too,” Igor said. Since taking the most direct route between the two ships would have required the probe to pass through the propulsion blast of the Builders’ ship, the probe had been programmed to travel perpendicularly and then approach at an angle.
“So their policy is shoot first, questions never?” Raul asked. “I guess their ship is as trigger-happy as the Ring’s graser system.”
“The probe was slowing down and displaying the visual message. There is no way they thought it was an asteroid. Why weren’t they interested in what the probe was or what its message meant?” Aki asked.
“Our only option is the Remora,” Igor said. The Remora was the transport vehicle designed to bring the Contact Team to the Builders’ ship. It could be operated either remotely or by a pilot who was on board.
“Just a minute. If they blow up the Remora, there’s no way to board their ship. Any way we can maneuver the Phalanx close enough to board directly?” Aida asked.
“No. If the Remora’s destroyed we’ll have no choice but to terminate the contact mission,” Aki stated. She knew that destruction of the Remora would be interpreted by the UNSDF as unequivocal proof of hostility. Warmongers would already try to use the lost hound as an excuse. Any further act of aggression would offer full justification to proceed with their attack. Why did they destroy it? The Remora lacked a message screen, which made the Remora even more likely to be taken as a threat by the Builders. “What other choice do we have, Aida?”
Aida remained silent. There weren’t any other choices, and all five crewmembers knew it.
After the twenty-minute time lag passed, UNSDF Fleet Headquarters responded:
“Prepare to send the Remora unmanned. If it is destroyed, abort the contact mission.”
The clock of their allotted twenty hours was about to start ticking. Aki had little time to make a decision.
“Aida, Joseph, Raul, remove the equipment aboard the Remora. Risking the Remora might provide an answer on how to approach the ship safely. Igor, program the Remora to make the approach. I will tell you what I want her to do.”
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, the unmanned Remora was released from the Phalanx. The ship was a cylinder four meters across and ten meters long. One end had an entry hatch, which had been purposely left open. The perimeter of the hatch was fitted with an extendable sealing ring to allow airtight docking with the Builders’ ship. The Remora was also equipped with thrusters on all sides to maximize maneuverability. In essence, it was a portable jet-powered airlock.
Igor had programmed it to fly at a ten degree angle away from its target for the first half of the trajectory and then to subtly point itself back on course during the second half, curving and approaching as indirectly as possible. It was unclear which would appear more threatening—flying on a direct course or appearing to be flying away and then changing course partway through. Aki decided to use the same approach as the probe even though that method had failed, only because a direct approach seemed even riskier.
At 5 PM GMT, Aki watched the Remora from her cocoon. The ship made its roundabout way toward the Builders’ ship. She clenched her palms as it approached a distance of fourteen thousand kilometers. Nothing happened. Aki started to let out a yelp and then restrained herself.
Twelve thousand kilometers. Ten thousand. Nine thousand.
The nuclear pulse engine stopped, just like before. The iris reappeared around the engine.
“I just commanded the Remora to retreat,” Igor said.
Even if the Remora fired its front thruster at full force, that process would take several minutes to stop all forward motion.
Aki tensed again. She worried that she had marched the Remora to a firing squad. Losing the Remora would end any possibility of communicating with the Builders.
Alarms sounded and static appeared on the monitor. One glance and the dreams of Aki’s past four decades were ruined. A ball of white gas expanded from where the Remora had been. A loud shriek from Aida echoed over the comm system, and Aki’s spirits sank even lower.
ACT IV: JULY 29, 2041
NORMALLY, THE LARGEST screen at UNSDF Fleet Headquarters toggled between the ten most important of the thousands of feeds they received. For the past four hours, however, the screen stayed on a single feed that showed the orbits of the inner planets. The War Zone had the sun at the center, followed by Mercury in the ten o’clock position along its elliptical orbit. Earth was farther out, on the opposite side at four o’clock.