The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [16]
‘That would be great,’ Greg said. ‘All I’ve had for the last four days has been berries and nuts … ’
‘Contact! – a vessel has just exited hyperspace 1850 kiloms off our stern,’ said one of the bridge officers. ‘It emerged on a highvee course and tracked us almost immediately. And now they’re ramping up their acceleration.’
‘Go to combat-ready,’ Ash said. ‘And ID it! – get me a config, anything.’
‘No ident signals,’ rapped out the other bridge officer. ‘Profile is of an Imisil heavy trader.’
Ash, staring at his holoplane, gave a derisive snort.
‘Not with that emission curve. Ready battle systems, generate target points, all crew on standby … ’
‘Wait, it’s gone,’ broke in the first officer. ‘Off the sensors, just vanished—’ Suddenly there was an insistent beeping and readouts bordering the main viewport flickered. The officer sat back, stunned. ‘And it’s back … ’
Less than a kilometre ahead a ship swung into view, course converging on the Tygran ship. Insets on the viewport showed magnified, enhanced images of a blunt-prowed vessel with no apparent insignia.
‘Bring up partial shields,’ said Ash. ‘What’s their weapon status?’
‘Two heavy beam projectors, three pulse cannons, a multi-missile battery, and a well-shielded launcher of some kind,’ the helm officer said.
‘Has to be an Imisil expedition of some sort,’ Ash muttered. ‘But with that firepower they must have been expecting a rougher reception … ’
Greg had observed the unfolding crisis with an odd steadiness of nerve. Part of him was wishing he was back on Nivyesta, safe in the shadows of Segrana, while another part was, perversely, enjoying the edgy adrenalin thrill of it. And a further thread of thought was privately glad that he wasn’t the one giving the orders. He also recalled a little about the Imisil, one of several civilisations at the far side of the Huvuun Deepzone, who had been on the receiving end of a Hegemony punitive campaign several decades ago, a remorseless attack which had left several worlds near-uninhabitable. Was it too much to imagine that they might come to see themselves on the same side as Darien?
‘Incoming communication, Commander,’ said the tactical officer. ‘Full vid.’
‘Screen it,’ Ash said. ‘One-way.’
A frame appeared on the viewport, as well as the holopanel Greg was sitting at. A strange, hairless humanoid in white and grey garments gazed out. Its face was adorned with clusters of spots that changed colour as it spoke.
‘I am Presignifier Remosca. You have intruded upon the exclusion zone of a world currently under interdict by the Imisil Mergence. Your vessel bears close resemblance to ones used by a certain mercenary cohort known to be contracted to the Sendrukan Hegemony. Identify yourselves.’
The picture vanished, revealing Darien, the hazy stars and the approaching ship. Ash snorted in irritation.
‘Hardly mercenaries.’ He frowned at the now vacant monitor. ‘If we try to convince them that we are actually the Ezgara and Human as well, they’ll assume that it’s part of some devious Hegemony plot – and if we then tell them that we’re from a planet called Tygra, that’ll make things worse … ’
The Tygran paused, eyes widening as he looked round at Greg. An odd smile came over him.
‘Mr Cameron, I have an idea.’
‘You do?’ Greg said with a sense of premonition.
‘Yes, although I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it.’ Ash grinned. ‘But I am sure that your uncle would approve!’
‘Hmm – does it involve life-endangering peril and heroic levels of deceit?’
‘I regret to say that it does.’
‘Then what are we waiting for?’
CATRIONA
The place they provided for her was a strange complex of interconnected, shadowy halls where blue glowing pillars rose up into darkness, where flowers sprouted from the walls while pale gossamer mist hung in the air like great veils. It was meant to be a sanctuary for her essence, this disembodied spectre that she had become, and she came to think of it as the Dream Palace. In some ways it was an attenuated version of the forest Segrana but it left her feeling