Okay.
Jake leaned forward and relinquished control of his hands and watched, bemused, as they entered a series of digits. How did Zamara know how to program a—of course.
Zamara had been linked with R. M. on a very deep level a few hours ago. She’d have the same knowledge the human woman did. Rosemary looked on with interest.
“Wel, it’s no day trip. Good thing I scrounged up some extra rations. Okay. We al set?”
Jake and Zamara nodded.
“Al right. Getting in was fairly easy. Getting out won’t be. Those Wraiths wil scan for power sources and movement inside the debris field, so we need a little diversion.
There’s no way they won’t come here looking for us, so we might as wel make the most of it. Now. Watch that ship right there.”
Rosemary pointed at a freighter. She lifted a smal device and thumbed a button. Sure enough, after a few moments, the freighter powered to life and began to move steadily away from them.
“Nice job, Rosemary,” Jake said.
“Thanks, Professor.”
It was quite possibly the most pleasant exchange the two of them had ever had.
However, the good mood was short-lived. A few moments later, as R. M. was slowly and carefuly steering them out of the debris field, she swore under her breath.
“Yep, looks like our decoy’s stirred up a bit of interest. Buckle up, Jake. We might have to make a run for it, and it could get pretty bumpy.”
He sat down at once, strapping himself in, and peered over at the screen. He could see a few blinking red dots, and knew by this point that red signified Dominion.
“You think they’ve found us?”
“Not sure yet.” Both of them watched the screen intently. After a few seconds, the red dots began to converge on the decoy. Jake felt a quick stab of horror, relief, and then fresh worry in rapid succession. Rosemary’s ploy had worked, but pursuit had found them much too quickly for comfort. It wouldn’t take their pursuers long to determine that this was a trick. And then they would start looking around the ruins of this old battlefield to see where the real quarry was.
With perfect calm, Rosemary continued to move the system runner. Jake bit his lip nervously. The Dominion vessels closed in on the decoy freighter.
“Rosemary …” Jake said.
“Not yet,” she murmured. Her face was focused, intent. Jake felt sweat break out beneath his arms.
The red dots stopped moving. The decoy freighter continued on.
“They figured it out,” Rosemary said. She hit something, and the system runner surged forward. The red dots stirred to life and began to close in on them. Jake gripped the metal arms of his chair.
“Now!” Rosemary pressed the button. Space shimmered around them. There were no more smal blinking red dots on the screen. Rosemary leaned back in her chair and laughed. “Piece of cake.”
Jake smiled weakly.
“A decoy. I see.”
Valerian’s voice was cold with disapproval, and the woman on the screen looked dreadfuly unhappy. He supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised that, once again, the damnably clever Rosemary and Jake had slipped through his fingers. The handful of people set to guard what had essentialy disintegrated into a space junkyard were hardly the best and the brightest the Dominion had to offer. He’d never have gotten even this close to finding the two fugitives—or was it three? Should he count the protoss inteligence in Jake’s brain as a separate entity? How unfortunate that he did not know—had it not been for Devon Starke’s knowledge of the tracking code.
“There, uh, is something,” the woman was saying, shuffling papers with a rather frantic air. She was clearly going to do everything she could to make this not seem like the disaster it was.
“Oh?”
She nodded. “Yes. Security did report seeing another ship power up shortly after we caught up with the decoy. Now, Mr. V, you understand that that’s not unusual. The wreckage is tempting to a variety of scroungers and we aren’t
Jake leaned forward and relinquished control of his hands and watched, bemused, as they entered a series of digits. How did Zamara know how to program a—of course.
Zamara had been linked with R. M. on a very deep level a few hours ago. She’d have the same knowledge the human woman did. Rosemary looked on with interest.
“Wel, it’s no day trip. Good thing I scrounged up some extra rations. Okay. We al set?”
Jake and Zamara nodded.
“Al right. Getting in was fairly easy. Getting out won’t be. Those Wraiths wil scan for power sources and movement inside the debris field, so we need a little diversion.
There’s no way they won’t come here looking for us, so we might as wel make the most of it. Now. Watch that ship right there.”
Rosemary pointed at a freighter. She lifted a smal device and thumbed a button. Sure enough, after a few moments, the freighter powered to life and began to move steadily away from them.
“Nice job, Rosemary,” Jake said.
“Thanks, Professor.”
It was quite possibly the most pleasant exchange the two of them had ever had.
However, the good mood was short-lived. A few moments later, as R. M. was slowly and carefuly steering them out of the debris field, she swore under her breath.
“Yep, looks like our decoy’s stirred up a bit of interest. Buckle up, Jake. We might have to make a run for it, and it could get pretty bumpy.”
He sat down at once, strapping himself in, and peered over at the screen. He could see a few blinking red dots, and knew by this point that red signified Dominion.
“You think they’ve found us?”
“Not sure yet.” Both of them watched the screen intently. After a few seconds, the red dots began to converge on the decoy. Jake felt a quick stab of horror, relief, and then fresh worry in rapid succession. Rosemary’s ploy had worked, but pursuit had found them much too quickly for comfort. It wouldn’t take their pursuers long to determine that this was a trick. And then they would start looking around the ruins of this old battlefield to see where the real quarry was.
With perfect calm, Rosemary continued to move the system runner. Jake bit his lip nervously. The Dominion vessels closed in on the decoy freighter.
“Rosemary …” Jake said.
“Not yet,” she murmured. Her face was focused, intent. Jake felt sweat break out beneath his arms.
The red dots stopped moving. The decoy freighter continued on.
“They figured it out,” Rosemary said. She hit something, and the system runner surged forward. The red dots stirred to life and began to close in on them. Jake gripped the metal arms of his chair.
“Now!” Rosemary pressed the button. Space shimmered around them. There were no more smal blinking red dots on the screen. Rosemary leaned back in her chair and laughed. “Piece of cake.”
Jake smiled weakly.
“A decoy. I see.”
Valerian’s voice was cold with disapproval, and the woman on the screen looked dreadfuly unhappy. He supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised that, once again, the damnably clever Rosemary and Jake had slipped through his fingers. The handful of people set to guard what had essentialy disintegrated into a space junkyard were hardly the best and the brightest the Dominion had to offer. He’d never have gotten even this close to finding the two fugitives—or was it three? Should he count the protoss inteligence in Jake’s brain as a separate entity? How unfortunate that he did not know—had it not been for Devon Starke’s knowledge of the tracking code.
“There, uh, is something,” the woman was saying, shuffling papers with a rather frantic air. She was clearly going to do everything she could to make this not seem like the disaster it was.
“Oh?”
She nodded. “Yes. Security did report seeing another ship power up shortly after we caught up with the decoy. Now, Mr. V, you understand that that’s not unusual. The wreckage is tempting to a variety of scroungers and we aren’t
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