damage passing through the jump. The limited data it returned was irrelevant; if a probe couldn’t make it through unharmed, there was no way he’d risk one of his ships.
“That settles it. Manx, contact the fleet. Time to leave this desert behind.”
#
Dreadnought and her escorting missile frigate made their way through the asteroid belt on the way to rejoin the fleet. One of his cruisers, HMS Repulse , had been nearby, investigating its own jump point, and fell in a few thousand miles off starboard. Woodbury, Repulse ’s captain, called Drake a few minutes later.
“I ran some scans while we were waiting for you, Admiral. There’s something strange about this asteroid belt.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised, but go ahead.”
“The belt doesn’t have much mass, given the size of the rocky planets—my tech officer says there’s a standard ratio—and what’s here is pulverized. A lot of small rocks, not many big ones. A mile across, two miles, but none of the small planetoids you usually see.”
“The Manx System is also missing its gas giants,” Drake said.
“Manx? You named the system after your first mate?” Woodbury chuckled. “Anyway, it’s not that. We looked at a couple of the bigger rocks, and they’ve been chewed up. I’ll wager there was a mining operation in here at one time.”
“Could be,” Drake said. “Nothing active at the moment, though. And if the buzzards were present, they’d have shown their faces by now. Everyone has been talking back and forth, nothing hidden. And the fleet is divided—there’s no shortage of easy targets.”
“If it’s an old mining operation, there’s bound to be some equipment lying around. Maybe it’s the buzzards, maybe some other species, but the way these jump points are acting, there’s no way someone has been here recently, running a sustained operation. Point is, the mining operation might be very old.”
“And you want a closer look, is that it?”
“Here’s what I’m thinking, Admiral. We’re ahead of most of the ships. I’ve already run my passive scans, and didn’t turn up anything. I’ll need a closer look. If I find something, we’ve got a few hours to grab it while the rest of the fleet assembles.”
“I always like getting my hands on alien tech,” Drake said. He gave it a moment of thought. “Go ahead and run active scans, but localized. No need to shout.”
“Yes, sir.” Woodbury chuckled again. “The Manx System. I like it. Hope it doesn’t go to the man’s head.”
He cut the line. The others on Dreadnought ’s bridge were grinning, and Manx scowled at them before turning to Drake.
“On second thought, Admiral, the Robinson Crusoe System doesn’t sound so clunky. Has a certain ring to it.”
“Woodbury is scanning,” Lloyd said. “Not much showing up, but he’s right. The belt is chewed up, but not recently. Someone was here a long time. Decades, maybe. You can see the excavations—looks like they were going after fissionables.”
“Fissionables?” Manx said. “Radioactive isotopes aren’t generally rare enough to go searching in distant star systems. Unless . . . you don’t suppose one of those inner worlds once had people on it.”
“A million years ago, maybe,” Drake said, doubtful.
“Wasn’t a very sophisticated mining operation,” Lloyd said, still studying the data. “They just scraped away the rock and hurled chunks of it into space. Cracked the biggest asteroids in two and ate them from the inside out.” He slowly blinked his heavy eyelids. “Whoever it was, we’re not talking about the elder race or anything. Nothing nearly so sophisticated.”
Something squirmed in Drake’s subconscious. A warning bell clanged somewhere. The Manx System was isolated and had few visitors, if any.
“Why would someone be mining radioactive isotopes out here?” Drake asked.
“Must have been someone desperate for fuel,” Manx said.
“With that much digging?” Drake shook his
“That settles it. Manx, contact the fleet. Time to leave this desert behind.”
#
Dreadnought and her escorting missile frigate made their way through the asteroid belt on the way to rejoin the fleet. One of his cruisers, HMS Repulse , had been nearby, investigating its own jump point, and fell in a few thousand miles off starboard. Woodbury, Repulse ’s captain, called Drake a few minutes later.
“I ran some scans while we were waiting for you, Admiral. There’s something strange about this asteroid belt.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised, but go ahead.”
“The belt doesn’t have much mass, given the size of the rocky planets—my tech officer says there’s a standard ratio—and what’s here is pulverized. A lot of small rocks, not many big ones. A mile across, two miles, but none of the small planetoids you usually see.”
“The Manx System is also missing its gas giants,” Drake said.
“Manx? You named the system after your first mate?” Woodbury chuckled. “Anyway, it’s not that. We looked at a couple of the bigger rocks, and they’ve been chewed up. I’ll wager there was a mining operation in here at one time.”
“Could be,” Drake said. “Nothing active at the moment, though. And if the buzzards were present, they’d have shown their faces by now. Everyone has been talking back and forth, nothing hidden. And the fleet is divided—there’s no shortage of easy targets.”
“If it’s an old mining operation, there’s bound to be some equipment lying around. Maybe it’s the buzzards, maybe some other species, but the way these jump points are acting, there’s no way someone has been here recently, running a sustained operation. Point is, the mining operation might be very old.”
“And you want a closer look, is that it?”
“Here’s what I’m thinking, Admiral. We’re ahead of most of the ships. I’ve already run my passive scans, and didn’t turn up anything. I’ll need a closer look. If I find something, we’ve got a few hours to grab it while the rest of the fleet assembles.”
“I always like getting my hands on alien tech,” Drake said. He gave it a moment of thought. “Go ahead and run active scans, but localized. No need to shout.”
“Yes, sir.” Woodbury chuckled again. “The Manx System. I like it. Hope it doesn’t go to the man’s head.”
He cut the line. The others on Dreadnought ’s bridge were grinning, and Manx scowled at them before turning to Drake.
“On second thought, Admiral, the Robinson Crusoe System doesn’t sound so clunky. Has a certain ring to it.”
“Woodbury is scanning,” Lloyd said. “Not much showing up, but he’s right. The belt is chewed up, but not recently. Someone was here a long time. Decades, maybe. You can see the excavations—looks like they were going after fissionables.”
“Fissionables?” Manx said. “Radioactive isotopes aren’t generally rare enough to go searching in distant star systems. Unless . . . you don’t suppose one of those inner worlds once had people on it.”
“A million years ago, maybe,” Drake said, doubtful.
“Wasn’t a very sophisticated mining operation,” Lloyd said, still studying the data. “They just scraped away the rock and hurled chunks of it into space. Cracked the biggest asteroids in two and ate them from the inside out.” He slowly blinked his heavy eyelids. “Whoever it was, we’re not talking about the elder race or anything. Nothing nearly so sophisticated.”
Something squirmed in Drake’s subconscious. A warning bell clanged somewhere. The Manx System was isolated and had few visitors, if any.
“Why would someone be mining radioactive isotopes out here?” Drake asked.
“Must have been someone desperate for fuel,” Manx said.
“With that much digging?” Drake shook his
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