fast as ISS ships can go. He hoped that the Argus remained stationary or at best, turned around and came back our way so we could catch up.
“So, what now?” I asked.
Before he could answer a disembodied voice came across the communication system. It was muddled by static and difficult to understand, but I recognized the underlying urgency.
“ This…Argus…calling…please respond, ” the voice pleaded. “ Argus trying to…Cirrus…you there…respond ?”
“Sir,” Rawls cried. “The Argus is on the move, heading back to its original position.”
“Argus, this is the Cirrus,” Zeek shouted into his headset. “We hear you and are redirecting on an intercept course. We should be at your location in a little over an hour.”
Natronix hurried over to Rawls and looked at his screen. I saw a large blip on the east side heading west and a smaller blip on the west side heading east. Both blips looked to be on an eventual collision course, assuming the smaller blip was us and the larger blip was the Argus. I silently hoped that the bigger ship came with an excellent set of brakes.
“What the hell is that?” Natronix asked.
I slipped soundlessly behind Natronix and watched the screen. He grunted but moved aside to let me see the three larger blips following the Argus. All four of the blips seemed to be moving at a high rate of speed and quickly closed the gap between them and us.
“ Cirrus…no…turn back ,” the voice cried. The communications became less disembodied the closer we got. “ We are…attack. Rendezvous point….Neptune Defense Sierra Alpha Nine .”
Rawls tensed in his chair and Natronix turned away from the screen and barked orders. “Zeek relay our acknowledgement. Rawls change course to the Neptune Belt.”
Natronix brushed past me and returned to the periscope, turning the instrument frantically side-to-side scanning the cosmos. I backed away from the monitor and looked at Satou, who was engrossed in a conversation with Madoc and, assuming by his animated body language, it appeared to involve the current situation.
They stopped talking as soon as I approached them. Madoc walked away and voiced his concerns to Calypso, while Satou crossed his arms and looked at me.
“What is attacking the Argus?” I asked.
Satou shook his head. “I do not know, Nathan. The vessels are too difficult to identify at this distance. Most species in this galaxy, outside of Earth of course, are aware of the Explorer's League and know that we are primarily intergalactic exploration and research. We have never encountered hostile actions here before.”
“If those ships decide to attack us, do we have any way to defend ourselves?” I asked.
“No,” he replied plainly. “The Argus is equipped with weaponry capable of self-defense, but it appears that they are outnumbered. Our best bet is to hide at the rendezvous point, while the Argus attempts to outrun them.”
“So, what is the Neptune Belt?” I asked.
Satou guided me toward one of the screens where he punched up a map. “This is your galaxy, Nathan.” He pointed toward a large circle. “This here is Neptune, and between that planet and your sun is a dense asteroid field that we have dubbed the Neptune Belt. Due to our small size, our ship can navigate safely through the field, where we can avoid direct combat completely.”
“What about the Argus?” I asked. “From what I can see, that ship is a lot larger than ours. It doesn't seem like they would be able to pass through the asteroid belt without severe damage.”
Rawls interrupted us before Satou could respond. He addressed Natronix, but the captain did not remove his eyes from the periscope.
“Sir, it appears that the vessels pursuing the Argus have backed off.”
Natronix tore his eyes away from the scope and looked over at the communications panel.
“Zeek?”
“On it, sir,” he replied and turned toward the panel. “Argus, this is the Cirrus, are you all clear?”
All
“So, what now?” I asked.
Before he could answer a disembodied voice came across the communication system. It was muddled by static and difficult to understand, but I recognized the underlying urgency.
“ This…Argus…calling…please respond, ” the voice pleaded. “ Argus trying to…Cirrus…you there…respond ?”
“Sir,” Rawls cried. “The Argus is on the move, heading back to its original position.”
“Argus, this is the Cirrus,” Zeek shouted into his headset. “We hear you and are redirecting on an intercept course. We should be at your location in a little over an hour.”
Natronix hurried over to Rawls and looked at his screen. I saw a large blip on the east side heading west and a smaller blip on the west side heading east. Both blips looked to be on an eventual collision course, assuming the smaller blip was us and the larger blip was the Argus. I silently hoped that the bigger ship came with an excellent set of brakes.
“What the hell is that?” Natronix asked.
I slipped soundlessly behind Natronix and watched the screen. He grunted but moved aside to let me see the three larger blips following the Argus. All four of the blips seemed to be moving at a high rate of speed and quickly closed the gap between them and us.
“ Cirrus…no…turn back ,” the voice cried. The communications became less disembodied the closer we got. “ We are…attack. Rendezvous point….Neptune Defense Sierra Alpha Nine .”
Rawls tensed in his chair and Natronix turned away from the screen and barked orders. “Zeek relay our acknowledgement. Rawls change course to the Neptune Belt.”
Natronix brushed past me and returned to the periscope, turning the instrument frantically side-to-side scanning the cosmos. I backed away from the monitor and looked at Satou, who was engrossed in a conversation with Madoc and, assuming by his animated body language, it appeared to involve the current situation.
They stopped talking as soon as I approached them. Madoc walked away and voiced his concerns to Calypso, while Satou crossed his arms and looked at me.
“What is attacking the Argus?” I asked.
Satou shook his head. “I do not know, Nathan. The vessels are too difficult to identify at this distance. Most species in this galaxy, outside of Earth of course, are aware of the Explorer's League and know that we are primarily intergalactic exploration and research. We have never encountered hostile actions here before.”
“If those ships decide to attack us, do we have any way to defend ourselves?” I asked.
“No,” he replied plainly. “The Argus is equipped with weaponry capable of self-defense, but it appears that they are outnumbered. Our best bet is to hide at the rendezvous point, while the Argus attempts to outrun them.”
“So, what is the Neptune Belt?” I asked.
Satou guided me toward one of the screens where he punched up a map. “This is your galaxy, Nathan.” He pointed toward a large circle. “This here is Neptune, and between that planet and your sun is a dense asteroid field that we have dubbed the Neptune Belt. Due to our small size, our ship can navigate safely through the field, where we can avoid direct combat completely.”
“What about the Argus?” I asked. “From what I can see, that ship is a lot larger than ours. It doesn't seem like they would be able to pass through the asteroid belt without severe damage.”
Rawls interrupted us before Satou could respond. He addressed Natronix, but the captain did not remove his eyes from the periscope.
“Sir, it appears that the vessels pursuing the Argus have backed off.”
Natronix tore his eyes away from the scope and looked over at the communications panel.
“Zeek?”
“On it, sir,” he replied and turned toward the panel. “Argus, this is the Cirrus, are you all clear?”
All
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