“Holy shit. There’s so many,” Krystal breathed.
T’arq pressed his lips into a grim line. This was far more than he had ever seen together. And they would not have sent all their fighters, so this must be a tiny portion of their force.
Why were they here? What did they want?
For long minutes T’arq and Krystal sat in silence watching as the Xakul appeared to inspect the jammer. When the Xakul finally moved away, T’arq realized they had been sitting there holding hands the entire time.
He extracted his hand from Krystal’s and moved to power the ship back up.
“Wait!” Krystal’s whispered warning had him pausing. “The change in energy might cause the cloak to ripple. I haven’t tested that yet.”
T’arq nodded, thankful that she had been thinking quickly enough to prevent what could have been a disaster. If the Xakul spotted them, they were as good as dead.
The last ship moved past them, all heading back in the direction they had come. When it was out of sight on the other side of the asteroid, T’arq sent a questioning look at Krystal, who nodded.
He started the engine and moved the ship out from hiding.
They followed the Xakul at a safe distance.
“If only warp trail was a thing,” Krystal mumbled at one stage, rubbing her arms with her hands.
“Hmm?”
“Never mind. Can we follow them from further away?”
“No, this is the safest distance. If we drop back any further, we’ll lose them.”
They were soon flying deeper into the asteroid field, dodging spinning rocks twice the size of their shuttle. T’arq was silent in his focus, keeping their little ship on track.
“Is that where they’re going?” Krystal pointed at the biggest asteroid yet, easily twice the size of the Zataras itself, where the ships appeared to be heading. She used the view screen to zoom in. If they continued at that speed, they would smash into the asteroid. What were they doing?
“That’s no asteroid,” T’arq could not believe what he was seeing. A massive door opened in what appeared to be an asteroid, and the fighters disappeared as if they were specs of dust.
Krystal looked like she was going to be sick.
“How far from Earth are we?”
“Not far enough for my liking with that… base… or whatever it is.” T’arq’s voice was grim.
He tried to open the comm again, but the same empty channel appeared. “They’re using another signal jammer. They must have them everywhere!”
He had to find somewhere for them to hide. “Krystal?”
“Yes?” Her voice was small, her hands gripping the chair arms again, but she didn’t sound as afraid as she had been.
“Can you scan for a place for us to hide? Look for a rock with a depression that will fit our ship, and that isn’t spinning away from that.” He waved his hand at the camouflaged Xakul base.
He could do it himself in seconds, but he thought that giving her something to do might help with her nerves.
“You’re trying to get me to focus on something else, aren’t you?” she asked as she tapped away on the screen.
He smiled. “Of course not.”
“Hmm,” was his reply, but he could hear the smile in her voice.
“All right, over here,” she gestured to a spot on the screen, zooming in so T’arq could see a shadowed nook just large enough to fit their ship.
T’arq nodded. It was a suitable spot, easily able to view the comings and goings of the Xakul, but hidden within shadows. T’arq slid the ship smoothly into place, but this time he kept the engines idling, not wanting to risk their cloak. The Xakul would scan the area, of that he was absolutely certain. It was impressive how effective Krystal’s cloak was, but he was still nervous.
