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Authors: David Adams
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around in his seat to look at her. “Negative, Captain.It’s just a beacon. An automated beeper set on repeat.”
Fortunately, they had a Toralii expert present in Operations. Liao turned, glancing across the room. “Saara?”
The Toralii woman stepped towards her, hands clasped in front of her, a gesture Liao took to be one of quiet respect. [“Yes, Captain?”]
Liao moved out of the way, indicating the navigation console. “What do you think? Is it some kind of navigation beacon, or…?”
Her response was immediate. [“It is a distress call.”] Her eyes widened slightly, and she glanced at the Human woman. [“On the standard Telvan distress frequency.”]
The Telvan—Saara’s people. Moderates who opposed the Toralii Alliance philosophically and occasionally militarily. The idea that Sheng was speaking to a Telvan agent – someone who was more inclined, it seemed, towards diplomacy – gave her great consolation. Perhaps the contact would prove to be helpful after all.
“Well, now,” Liao folded her arms over her chest, wincing as her injured arm gave a slight twinge of pain. “That does change things, doesn’t it?”
Saara looked at her expectantly. [“We are still going to make contact, aren’t we?”]
“Of course. It’s a good thing.” Liao smiled, then reached down to her radio, pressing the talk key. “Captain Liao to Summer Rowe.”
There was a slight delay, and then Summer’s thick Australian accent came crackling through the tiny speaker. “Rowe here.”
“We’ve completed the jump. We’ll be preparing an expedition to the surface. Let Lieutenant Jiang know if you need anything.”
Another pause. “Yes, Captain.”
Liao changed frequencies and called up the strike craft. “Major Aharoni, it’s time to let our newest birds stretch their wings. Organize with Lieutenant Jiang to have a detachment of our new Broadsword gunships transport a landing party to the planet, but we’re going to have the Wasps scout it first. I want to make sure that planet’s hospitable no matter what the spectrometer says.” She paused, then added, “Take Summer with you. She could use the fresh air.”
“Aye aye, Captain. I’ll get you eyes and feet on the ground, in that order. What are our destination coordinates?”
“Unknown at this stage, Major, but we’ll have someone fill you in as soon as we can.”
Liao let go of the radio, glancing over to Dao. “Lieutenant, find out where that signal’s coming from. That planet’s a big place.”
“Already have it, Captain. Northern hemisphere, sixteen point five five nine one degrees on the latitude. There’s not many landmarks for longitude, so let’s call the ship longitude zero, and elevation… six hundred metres above sea level. What little sea there is, anyway.”
Impressed, Liao nodded. “Very good, Lieutenant. Forward those coordinates to Jiang, and bring up that planet on external optics.”
She watched as the image of the planet filled her command monitor. Huge and red—like the surface of Mars—with patches of ice at the poles, its rust-coloured surface streaked by colossal white stretches of sand. The atmosphere was thin but breathable, and although they had no indication of the planet’s temperature, judging by the thick atmosphere and proximity to the sun it would be very hot. Bearable, but only just.
“It’s a far cry from Earth,” she remarked, grimacing slightly at the inhospitable ball of iron-tinged sand that floated in space on her monitor. Turning, she beckoned Saara over.
The Toralii woman stepped close, her yellow eyes widening.
[“I recognise this planet!”]
Liao raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
Saara ran a finger along the monitor, tracing the planet’s circumference. [“It is Karathi, a backwards, out of the way planet with minimal resources or strategic value. I only know of it because a Telvan ship, the Giralan , crashed here many, many years ago. I researched the incident in the Telvan
Fortunately, they had a Toralii expert present in Operations. Liao turned, glancing across the room. “Saara?”
The Toralii woman stepped towards her, hands clasped in front of her, a gesture Liao took to be one of quiet respect. [“Yes, Captain?”]
Liao moved out of the way, indicating the navigation console. “What do you think? Is it some kind of navigation beacon, or…?”
Her response was immediate. [“It is a distress call.”] Her eyes widened slightly, and she glanced at the Human woman. [“On the standard Telvan distress frequency.”]
The Telvan—Saara’s people. Moderates who opposed the Toralii Alliance philosophically and occasionally militarily. The idea that Sheng was speaking to a Telvan agent – someone who was more inclined, it seemed, towards diplomacy – gave her great consolation. Perhaps the contact would prove to be helpful after all.
“Well, now,” Liao folded her arms over her chest, wincing as her injured arm gave a slight twinge of pain. “That does change things, doesn’t it?”
Saara looked at her expectantly. [“We are still going to make contact, aren’t we?”]
“Of course. It’s a good thing.” Liao smiled, then reached down to her radio, pressing the talk key. “Captain Liao to Summer Rowe.”
There was a slight delay, and then Summer’s thick Australian accent came crackling through the tiny speaker. “Rowe here.”
“We’ve completed the jump. We’ll be preparing an expedition to the surface. Let Lieutenant Jiang know if you need anything.”
Another pause. “Yes, Captain.”
Liao changed frequencies and called up the strike craft. “Major Aharoni, it’s time to let our newest birds stretch their wings. Organize with Lieutenant Jiang to have a detachment of our new Broadsword gunships transport a landing party to the planet, but we’re going to have the Wasps scout it first. I want to make sure that planet’s hospitable no matter what the spectrometer says.” She paused, then added, “Take Summer with you. She could use the fresh air.”
“Aye aye, Captain. I’ll get you eyes and feet on the ground, in that order. What are our destination coordinates?”
“Unknown at this stage, Major, but we’ll have someone fill you in as soon as we can.”
Liao let go of the radio, glancing over to Dao. “Lieutenant, find out where that signal’s coming from. That planet’s a big place.”
“Already have it, Captain. Northern hemisphere, sixteen point five five nine one degrees on the latitude. There’s not many landmarks for longitude, so let’s call the ship longitude zero, and elevation… six hundred metres above sea level. What little sea there is, anyway.”
Impressed, Liao nodded. “Very good, Lieutenant. Forward those coordinates to Jiang, and bring up that planet on external optics.”
She watched as the image of the planet filled her command monitor. Huge and red—like the surface of Mars—with patches of ice at the poles, its rust-coloured surface streaked by colossal white stretches of sand. The atmosphere was thin but breathable, and although they had no indication of the planet’s temperature, judging by the thick atmosphere and proximity to the sun it would be very hot. Bearable, but only just.
“It’s a far cry from Earth,” she remarked, grimacing slightly at the inhospitable ball of iron-tinged sand that floated in space on her monitor. Turning, she beckoned Saara over.
The Toralii woman stepped close, her yellow eyes widening.
[“I recognise this planet!”]
Liao raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
Saara ran a finger along the monitor, tracing the planet’s circumference. [“It is Karathi, a backwards, out of the way planet with minimal resources or strategic value. I only know of it because a Telvan ship, the Giralan , crashed here many, many years ago. I researched the incident in the Telvan
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