Excerpt

Xttra pushed an engine control lever far forward and ignited all three antimatter thrusters. The scout ship shot out of planetary orbit with a speed akin to a laser bolt escaping from an eliminator's long barrel. He normally reserved antimatter fuel exclusively for hyperlight travel, but every bit of speed mattered in reaching Calandra's probe. Xttra felt some relief knowing it still lurked out there in their solar system, meandering through the system's outer reaches.

This discovery meant so much to Calandra. Xttra did not want to let her down.

Only a few minutes passed when a low-pitched continuous beep started to reverberate throughout the bridge. Xttra shot an irritated glance at Atch.

"You did keep us out of orbital paths for all the outer planets, right?"

Atch answered him with a grunt and pressed down on a panel directly in front of him on the navigation station.

"Our sensors are detecting another object closing fast on our position. Too small and too fast for a random asteroid or comet."

Xttra exchanged frowns with Lance. No one needed to explain to him what this new development meant.

"Wonderful," he said. "A star cruiser has decided to spoil our party."

Tracking down Calandra's probe could do without an added complication of tangling with a Confederation vessel on the Ice Belt's fringes. Xttra did not need visual confirmation to know his scout ship would be out-manned and out-gunned by the larger vessel.

"How much longer until you reach the probe?" Calandra's voice resurfaced amid increased static on the long-range communicator.

Xttra pressed a black square button on the helm console. A second holoscreen rose from the console, displaying critical shields and weapons data.

"We're dealing with a minor wrinkle," he said. "We'll straighten everything out in a moment."

Xttra leaned forward and mumbled a few words while he pored over the data. His eyes and frown hardened when he saw the latest status for his primary weapons.

"Bo'un!"

His voice thundered through the bridge. The door leading into the cargo bay opened with a whoosh. Bo'un sprinted inside before it sealed again.

"Where are my weapons?"

His weapons officer approached the helm with some hesitation. Color drained from his face once Bo'un scanned over the same weapons data.

"I could have sworn they were at full capacity when we launched."

"Does this look like full capacity to you?" Xttra tapped on a lower section of the holoscreen showing multiple short red bars. The image flickered under his finger. "I have only enough juice for one shot from the plasma cannons. And only two ion torpedoes are left!"

Bo'un shrugged.

"This is one reason why accepting a loaner scout ship is never a wise idea."

Xttra shot him a dirty look.

"My options for this mission were limited."

"So, what do we do now?" Lance asked. "If we encounter a trigger-happy Confederation crew, this might be a really short trip."

Xttra thrust his finger in the air and opened his mouth to agree. Instead, he stopped before saying a word. A satisfied smirk washed over his lips.

"Ever raced in the Glacia Series?"

"Tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing."

Xttra glanced over at Sarianna. The medical officer turned from her station and locked eyes with him. He confirmed her suspicions with a wink. She lowered her eyebrows and threw up her hands.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Have you lost your mind? This is not an obstacle course!"

Xttra simultaneously waggled his finger and shook his head at Sarianna.

"This is what you signed up for when you joined my crew," he said, adding a laugh.

Lance added an uneasy laugh of his own. Sarianna sighed, dropped her hands to her sides again, and spun back to face her station. After she turned away, he leaned in closer to Xttra's chair.

"Are you sure this is a smart idea?" Lance's voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know if I'm ready to embrace this kind of risk."

"Trust me. That Confederation vessel will have more to worry about than us."

Bullying other spacecraft had been a standard Confederation tactic ever since Xttra graduated from the Academy. He had seen enough of their tricks to feel confident his scout ship could handle whatever these Confederation setaworms threw at them. Their ability to handle him was a whole different animal.

Xttra pressed a series of three red square buttons running along the bottom of the helm console. Small green lights lit up above each button.

"Activating the magnetic net now."

Asteroids of varied shapes and sizes experienced a tug from a freshly generated magnetic field as the scout ship passed their position. One after another popped free from meandering orbital paths. Soon, a trail of floating space rock formed under the belly of the ship and extended out beyond the thrusters.

"Here comes the Confederation vessel," Lance said. "Just like we expected."

A star cruiser emerged from behind the far side of an icy planetoid dead ahead. The Confederation vessel mirrored Xttra's scout ship with its triangular nose and V-shaped body, but it was twice as large and bore a sleeker design than his older model spacecraft.

"They're hailing us." Lance turned to Xttra. "What do you want to do?"

"Everything except speaking to their pilot comes to mind," he said. "The Confederation of Northern Tribes has zero jurisdiction beyond Lathos."

Xttra drew his ship inside the other vessel's sensor range. Then, at once, he veered away on an angular trajectory. A new louder beep reverberated through the length of the bridge.

"What in Ahm's name do you think you're doing?" Sarianna's voice climbed higher as she connected the dots. "You can't expect to drag that vessel behind us."

Xttra glanced over his shoulder at her. He answered with a slight nod and his self-satisfied smirk returned.

"Looks like I can."

Xttra refocused his attention ahead as he turned the ship back onto its original flight path.

"Relax," he said. "They won't dare fire on us while caught in our magnetic net. The blast would take them out right along with us."

Lance dug his fingers into both armrests on his chair as his breathing quickened. Sarianna fidgeted with a small scarlet bracelet, woven from shaved pieces of senosa wood, circling her right wrist. Atch kept his eyes locked on the navigation holoscreens and mumbled a few choice words.

Xttra noted their reactions in his peripheral vision and simply shook his head.

"You all worry too much."

"They're hailing us again," Lance said.

He glanced over at his assistant pilot.

"I expected as much."

"Still not going to answer?"

"Not a chance."

Only three more minutes passed before Calandra's probe finally popped into visual range. Xttra gave a low whistle when he laid eyes on the alien object. She had not exaggerated one bit. It resembled nothing he ever encountered in past Stellar Guard missions. Xttra recalled seeing a few images of ancient probe designs in a class at the Academy. This one looked even more primitive than those others did.

A broad square sail hemmed in a massive silver sphere on every side. Space dust clung to the sphere's metallic surface. Sensors showed the alien probe traveling toward the inner solar system at a brisk pace. Zeroing in on the probe's position without overshooting it required careful maneuvering. Xttra needed to pull off the retrieval while dealing with an added wrinkle of keeping the Confederation star cruiser off their tails.