Chapter 15: Hide And Seek

We left orbit of Baglogi-4 and were en route to Baglogi-6, travelling slowly and under full stealth mode to minimize the possibility of being detected. We didn’t know if we were being watched, but perhaps we were lucky and they hadn’t noticed us.

I had a growing sense of foreboding that something bad was about to happen. I didn’t know where or when. We were unprepared for an attack from an unknown foe. Do we run or hide? We could gun it out of the system and use the hyper-drive to escape. Or we could stay and hide behind a moon. I needed to think.

I retired to my cabin to work on a solution. When making maneuvers in space, it took time. So I had time to think. I regretted encouraging Jem to visit her home world. We had a whole universe to explore. Coming here seemed like a big mistake.

“Ship, how long until your two cloaked probes reach their programmed destinations? And how long before we receive a response from them?” I asked. I figured Ship was always listening.

“The probes should reach their destination in about 2 days, assuming they don’t get intercepted. They will search for evidence and send a response after that. Until then, they are running silent, with minimal power to avoid detection,” said Ship.

“Thank you Ship. When will we be behind a moon around Baglogi-6?”

“At our current speed, we will be there in about 14 hours.”

“Hypothetically, Ship, if we were to travel at maximum speed, how soon before we can engage hyper-drive?” I saw no reason to stay if there was a powerful foe coming.

“About 6 hours,” said Ship.

“Ship, I suggest you prepare a flight plan for an expedient exit of this system. If we detect incoming vessels, and their flight path suggests they know our location, we leave in a hurry. Also, if they have a way to track us through hyperspace, I suggest a strategy of multiple jumps in different directions to confuse anyone who might try to follow us,” I said.

“Confirmed, flight plan is prepared and ready, pending command approval,” said Ship.

“Brian, what are you doing?” asked Jem. I turned around to find Jem at the entrance to my cabin. I hadn’t closed the door, and she overheard me talking with Ship. Her tone of voice had me concerned.

“I was discussing some ideas with Ship. Please come in and I will explain,” I said.

“We should include Koluna as well. Ship, please page her to come here,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. Soon after, Koluna arrived. I quickly explained my thinking so far.

“So we are hiding, but you are also preparing for a quick exit?” asked Jem.

“Yes. It’s possible that someone has observed us since we arrived, and they are tracking us now. In that case, they know our location. If we detect incoming vessels, and they head directly to Baglogi-6, we can confirm that,” I said.

“If they head to Baglogi-4, that indicates they don’t know?” asked Jem.

“Yes. We can remain hidden and observe to learn what we can about the foe. If we later decide to leave, I suggest a trajectory that lets the planet hide our presence.” I said.

“Is it possible that this foe are long gone, and no vessel will arrive?” asked Koluna. We both turned to her. Jem looked at me, so I took that as she wanted me to respond.

“It’s possible. I sincerely hope that nothing arrives. If our probes find nothing, and no vessel arrives, then I would agree with your hypothesis. We would then resume our exploration of the system. Alternatively, we can leave now. There’s no Baglogi in this system. There’s no sign of activity, possibly for centuries. So there’s no compelling reason to stay.” I said.

“Ship, how soon until we’re hidden?” asked Jem.

“About 14 hours,” responded Ship. I turned to face Jem.

“I am sorry I encouraged you to come here. After the happy reunion Koluna had with her parents, it seemed a good idea,” I said.

“No, it was a good idea. We were so focused on a homecoming, we walked into a trap,” said Jem. “Let’s get some rest until we arrive at Baglogi-6. Ship will alert us when we get there.”

We rested for a while. It was hard for me to ignore our situation, though. As we approached Baglogi-6, Ship alerted us to new developments.

“Our network is fully operational, but I’ve detected an anomaly,” said Ship.

“Ship, define the nature of the anomaly,” said Jem.

“The network has one more node than expected. As the new satellites established their orbits throughout the system and linked up, one additional node connected in to the network,” said Ship.