The Trouble Run

11

Six million miles away, Captain Takahashi of the Interplanetary cruiser Chìbì Zhī Zhàn was staring at a transcription of the message her communications officer had just detected blasting across all fleet frequencies. Triangulation with the Feishui--twelve degrees further along in the same orbit--placed the source of the signal in interplanetary space near Mars. That location was also the origin of the two nuke detonations the cruiser had noted less than an hour before.

Interplanetary was always on the alert for nukes, but generally didn't interfere as long as they were used outside planetary systems. These detonations, however, had occurred uncomfortably close to Martin space. And now this crazy broadcast—"Deimos" repeated over and over again. You didn't have to be a fleet captain to make the chilling association.

She was weighing the pros and cons of contacting Central Command for guidance—at this distance, the transmission delay to Luna was 11 minutes each way—when the decision was taken out of her hands.

"Captain," the sensor tech said, a slight quaver in his voice. "Multiple nuclear detonations. I think there was a secondary explosion as well. Possibly a ship's reactor."

"Shall I lay in a course for the site of the detonations, Captain?" The astrogator's voice was steady.

"No, Lieutenant." Takahashi dismissed the transcription from her vision with a thought. "Plot a course for Deimos. Take us close to where the detonations occurred, if you can do so without delaying us significantly. Comms, raise the Feishui. Request that Captain Diego rendezvous with us at Deimos. Alert CentComm of our course, destination, and acceleration."

The other officer stared straight ahead, already lost in the mental fugue of carrying out her orders.

Takahashi couldn't have explained her decision in a way that would have made sense to the young crew members on the bridge. But her family would have understood--her mother, father, aunts, uncles and cousin—every living relative she once had in Tokyo.

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