"Ensign Henderson, send a coded message to Command. Objective accomplished. We are proceeding."
He nodded acknowledgement to the Captain as he carried out the order.
The target was resting a hundred feet directly ahead on its landing gear, venting a dense white gas from ports along each side of the seemingly dormant hull to the ground. It's so dark wherever that Rundown is, Aaen noted. Had it not been for night vision gear. . . The immediate area seemed like a spook house with the gas lingering over the floor. Another series of hand gestures caused the four lines to split up in both directions, quickly, gradually surrounding the seemingly dormant hull. All sights were on the Rundown. Its engines were still powered, but they looked as though they were only on minimal power. The Charlie commando stayed with his team which fanned out along the Rundown's starboard quarter. The Rundown was quickly surrounded by a nearly perfect circle of sharpshooters. He kept his aim on the cabin loading door. The only thing visible was the apparent light from the cabin, and an adjacent wall—the starboard wall separating the cabin from the cockpit. Where's the intruder?. . .
The Admiral nodded to Ensign Henderson. He recognized the gesture and relayed a 'go' signal to Alpha team's lead over the comm-line.
Another hand signal caused Charlie team to gradually advance on the open loading door. The other teams proceeded to navigate to the top of the Rundown.
Fifteen feet—
Ten feet—
FIVE feet!—
A nod from Charlie team lead told him to enter the cabin. He took a small round device from his tactical armor vest and tossed it inside the cabin. It bounced off the adjacent wall with a ding and then landed.
—An electrifying, blinding explosion filled the main viewscreen. . .
The bridge crew shuddered in emotional shock at the thunder rolling through the bridge. The image gradually changed to an image of the mouth of a particle rifle's barrel. . .and then the aft section of the Runbout's cabin. He panned sharply right, then left, then rapidly alternated. A flood of commandos filled the cabin, checking around corners, entering other compartments with scanning gear and rifle in hand.
Multiple gestures followed, all signaling 'clear'.
"Magellan, this is Charlie lead. Target is clear, over," the comm-line crackled.
"Are you sure the intruder's not in there?" the Captain asked.
"That's a rog', Cap. All readings show no metamorphic activity,"
"Check the computer! Is there any data about who the pilot is, or who its working for, or where they went?" Aaen said to Admiral Jensen.
She relayed the question.
"Alpha. Solid copy,"
He gestured for members of Bravo team to the front of the cabin to begin working on accessing the main computer.
"Magellan, this is Alpha-two. Who or whatever stole this thing has had training. . . A very particular type of training. The main computer's been encrypted using an unusual type of code to seal off the computer's navigational and communication records. I'm working on cracking it."
"So they didn't know how to wipe the records, but they could seal them."
"For the moment, that's what the situation looks like in here, Captain,"
"So who or what does that leave as the likely suspect?" the chief of ops asked.
"Well, the Orions are pretty tricky bozos. They would know how to do something like this. They're not exactly known for their smarts as much as they are known to be cunning and their firepower. From what I can tell so far, this is looking like it was done by the Orions. High confidence."
"—Cap! We got through! The last comm-transmission went to these coordinates! We've even got the name of the ship the message was sent to!"
"Show me the message. . . Captain! According to the last message that was sent from this Rundown, the intruder is identifying as 'Codark'. The message was sent to someone identified as 'Meelam.'"
"Ensign Larsen, get in touch with Intelligence and find out what we've got for those names."
She nodded, "I'm on it!"
"No sign of the prize in the Rundown, Admiral,"
"Ensign Henderson, send Command an update on our current situation. Alpha! Is there any way to fly that Rundown back to the Station?"
"Yeah, she's flight-worthy, Admiral. Charlie, watch the door,"
"Okay. Bring the Rundown back to the Station as fast as you can. All commando teams hold your position until further notice."
"The exchange site might be close to the Rundown, Admiral," Aaen suggested.
"Maybe. Alpha! Are you or your team detecting any life signs near your location?"
"Funny you should ask, Admiral. One of my team just told me we've got four life signs about three hundred meters from here. Request permission to pursue, over."
"Pursue,"
"Copy that. Delta, you stay in the Rundown and get it back to the Station. Bravo, Charlie, and Echo, on me,"
All commando teams except Delta quickly left the cabin and then formed up again fifty meters away, taking a knee with their rifles up. in a circular formation.
"This is Delta-Two," the pilot said. "Engines powering up—we're outta here in two mikes,"
"Alpha lead copies, Delta-Two. Magellan, the life signs might be at the exchange site. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Echo are moving to pursue,"
"Good luck."
Lieutenant Hammond snapped left, "Admiral! Halleybird and Knightsword are approaching our position at warp nine-point-eight! Currently five light years out and closing. Lightshield and Maelstrom are six light years out!"
"Ensign Henderson, inform Command."
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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