Deep Space
Spemin Empire
The Shanghai

“There can’t be anyone there,” said Mack, tearing open a plastic Reddypak ration container. He was talking about their destination in the badlands at the outward reaches of the Earth Sector. The Mystery of the Hour was, 'what're we headed for?' “Boz was right. The Uhl would’ve sent in the cavalry to wipe them out. Hell, we’ll be lucky not to get cooked by a pack of Uhlek drifters out there.”

“I’m not so sure, love,” Arella returned. She was leaning up against the railing to the catwalk where they were eating. The dripping of salt water echoed through the chamber. “What better place to hide? Nobody would’ve thought to look there.” Mack laughed.

“No kidding!—but that’s just because it’s a minefield of bad deaths waiting to happen,” he said, munching on a spoonful of peaches. He looked at Arella. She had that archaeology look she got. Mack sat up a bit. “Okay, okay, fine. So how do you hide brainwaves from the Uhl? You know how touchy they get about sentient thoughts bouncing around their neighborhood.”

“Well, now,” she said, mock injury on her face, “I haven’t divined that just yet.” Mack shook his head and grinned.

Deep Space
Spemin Empire
Thrynn Frigate Jussru

His hands clasped behind his back, Colonel Venn’Bk gazed intently at the regional starmap that floated in a sterile glow above the holovid projector. For the moment, the Gazurtoid ark was on a direct trajectory for a dense stellar cluster in the wasteland that had once been ruled from the Uhlek ganglion world. Something was out there -- something that was connected to the renegades on Thoss...

Something. Or someone. Disturbing. HvHuss is on his way.

Venn’Bk adjusted the display, zooming into the large group. There were nine star systems in unusually close proximity, several binary and tertiary clusters among them. There were scores of worlds and elaborate systems of tugging moons. The colonel focused, pursuing a hazy idea slowly gathering at the edges of his mind. He called up the navigational tracking display.

The gravity generated by the cluster was impressive. Light passing within its reach was bent sharply off course, scattered in random, shifting directions. The light created by the local stars was subject to the same twisting. But the simple magnitude of the gravity wasn’t the greatest point of interest—there were sources of far greater gravity in the galaxy. The stunning characteristic was the wild, patternless dischord of opposing gravitational demands created by the cosmic bodies. The gravity shot around in perfect chaos. It was like riptide at the height of a vicious lightning storm at sea. Only it never stopped.

Venn’Bk glanced at the holovid map projection again. The ark was still on the same heading. Interesting. Its projected course would lead the Gazurtoid ship past the edge of a small nebula in the badlands. The colonel called up more information on his display. The nebula was unremarkable in all respects save one. Venn’Bk thought for a long moment, then slaved the sensor array to his personal command console.

From some youthful impression, the echo pushed Venn’Bk to decision: Fortune favors the bold. He reached for the comm panel and issued a terse string of navigational orders. Jussru banked easily to port, slipping onto a new course as the superphotonic power plants folded more power into the engine wells.

Next: “Roll Out” The Jova Lounge: Home of the Heroes and Villains