Detective David Clark was light-headed and dizzy. He looked around. This place was unfamiliar to him. Where am I? he thought. His thoughts were all a blur, and it was hard to think. The thin air even made it hard to breathe. The detective tried to clear his head and think back on the recent events.

The councilman�s journal. That was Clark�s only lead in the case. He was shocked by what he had read in the journal, but the second file was an even bigger enigma. It was encrypted, and it was pretty obvious, to Clark, that the councilman had planned on giving the encrypted file to someone. It was also quite obvious to the detective that with the contents of that file, he would be able to solve this mystery and bring the assassin to justice.

Joseph on Iothe Prime. A friend of Clark�s from college. He was a genius when it came to computers, and Clark trusted him. Those were two qualities that David needed in order to entrust the file to him. Transferring it over the Hyper-Net was far too risky. He had to deliver the disk in person.

David Clark was suddenly aware of the situation he was in. He had offered 10,000 credits to anyone that could transport him to the Iothe system. A shuttlecraft pilot had accepted it from a mission computer at the Geneva spaceport, and Clark was on his way.

Iothe was near the Proxima Nebula -- and that made it a dangerous place. Renegades were constantly attacking and plundering the weaker vessels that passed through this dangerous sector of the galaxy. And the shuttle that David Clark was aboard became prey to the space pirates of the area...

Alert klaxons were blaring in the cockpit of the small shuttle

The tiny shuttle spun around, fleeing from a Renegade Helian, and a Turncoat along its three Krait escorts. Blasts of blaze fire crashed into the shields of the small shuttlecraft. The entire ship shook with each hit that it took.

Clark's escape pod

There was very little air left in the escape pod... They must have been adrift for hours. So, thought the detective, this is how I will die... suffocating to death in an escape pod in some uninhabited system on the fringes of the Proxima Nebula. The detective had always heard that piracy was a big problem in the galaxy, but had never known to what extent. Having lived in the core worlds all of his life, David Clark had no idea how dangerous the galaxy actually was -- until now.

The escape pod began to jerk around violently. Asteroids, thought Clark, or more renegades, or perhaps we�re being pulled into the gravity well of a star... Thousands of morbid thoughts filled the detective�s head. He just wanted to die in peace.

The cockpit of the Goliath was relatively silent. Tom Hunnicut and Duke Bullwhip were in their usual positions, and Octavian Augustus, whom they had picked up on the trip to Huron, sat in the third, seldom-used guest seat which was positioned in the middle of the pilot�s and copilot�s seats, but was set further back. When a new crew member arrived on the Goliath, they usually rode in the cockpit with Duke and Tom.

�Sir,� Tom said, finally breaking the silence. �Sensor scans show several hypertrails leading out of the systems. Looks like we just missed a group of renegades.�

Duke simply nodded.

Tom glanced down at the sensor screen again. �There�s an escape pod in the system.�

�Life signs?� asked Duke.

Tom pushed a few keys on his computer console. �Yes,� he replied. �But they�re very faint.�

�Move in closer,� Duke ordered. �I�ll power up the tractor beam, and we can bring them into the hangar.�

�Aye,� replied Tom.

The large Turncoat hovered above the small escape pod. The tractor beam locked on to it, and jerked the escape pod around violently. The powerful beam pulled it into the hangar bay.

David Clark awoke once more. Where am I? he thought again. He looked up and saw a figure looming over him. �Who are you?� David tried to say, but no words came out.

�Don�t try to speak,� replied the voice, a man�s voice. �You�re too weak.�

David ignored this advice. �Who are you?� he asked again. His voice was a coarse whisper.

�One might ask the same of you,� replied the figure.

�My name is Clark... David Clark.�

�Duke Bullwhip,� replied the figure. �And this,� although the detective�s eyes were still blurry, he could see the man gesturing with his hand, �is my ship. The Goliath.�

�I... I must get to Iothe Prime,� said Clark, his voice gaining more strength. �It is absolutely imperative.�

�I�m afraid that you will have to wait for that, friend. We have business to take care of which is probably much more �imperative� than anything you are involved in.�

�Fool,� spat the detective. �Councilman Morgan was killed because of Outpost Omega... His killer must be brought to justice.�

�Outpost Omega,� Duke Bullwhip repeated. �You know of it?�

Clark wanted to kick himself. He had revealed too much. But the way the man -- this Duke Bullwhip -- spoke, it seemed that he, too, knew the truth of Outpost Omega. The detective nodded.

�Quite a coincidence,� Duke Bullwhip said, more to himself than to the detective.

�What is �quite a coincidence�?� Clark asked.

Duke Bullwhip replied: �We are en route to Outpost Omega.�