[Can you sharpen it up at all, Aggie?]
[Sorry, Chandra—this is maximum enhancement.]
With a breath of frustration, Chandra focused on the holo-image that filled the rapture-field, aware that a similar image was being seen on viewscreens throughout the ship. The planet Argus was a soft-edged beach ball, its continents barely visible through the cotton-candy cloud cover. Circling the planet were half a dozen colored pips—the alien fleet. [Com—anything?]
A disembodied voice answered, [Not yet. Should be soon.]
Don't be overanxious, Chandra chided herself. The scout was in no greater danger on the far side of the planet; it was just the uncertainty of not knowing . . . since the relay buoy had gone dead . . . since the alien vessel had detached from its fleet to shadow the scout. They should have emerged from farside by now, but there were any number of reasons why they might have made a course change.
[Chandra, we have signal.]
She shifted to the voice channel. [LS-One, this is Aleph. Are you receiving us?]
The answering signal was weak, passing through the atmospheric fringe: [Mortaine here. Ready to send burst summary.]
Chandra glanced at the com status. [Go ahead.] As she spoke, she saw a blip representing the scout appear along the limb of the planet, followed a moment later by another . . . the alien shadow.
[Jen, give me a voice report.]
[Aye, Captain,] said the distant voice. [Still being tailed. Negative on communication. We've picked up some signals, but nothing we could interpret.]
[Any problems?]
[None so far.]
[In that case, proceed with mapping. We'll review your summary and take it from there.]
[Understood. Mortaine out.]
Chandra switched to all-ship. [This is the captain. Landing department heads to rap in ten minutes. Repeat, there will be a briefing, in rap, in ten minutes.]
* * *
Chandra surveyed the rap-field, focusing for an instant on each of her senior officers. [Very well, then. We came here to land, so that's the order I intend to give. Any other recommendations?]
The field was silent. If the scout landed, would the aliens recognize the implied invitation to do likewise, and to at last have a face-to-face meeting—or would they regard it as an act of aggression? The risk was clear; but the fleet's senior officers had agreed with her that it was worth taking. They would land on an open plain, and hope that some form of communication could be established—whether by maser, hand signals, pictograms, or young DeWeiler's nobblies.
Chandra contacted the scout, which was about to orbit behind the planet again.
Jensen agreed at once. [We've discussed it, and we're ready,] he said through a sputter of static. [We've already picked out a few promising sites. If it brings them down for a meeting, so much the better.]
[We're considering sending another scout for cover,] Chandra said.
The answer crackled back: [We recommend not, Aleph. Why risk another crew? Better to let them wonder what you could do to back us up in a pinch.]
Chandra reluctantly agreed. [Make your preparations. Aleph out.]
As she watched the scout's blip disappear behind the planet, she thought, And what are they thinking? Are they as curious, as apprehensive, as we are? Do they even know those feelings? What are they expecting us to do?
* * *
The images slowly grew clearer as the starships spiraled in. The scout and its shadow were tiny but distinct specks moving across the face of the planet. In rap, Chandra listened as Jensen counted down. [Retrofire . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .] A point of light flared: the scout's drive. She knotted her fists as she watched the speck decelerating, dropping behind the alien that had been trailing it.
[Captain, we're picking up another signal.]
[From the scout?]
[Negative. Nor the alien fleet.] The com sounded puzzled.
[What is it, then?] She divided her attention. The scout and its shadow were drawing apart, but . . . the shadow was decelerating now, following the scout in.
[Unknown,] answered the com. [Signal characteristics are like ours. But it's from outside the fleet. It may be an automated probe.]
Chandra's interest rose. [One of the original survey probes?] That could be useful—especially if it had recorded the other fleet's arrival. [What's its location?]
[It's . . . odd,] the com said. [It's not near Argus. It's a quarter-billion klicks out, but headed in fast. On an intersecting orbit.]
[Intersecting with ours?]
[Yes,] said the com. [Jonathon, could you have missed this object before?]
The navigator answered, [Negative. It wasn't there on our last sweep. Captain, it may have just come out of lightshift. It's in the direction of Earth.]
[Following us?]
[Possibly so.]
[Let's hope it isn't coming to wave us back home. Com, what are you getting from it?]
[I've given it our recognition code. Here's its response now—a burst. It's tagged, IMMEDIATE ATTENTION.]
Chandra waited. The scout and its shadow, tiny against the nightside of the planet, were nearing the eastern limb, drawing closer together.
[It is from Earth,] said the com. [A messenger-probe . . .]
[At least they haven't forgotten us.]
[Dear God . . . here's the whole thing, skipper . . .]
The message began to stream into the rap-field—but it was interrupted by an alarm jangle from Aggie and a transmission from the scout. [Aleph, we are under attack . . .]
[Jensen!]
[. . . repeat, I repeat, we are being fired upon!]
[Jensen,] Chandra ordered. [This is Aleph. Abort the entry! Get your ship out of there!]
[Negative, Captain.] Jensen's voice signal was breaking up. [Already committed . . . taking evasive course . . . returning fire . . .] His voice was lost in static. In the visual, Chandra could see a flicker of color—high-energy radiation bursts.
[Com—restore that signal] Even as she spoke, the two blips disappeared from the visual, near the nighttime limb of the planet.
The static got worse. [No good, Captain,] the com reported. [The signal's gone. No response to my calls. And the message from Earth is—]
[Earth can wait. Have they passed behind the planet?]
[Not yet. More likely, atmospheric disruption . . . or a hit on their antenna.]
[Aggie, analyze for probability that they were hit.]
[Too little data . . .] the AI began.
[Damn it, try anyway! All right—let me see that message from Earth.]
The letters spilled across her field of vision as she heard Aggie intoning:
!!!!! ATTENTION!!!!!
ALEPH, COLUMBIA, and ENDEAVOR:
********
WARNING!
********
YOU HAVE ENTERED A WAR ZONE!
YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO ATTACK!
Summary follows:
Argus System now an object of conflict between Earth forces and another space-faring race . . . state of war has existed since initial contact, six months after your departure Earth . . . Argus has been defended by our AI fighting units, with newly developed stargate technology . . . belief that enemy could be defeated quickly has proved erroneous . . .
Chandra scanned the summary in disbelief. War? Stargates? [Com! Relay this to Endeavor and Columbia, eyes-only to the captains. And no one else is to see it until I give the word.]
The com sounded shell-shocked. [Aye, Captain.]
Chandra continued to read with growing horror.