"Well, if they've left I guess we should head back to the station.
Unless, perhaps, we should head towards home."
Tully says, "Any luck deciphering the message?"
"Yes. It appears to say, 'Die, Sirian dogs!'"
"Um... Perhaps we should change position in case they've fired something at us that we can't see? And I would suggest scanning the station and make sure they didn't fire anything at them."
Tully says, "They dropped a thermonuclear mine in our path. We will avoid it, of course. They are not a friendly race."
"How do you know that, Tully? Did Steve Jobs tell you?"
Tully says, "Oh, yes, sorry. He communicated through the link."
Abruptly the ship accelerates and you see the relativistic effects returning on the viewer. At the same time there is a blinding flash off to one side.
"They are preparing to launch more missiles," says Steve Jobs. "Evading them could spoil your intercept plans."
"I say we disable their ion drive and then talk to them. We can always put them in another ship if they are goodly beings, but if they are evil, it would be wrong of us to just let them go," Lo says.
Tully says, "Cease interception. Let's back off. If they fire missiles, please target and destroy the missiles."
Tully says, "I don't think we should risk damaging their engines just out of curiosity. There are several hundred beings on board. That usually means females and children. My vote is to let them go."
"Fine." Lo throws up his hands as being the newbie of the group.
The X class scout swings away and accelerates, rapidly opening up several hundred thousand kilometers between the vessels.
"They do not appear to be launching their missiles, now," says Steve Jobs.
Tully nods. "Are they still on course to leave the system?"
"Yes, they are. Their current course will take them to the Regulus area."
Tully says, "So, what do you guys want to do? Explore the military station or do something else? I think since we are here, we should check it out."
"Let's check it out," Lo says as he munches on his burger and fries.
"Okay," replies Darian. "We should also think about checking out Sandas and our friends to make sure we're not needed by them. In fact, Zanax, perhaps you could contact Occa and ask?"
Tully says, "We will do that next. Steve Jobs, to the military station please!"
The ship turns and accelerates...then decelerates again.
Before you now is another large space station, silhouetted against the stars of the Milky Way. Like Amalda, it is a maze of tubular passages connecting larger spheres and cylinders. It must be several miles in length. However, unlike Amalda, this one shows no lights, and the superstructure is pitted and scarred. Several of the cylinders have gaping holes in them, and you see that others have long, scorched streaks across them.
The Steve Jobs closes, and then enters one of the spheres through an opening. Lights blaze forth from the X class scout, and you see that you have entered a flight deck. The place is deserted but for some odd bits of debris floating here and there...and you realise that there is no gravity outside.
Tully looks it over and says, "What do you guys think? It doesn't look good to me. We don't know how to fight in a no-gravity environment. I think we should pass till we do. Opinions?"
"I agree, we should pass on it."
"So, back to Almada for more vermin or back to Sandas to check on folks there?"
Black-eye belches.
Zanax concentrates...
Occa says, "What do you want? Things are going well here. Working on a guild. Just recovered the sword for the emperor and will meet with him soon. After that, we will look for the next artifact. Well, the group will. I am going to spend some time working out how to create teleport slabs between various places. How goes it out there?"
"We are doing well. We just wanted to check to see if all was well and whether or not you needed us," responds Darian through Zanax.
"No, not right now, but you could check back every month or so. I suspect we will need some help at some point. Any luck finding a workable Nernal that we can use to clear up this weather problem?"
"We can do that, Occa. And, no, no luck on the nernal. So far, no real good leads, but lots of places to search."
"Well, let me know if you find anything. Talk to you in a month or so." Occa replies.
Tully says, "Ok, so maybe we should go someplace new. We need to find a Nernal! Perhaps we could find a way to cross into a parallel universe where technology wasn't forgotten? What do you think?"
Darian shakes his head. "I don't know what you mean, but if we did as you say, would we be able to get back? Maybe we should try to figure out which way this empire was expanding and head that same way."
Tully says, "Oh, I don't know. I don't even know if anyone perfected a means to travel between them. If only time lords existed, they would know. Oh well. Anyway, perhaps you are right about heading in the same way the empire was expanding. I suspect that something must be preserved somewhere."
"I can go either way," Lo says.
So, you lift off of the military space station and return to Amalda. It is after midnight, station time, when you return, so you head to bed at the hotel.
In the morning, Lo and his Wang, Zanax and Tully begin their training, while Darian practices with his blaster. This keeps them busy for the next month.