The away-team's shuttlepod had achieved a successful docking with the great ship with the minimum of difficulty, and had even spotted the small team of Jolana Kahn's engineers working on the Pioneer's stern in their bulky EVA suits during their final approach.
Under normal circumstances, lightweight garments could have been worn by the engineers, but the high-levels of radiation being generated by the ion storm forced them to employ greater precautions against injury.
Nonetheless, Svenn Holmes was confident that Kahn and her industrious Solar Defence Force and Earth Interests engineers would effectively repair the shattered exhaust port within a few hours, allowing the Pioneer to resume its original course once the storm had died down.
But the quantum singularity that had been detected before the storm had hit was low on Holmes' list of priorities.
As he stood in the starship's primary sickbay, having come directly from the decontamination facility following the shuttlepod's return, Holmes found that he had become far more concerned with another encounter with the hostile Nausicans.
Sickbay itself was a spacious suite of rooms, consisting of a large ward that contained several biobeds and a surgical table, along with an adjacent science lab for medical research and a small office for the chief medical officer. In this case, that officer was Quentin Marriott, a talented individual hailing from England whose medical knowledge and bedside manner weren't matched by his interpersonal skills.
"I've performed a thorough scan on both subjects," Doctor Marriott reported briskly, rounding the primary biobed in the surgical bay, "Despite being completely unfamiliar with this species' anatomy, I can say with reasonable certainty that they're both in good health."
"None the worse from their experience with the Nausicans?" Caesar Hans inquired, folding his arms across his chest and shooting a sideways glance at Holmes. Both men stood at each other's side near the doorway, careful not to obstruct Marriot's examination of his new patients.
The two grey aliens sat together, perched on the primary surgical table as the human doctor ran several different scanning devices over their fragile bodies in an attempt to ascertain their physical condition. They had remained silent throughout the course of their examination, and had looked-around the room with an almost childlike fascination.
Marriott shook his head, replacing his medical scanner on a small equipment trolley resting nearby. "It wouldn't appear so," he confirmed, "Did you discover why these Nausicans were behaving in such a manner?"
"We think they were searching for something," Hans answered with a shrug, moving away from the doorway and approaching the two aliens, "But unless our friends here can give us any more information, we have no way knowing for certain."
Cautiously removing the synthetic gloves he wore on his hands and placing them on the equipment trolley, Marriott held out an arm to prevent the captain advancing any further toward the surgical bay where their two guests sat.
"What is it?" Hans asked quietly.
"The examination I've performed is as thorough as I'm able without resorting to more intrusive methods," the doctor told them, his voice little more than a whisper as he spoke to his colleagues, "But nonetheless I've been able to detect at least seven small implants scattered throughout their bodies."
"Implants?" Holmes repeated, his eyebrows rising in surprise.
Marriott nodded. "The implants appear to be located within vital nerve clusters," he explained, keeping his voice low, "They're constructed of an extremely dense alloy that the medical sensors are unable to penetrate, but I'm reasonably certain that they're designed to augment the central nervous system."
"To what end?" Hans asked, absently scratching his chin as he considered the new information.
"To enhance their bodies through the use of technology," Holmes said, "A little barbaric but certainly understandable if you consider how fragile they appear to be."
"There are implants deep within their aural-cavities," Marriott continued, obviously employing the term due to the fact that the aliens had small apertures in place of ears, "I believe these are used as translators."
Hans paused for a moment. "So they've been able to understand everything we've said?" he inquired.
"A rudimentary translation perhaps," the doctor told him, "But yes."
The captain turned back to the aliens. "Activate our universal-translator," he instructed Holmes.
The EI director unhooked the cylindrical device from his belt, tapping the control panel once to activate it. The translator chirped quietly as it quickly ran its automatic self-diagnostics, before calling up the translation-data collected during the previous session aboard the space station.
Holmes took a few steps toward the surgical bay, moving to stand beside Hans. "It's online," he said.
Lowing himself to one knee so that he was looking up at them, Hans spoke softly to the two aliens. "Can you understand me?"
One of the small beings opened his mouth slightly, emitting the clicking sounds that could now be recognised as their form of speech.
Since there was no discernable difference in their physical appearance, Holmes was unable to determine if the alien who had just spoken was the one who'd been carried from the station by himself or Hans.
On the translator's small screen, a confirmation message appeared that the alien speech had been detected and was in the process of being converted.
"I can," the synthesized voice of the translator repeated.
Hans exchanged glances with Holmes and Marriott before continuing to question the aliens. "Is this your space-station?" he asked them, "Why did the Nausicans attack you?"
"The station does not belong to us," the second alien said.
"The translator has collected enough of their speech to start performing real-time translations," Holmes explained quietly, impressed that the device had developed such an advanced conversion-matrix in such a short time.
"We discovered it when our vessel passed through this region of space," the other alien continued, "We boarded the station to investigate."
"And the Nausicans?" Hans prompted.
"They arrived some time later," came the response, "We attempted to conceal our presence but they discovered us."
Holmes took a step toward them, still holding the translator. "What are your names?" he inquired.
"I am Jaren," the first alien said.
"Tolem," the other replied.
"I'm Caesar Hans," the captain told them before gesturing with an arm, "This is Svenn Holmes and Quentin Marriott."
Tolem looked up at the EI director. "You participated in our rescue?"
Holmes nodded, gratified that the aliens recognised him. "That's correct," he confirmed.
"You're onboard the starship Pioneer," Hans said, "A spacecraft from a planet called Earth. We call ourselves human by species."
"We are the Tolraay," Jaren replied, "We are not familiar with either 'Earth' or 'Human'."
"That's understandable," Holmes interjected with a wry grin, "The Pioneer is the first ship constructed by our race that can achieve warp factor five. Until now we had no real means to reach this part of space."
"Warp factor five is a measurement of velocity?" Tolem asked.
Holmes realised that the Tolraay almost certainly employed different terms for such concepts.
"Warp factor five is approximately two-hundred and fourteen times the speed of light," he explained, aware that light-speed was a universal constant and would therefore be familiar to these aliens.
"Our own vessel's maximum velocity is approximately four-hundred times the speed of light," Tolem said.
Holmes paused, mentally noting that the Tolraay appeared to have technology superior to that of humans. Their advanced implants that were shielded from Doctor Marriot's sensor scans were also evidence of this technological superiority. Nonetheless, he estimated that this species' current level of technology could be equalled by Earth in less than four decades.
"Is your vessel docked elsewhere on the station?" Hans prodded.
"We lost contact with it when we detected the Nausican ship's arrival," Jaren answered, almost regretfully, "We believe that our vessel has been destroyed."
Despite their outwardly friendly manner, Holmes knew that Hans and Levente wouldn't relish the prospect of carrying more alien passengers aboard the Pioneer along with the group of Zeytraddi who were already being transported.
When the ion storm eventually died down, he would conduct a thorough scan of the vast space station to confirm that the Tolraay ship was no more.
"Bridge to sickbay!"
At the sound of Antonio Levente's urgent hail from the command centre at the pinnacle of the primary hull, the captain quickly crossed to the nearest wall console and pressed his finger against the communications panel.
"Go ahead, commander," Hans responded.
"Passive-sensors are detecting a vessel powering-up directly beneath us, sir!" the tactical officer explained urgently.
Hans spun to look directly at Holmes. "Why didn't we detect it earlier?" he demanded of the officer on the other end of the comline.
"We think it was concealed within a smaller docking bay," Levente told him, "We only noticed the increased power signature a moment ago."
"On my way!" Hans finished, gesturing for Holmes to accompany him before striding purposefully toward the exit doors.
With a parting glance at the Tolem and Jaren who both appeared anxious and confused on the primary biobed, Holmes hurried out through the already-open door panels, leaving Quentin Marriott to accommodate their new alien guests.
The EI director fell into step beside his commanding officer as crimson strips of alert lighting began to pulse throughout the great Earth starship, casting the corridor in a sinister red glow.
"Do you think the Nausicans will attack us?" Holmes asked, turning into recessed alcove that contained a turbolift junction. Since the turbolift system automatically gave priority to critical areas of the vessel such as the bridge, engine-room and sickbay, an elevator car was available for the two men without needing to be summoned.
"Bridge!" Hans commanded as the doors slid closed, before turning to his colleague and answering his question, "They certainly seem to be a hostile species. It wouldn't surprise me if they opened fire while we're stranded in this space dock with most of our systems offline."
The captain's words made Holmes realize how vulnerable the Pioneer actually was at present, encased within the docking bay of the mysterious alien station, unable to leave for fear of being destroyed by ionic discharges from the storm. If she came under attack, the ship would be a sitting duck with her weapons and defences inactive, incapable of performing any sort of evasive action.
Tense seconds passed like minutes as the turbolift car continued its ascent through the decks of the vessel from sickbay, until the door panels hissed open to reveal the compact bridge.
Hans burst from the elevator with Holmes close behind, descending the short series of steps to the command arena where Antonio Levente was already vacating the central chair.
Holmes quickly traversed the quarterdeck that encircled the perimeter of the bridge and slipped into position at the operations console, before looking over his shoulder at the pixelated image described by the viewscreen.
Despite the occasional bursts of static that burst across the viewer due to ionic interference, a blocky spacecraft was partially visible within a small docking bay, obviously having been focused upon by the Pioneer's visual sensors. The vessel appeared to be shaped almost like a blunt arrowhead, with small wings that were angled sharply downward, ending in what Holmes concluded were weapons ports.
"How large is that ship?" Captain Hans asked, lowering himself into his command chair as he scrutinised the image on the viewer.
Holmes glanced down at his sensors, and swiftly brought up the necessary details on an auxiliary monitor. "Approximately twenty-five metres in length and fifteen in height," he reported, "Mass is approximately one hundred and thirty tons."
"Weapons?" Hans prodded.
Holmes shook his head. "Sensors are unable to confirm the presence of weapons," he said, "But that doesn't mean anything."
"A ship that size could accommodate at least fifteen people," Levente interjected from his weapons console, "The three Nausicans we met on the station could have friends."
"They're launching!" Isabella Maxini announced from her position at the helm.
"All hands brace for incoming fire!" the captain roared, "Get Kahn and her people off the hull!"
Instinctively, Holmes reached for the cylindrical handholds at either side of his console, gripping them tightly as he watched the viewscreen.
Its exhaust ports discharging clouds of energetic plasma under high-pressure, the ungainly Nausican vessel gently lifted from the deck of its small bay and eased outward into the cavern where the Pioneer was moored.
As the alien craft swooped upward toward the Earth starship, the operations screens around Holmes began to flash a threat warning.
"They're charging weapons!" the EI scientist cried.
"Arm torpedoes!" Hans commanded furiously.
At that moment, the weapons emplacements on the wings of the Nausican spacecraft flared a hideous green, and twin bolts of destructive energy carved their way across space and slammed into the unshielded hull of the Pioneer.
Holmes grasped the handholds even more securely as the vessel was hit, shuddering heavily under the successive impacts as shockwaves lanced through her spaceframe.
"Torpedoes armed!" Levente called out.
"Fire!" Hans spat, vaulting from his chair.
Holmes held his breath, preying that the ionic discharges of the storm would somehow fail to seek out the high-energy output of the Pioneer's newly activated weapons system long enough for them to disable the enemy ship.
The familiar induction blast of torpedoes being ejected from their launch tubes vibrated through the starship, and the two self-guided missiles streaked away from the Pioneer and arced across the vast docking bay.
By this time, the escaping Nausican spacecraft was almost directly overhead, its glowing thrusters burning at maximum to drive it clear of the station and out into the ion storm.
The torpedoes from the Earth ship were only noticed at the last second by whoever was piloting the opposing vessel, and the Nausicans barrel-rolled clear of the first torpedo's path just before it detonated harmlessly. But as the small craft recovered from its evasive manoeuvre, the second torpedo, guided by its small onboard computer, smashed into its starboard side.
On the bridge of the Pioneer, Holmes and the others watched as a section of the Nausican ship blew outward in a blinding explosion of metal fragments, sending it tumbling through space trailing engine plasma and vanishing into the storm.
"Direct hit!" Levente exclaimed triumphantly.
"Shutdown weapons!" Hans snapped, obviously aware of how much danger they were in with the torpedo launchers online.
At operations, Holmes checked his multiple screens. "Scanning for the Nausican ship," he said, "It's vanished from our sensors."
The news that the Pioneer could no longer detect the alien vessel came as no surprise to anyone on the bridge, since everyone was aware that the passive-sensors functioned at no more than three-hundred metres under the conditions of the ion storm.
"Those energy discharges will take care of them now," Antonio Levente muttered coldly.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Hans shot back quickly, "The Nausicans wouldn't have tried to escape if their ship was in danger of being destroyed by the storm."
Holmes nodded in perfect agreement with the captain's assessment, impressed that Hans had reached such a conclusion.
"They've probably been in space longer than we have," Holmes pointed out, turning in his chair to address the tactical officer, "Their ship's systems could be shielded against the ion storm."
"Agreed," Hans said, "We can't afford to be complacent, the Nausicans could easily return." He began to move away from the command chair as he spoke. "Stand down from red alert."
Around them all, the scarlet lighting vanished and standard illumination was restored.
"Remain at battle stations," the captain continued, reaching for the panel on the arm of his chair and tapping a control, "Bridge to Lieutenant Kahn."
"I'm here, sir," the EI engineer replied breathlessly, the exertion of hurrying to get back inside the ship evident in her voice.
"The Nausican ship is gone for the moment," Hans explained, "Resume your repairs on our exhaust port and we'll keep monitoring space for the Nausicans."
"Aye, sir," Kahn answered, "I'd estimate we've got another hour of work out there before we can restart the engines."
"Understood," the captain confirmed, "Bridge out."
As he listened to the exchange between Hans and the chief engineer taking place behind him, Holmes activated another of his auxiliary monitors and called up a graphical representation of the ion storm's overall intensity. The time codes running beneath the chart gave the scientist surprising new information.
"Problem, Mr. Holmes?" Hans inquired from his command chair, apparently having noticed that his operations officer was engaged in some sort of study.
"Not a problem, captain," Holmes replied, turning slightly, "The storm's energy-level appears to be decreasing rapidly. The long-range robotic probes that the Earth Interests have sent out over the years have indicated that these ion storms vanish almost as quickly as they appear."
"So we could be underway within the hour?" Hans concluded, visibly relieved that his ship may finally be liberated from its prison in the docking bay of this vast space station.
Holmes nodded. "If the strength of the storm continues to falloff at its present rate," he said, "I'd estimate we should be clear in less than fifty minutes."
The primary conference lounge of the Pioneer was a large room situated on deck two just below the command centre, a suite that had been designed to allow the senior officers aboard the starship to assemble and discuss matters that concerned either themselves or the spacecraft.
In the months preceding the Pioneer's launch, during which the final proposals for this massive Earth Interests exploration vessel were still being debated by senior DeSaab design staff and EI officials, it had been agreed that such a conference facility would be a valuable addition to the ship. The EI scientists who had initiated the ambitious project to construct this vessel had agreed that such a lounge would be a necessity for their commanding officer, so that he could privately poll his officer for opinions.
Dozens of light-years from the world of their birth, this crew would encounter people and phenomena more exotic than anything they had ever dreamed, so how could any captain be expected to make decisions alone?
When the Solar Defence Force had joined the crew of the vessel, Svenn Holmes had felt a measure of relief that Caesar Hans had continued to utilize the lounge for its intended purpose. He hadn't feared the room being converted into an armoury or anything quite so drastic, but SDF mentality wasn't generally viewed as compatible with group decisions.
"I've just completed by fourth sensor-sweep of the space-station," Holmes announced, addressing the collective department heads of the starship Pioneer who were seated at the long table, "I haven't detected anything that could remotely be classed as the Tolraay craft."
Less than thirty minutes earlier, the intense ion storm that had battered the vessel for hours had dispersed, allowing the crew to carefully ease the Pioneer backward and free of the docking bay into the depths of space. With most of her primary systems back online, the powerful sensor arrays of the great ship were directed down at the awesome space station beneath her, probing for insights into the technology that had built it. But perhaps more importantly, the scans had been searching for the small space-vehicle that had brought the two Tolraay to this place.
At the head of the table, Caesar Hans leaned forward in his padded chair, placing his hands on the polished surface. "No sign of debris?" he asked grimly.
Holmes looked down at small screen of his personal data assistant, the thin device bleeping softly as it interfaced with the ship's computer. "None," he confirmed, "But any wreckage would already have been dispersed by the gravitational currents of the ion storm."
"Then we have some more alien guests for the foreseeable future," Antonio Levente concluded, obviously not especially enthused by the prospect of the two Tolraay remaining aboard the ship.
Holmes decided that Levente regarded any extraterrestrial presence on the Pioneer as a security risk, but the EI scientist personally welcomed the opportunity to spend more time with Jaren and Tolem, and attempt to gain further insights into their culture and technology.
"Accommodation will have to be arranged for them," Hans decided, directing the instruction toward Levente before turning to his operations manager, "Do we have any idea where the Tolraay are from?"
Holmes shook his head. "None," he said regretfully, "I'm planning to call up some of our latest long-range astrometric scans of this region to show Jaren and Tolem later today. Hopefully they can identify some astronomical markers like red giant stars or pulsars that might be familiar to them."
The Pioneer's stellar-cartography facility on deck five would allow Holmes to present the Tolraay with a high-resolution depiction of the local stellar neighbourhood on a large display screen.
The captain nodded in agreement with the proposal. "If they're from a system too far off our course toward the Zeytraddi world we may have a problem on our hands." Unwilling to dwell on the possibility of a major detour, he looked across at his chief engineer. "What's our operational status?"
Jolana Kahn pushed herself forward in her chair, clutching her own small PDA. "Repairs on the starboard exhaust port are complete," she informed everyone, "All our primary systems should be back online within the next hour, and those offline are still awaiting the completion of diagnostics."
"Did you have any problems reactivating the engine core?" Holmes inquired, aware of how difficult the procedure could be.
"The secondary plasma-injectors needed a little coaxing," Kahn told him, "But the core is online and functioning at about eighty-three percent of its usual efficiency."
Holmes had expected the starship's power plant to be operating below the efficiency that the crew was accustomed to, with the core having been left to cool for several hours before being subjected to a full restart.
"So we have warp power but nowhere to go," Isabella Maxini threw in.
"Unless we want to cart these people all the way to Zeytraddi Prime," Levente added wryly.
"I don't think so," Hans said flatly, "We have to find a conclusion to this matter and resume our mission as soon as possible." He pushed away from the table and rose to his feet. "Mr. Holmes, have our two Tolraay guests meet you in stellar-cartography, Lieutenant Maxini will assist you in locating their homeworld."
"Aye, sir," Holmes replied, shooting a sideways glance at the young Defence Force helmsman seated nearby.
"Dismissed," Hans finished, striding past his officers toward the doors to the conference lounge with Levente and Kahn following in short order.
The spacious stellar-cartography lab was completely unoccupied when Svenn Holmes entered, as he had expected during the turbolift journey from the conference lounge. With most of the combined Earth Interests and Solar Defence Force crew having been assigned engineering duties such as running thorough diagnostics on shipboard systems, scientific operations like interstellar charting had been abandoned for the next few hours.
Stellar-cartography itself was a large suite designed to help fulfil the Pioneer's original mandate to chart the vast region of space that surrounded Earth, allowing the Earth Interests to construct highly-detailed astrometric maps. Even the Kepler, the most powerful subspace telescope in orbit of Earth, and numerous low-warp robotic probes, were unable to compete with a high-warp exploration starship for collecting data.
"Our most recent astrometric sensor-sweeps were conducted just before we were hit by the ion storm," Holmes told his colleague as they entered the lab, surveying the rows of auxiliary monitors running either side of him along the bulkheads, and the large inactive primary screen directly ahead.
Positioned before the main screen was the central console, a control-station with seating for two people, from which the stellar cartographers could manipulate the incoming sensor data and call up their findings in visual form.
Isabella Maxini slipped into the second chair, swiftly tapping a command sequence into the nearest keypad. "Activating stellar-cartography systems," she told him crisply.
Holmes allowed the helm officer to initialise the necessary systems, while he seated himself and accessed the astrometric databanks. But even as he entered the commands to retrieve the desired files from the computer, he was aware of the uncomfortable silence that had descended over the lab.
The EI director realised that out of all the command staff aboard the Earth vessel, Maxini was the person who he'd spent the least time with. With the whirlwind of events that had culminated in the Pioneer being sent on its odyssey to Zeytraddi Prime, and the ship's encounter with a primitive world some days earlier, Holmes had been granted very little time to associate with the rest of the crew. And even when he found himself with a few hours of time to relax, he generally spent them alone in his quarters or with other EI officers who shared his interests.
Lieutenant Maxini was a Solar Defence Force pilot, a hardened soldier who had fought for her world on many occasions during the terrifying Orion attacks. Like the majority of people who fought in the SDF, Maxini generally considered the depths of the galaxy to be a place where hostile aliens lurked in every solar system, awaiting Earth to let down its guard before launching an invasion. As a member of the Earth Interests, it was Svenn Holmes' belief that the benefits of learning the secrets of the universe and encountering new life, vastly outweighed the risks of space exploration.
Nonetheless, Holmes didn't consider himself to be an unsociable man, and had always found himself able to understand the SDF's xenophobic views if not being in agreement with them.
"You've been aboard for a few weeks now," Holmes said finally, striving to break the awkward silence, "What do you think of the Pioneer?"
"You've built a good ship, director," Maxini replied briskly, neglecting to look up from her controls, "Although she's about as manoeuvrable as a space dock compared to the craft I'm accustomed to flying."
Holmes' eyebrows rose sharply in response, attempting to banish the feeling that the helmsman's harsh words were meant as an attack on him personally. He had put so much effort into helping develop and construct this starship, that he found it extremely difficult not to be offended by statements that highlighted the Pioneer's shortcomings.
"If I'm correct," Holmes began, recalling what little he'd read of her service-record, "Your previous flight experience is piloting the 'Bulldog' fighters that the SDF use. The Pioneer is a massive exploration vessel, hundreds of metres in length and carrying more momentum at full speed than a small asteroid."
Maxini's thin lips became a wry grin as she listened to his words. "I didn't mean to offend you," she retorted, "I know that this ship has been your entire life for the last couple of years."
"I wouldn't quite describe it that way," Holmes said quietly, inwardly grimacing at how accurate the woman's statement actually was.
Maxini chuckled to herself. "After two years flying this monster to Zeytraddi and back, I doubt I'll ever be able to pilot a Bulldog again."
Holmes smiled, finding himself warming to her already. "Don't underestimate yourself," he told her, "I've overseen the development of this ship from the initial pencil-sketches to the final coat of resistance gloss on her hull, I know she isn't the easiest ship to pilot."
"I'll get used to it," Maxini assured him, taking a long pause, "Eventually."
At that moment, the doors directly behind them hissed open.
Holmes turned in his chair, regarding the young Defence Force security guard who was standing in the doorway, his EM pistol holstered at his side.
"I've escorted the Tolraay as ordered, director," the newcomer explained briskly, "Should I show them in?"
"Please," Holmes confirmed, instinctively rising to greet the two guests.
The SDF guard stepped aside, revealing the small grey aliens who were standing beside each other in the corridor. Tentatively, their large eyes absorbing the appearance of this new area of the Earth starship, the visitors stepped inside stellar-cartography. The tops of their smooth heads barely measured up to the security guard's chest as they edged past him.
Holmes stepped forward to welcome them, offering a warm smile as he resisted the impulse to lower himself to one knee. Despite their size, he was aware that the Tolraay were mature members of their species, and was careful not to treat them as he would human children.
"Svenn Holmes," Jarem observed.
"That's right," Holmes confirmed, recognising Jarem purely due to the fact that his pale skin was slightly darker than Torem's, "This is Lieutenant Maxini."
"Hello," the helmsman said with a slightly forced smile.
"We'd like to show you some maps of this region," the EI director explained, gesturing for the security guard in the doorway to leave, "Dismissed."
The SDF officer inclined his head in silent acknowledgement, stepping back into the corridor and allowing the door panel to slide back into place.
"We will comply," Tolem answered after a brief glance of confirmation with his fellow.
"It isn't a question of compliance," Holmes said quickly, concerned that the Tolraay felt that they were being pressurized into assisting the humans, "We simply want to locate your homeworld so that we can take you home."
"We understand," Jarem assured him.
Holmes turned back to the central console, remaining on his feet as he manipulated the controls. "This is our current position," he informed everyone, a quiet hum emanating from the large primary screen as it powered up from standby mode.
An image quickly formed from harsh pixels, displaying a high-resolution image of the stars clustered around the Pioneer. A thin line carved its way across the screen, denoting the starship's course toward its eventual destination almost eleven months distant, with a flashing red highlight that indicated its position at that moment in time.
"You're looking at our most recent astrometric scan of this sector," Holmes said, "It was conducted just before we encountered the ion storm." He looked back at the two Tolraay. "Do you recognise any of the stars?"
"We do not," Jarem replied, almost regretfully, "Our vessel was far from home when it was caught in the storm."
Holmes sighed. The current astrometric representation on the main screen displayed space out to a radius of eight light-years from the Pioneer, so the Tolraay world obviously wasn't situated in the immediate vicinity.
Isabella Maxini tapped at a keypad, accessing the magnification controls. "I'm calling up a larger radius," she said, "Our long-range scans have detected the presence of solar systems at a maximum of eleven light-years, although we don't have any information about them."
On the screen, the image abruptly zoomed out so that a greater region of space became visible. In the upper-right corner, the edge of an azure nebula could be seen.
"There," Tolem spoke up, pointing with a thin arm, "That phenomenon is known to our people as K'Urat. Many centuries ago on our world, it was worshipped by several primitive civilisations as a deity."
Holmes scrutinised the visual depiction of the large cloud of dust and gas, glancing down at his controls in search of more data. "It appears to be a class two nebula," he muttered, recalling the various nebulae that the Earth Interests had studied via the Kepler since its launch six years earlier, "Is your homeworld beyond this K'Urat?"
Jarem nodded his large head. "Our planet is located on its perimeter," he told the humans.
"Eleven light-years," Maxini concluded with a short sigh, "Seven light-years off our present course." She glanced at her colleague. "It'll take us a few weeks to cover the distance between here and that nebula."
"But we don't appear to have much choice," Holmes responded, "Jarem and Tolem need to be taken home, and the detour would give us the opportunity to study a class two nebula at close range."
"Great," Maxini commented dryly.
Holmes smiled at the soldier's complete lack of enthusiasm at the prospect of examining the dust cloud. "Let's inform the captain," he said.
