Chapter 9
The Phoenix waited quietly in orbit, hiding behind the Earth's Moon. They tracked the Spectran ship quietly on their radar.
Although they were capable of using all of the equipment on the Phoenix, navigation and radar was Princess' specialty, and weaponry was Jason's. Mark, Keyop and Tiny all knew that they were poor substitutes in those areas. They all would have felt better to be a complete team of five, but that wasn't possible now.
The ship appeared on their viewscreen. Even as it approached Zark had been unable to give them any information about it. It appeared that Spectra had developed some new cloaking and stealth technology that made scans of the incoming ship impossible. Only it's hyperdrive signature marked it as a Spectran ship.
'Well that,' thought Mark, 'and the big Spectran devil logo on its side.'
As soon as the ship was in range, Tiny performed a slingshot maneuver around the Moon and ended up directly behind it, practically breathing down its neck. If it had had a neck. Unlike the usual Spectran mechas, this one was actually shaped like a spaceship instead of a creature.
"Lock Bird Missiles!" shouted Mark. Keyop readied the missile launchers while Mark targeted the ship. "Jason usually makes this look so easy!" he muttered.
Finally the ship was within the targeting scanners. Strangely, it had ignored the Phoenix and had continued its path towards the Earth without attacking G-Force.
Mark waited until he had the ship directly in his crosshairs. Quickly he depressed the red firing button.
He was too late. The ship swung away just as the missile sped by. Moving into hyperspeed, the Spectran vessel sped away.
"Full pursuit!" commanded Mark.
"You got it!" cried Tiny as he kicked the Phoenix into high gear.
None of them noticed the small pod that the ship had ejected immediately before its sharp turn. The pod entered the Earth's atmosphere and descended to the surface of the planet.
It seemed that the Spectran ship had suddenly taken on new capabilities. It zoomed at hyperspeed back towards its home base. It was all Tiny could do to keep up.
"Why is it so fast now?" asked Mark. "When it came here it was moving like a turtle and now it's a match for the Phoenix!"
"Brrrrrt, doop… scared of us!" suggested Keyop.
"No. We've shot Bird Missiles at Spectran ships before. And they didn't even try to return fire." pondered Mark. "And they're leaving so quickly. That must mean…"
"They've already accomplished their mission." suggested Tiny.
"I think you're right big guy." said Mark. "But what was their mission?"
As the ship fled Federation space, the Phoenix flashed by Riga and various other planetary systems. Suddenly Keyop let out an excited yell.
"Brrrt! Princess!" he shouted.
"What?" exclaimed Mark.
"Brrrt! Getting signal! Princess!" Keyop explained. "Doot… oh no! Gone!"
Mark rushed over to the navigational computer. He couldn't find any sign of whatever Keyop had detected. It was obviously behind them.
They could go back to check on this signal. Or they could continue to purse the Spectran ship.
"Commander, the Spectran vessel has left Federation space." reported Tiny.
Mark made his decision. "Then let's go back and find that signal Keyop detected."
"Roger!" shouted Tiny.
Tiny executed a perfectly timed turning maneuver and sped back the way they had come. Mark and Keyop kept their eyes focused on the radar screen.
"There!" shouted Keyop excitedly.
Mark analyzed the signal. It was definitely coming from Princess' communicator. But where was it? She was apparently using a homing signal instead of a Birdscramble. Homing signals were meant for close range and were difficult to locate further away.
"Triangulate its position Keyop!" ordered Mark.
Tiny flew around the area to help Keyop get a lock on the signal.
"Doop… got it!" Keyop reported. "Coming from…. brrrt… garbage capsule?"
Mark adjusted the viewscreen to show the source of the signal. It was definitely a garbage capsule. The kind of thing that the team would never notice under normal circumstances.
Except that this one was emitting a G-Force homing signal.
"Retrieve that capsule!" ordered Mark.