Chapter Word Count: 5,216
Oops. I thought I'd actually posted this (and the next 10+ chapters) back in December/January 2020. Apparently not. With NaNoWriMo 2021 just around the corner I'm not sure how many chapters I'll have ready to post before November 1st, so we'll see what happens. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter.
Quinn watched on the comm screen as the ships took up equidistant positions around the shielded area. There were a dozen small thumps in the ship and small brightly lit objects started to fill in the gaps between the ships.
"All systems are go," Yola said. "Area quarantined. Permission to proceed."
"Permission granted," Jolie said. "Let's see what's behind that screen."
In space there's no noise but Quinn could almost imagine hearing the enormous sounds as the energy vampires inside the quarantine area started draining the energy away from the shrouded area. There would be the occasional flash as one of the taps pushed excess energy out to the force field being used for the quarantine.
"Power at ninety nine percent," Yola said. "Estimated completion, forty eight hours."
"That seems to be a long time," Quinn said, trying to see any change.
"That's how long it'll take if they don't add more energy to it," Jolie said. "Don't forget, this is being drained at a fantastic rate. The original vampire taps weren't designed to be used on this scale."
"So, we could actually use this to drain a sun," Quinn said.
"In a hundred thousand cycles," Hancock said. "Stars are huge energy engines. We don't have the ability to soak one up like a spill. This Bug shield may seem to be strong but it's only a fraction of the energy of a sun."
"We should have blasted it," Quinn's XO said.
"Which would have had the opposite effect," Hancock said. "We want to pull down their energy until they can't support that shield. Once it's gone there are a lot of things we can do."
"Ninety-eight percent," Yola said. "Energy pull still within acceptable limits."
"Too soon to see through the shield," Hancock said. "It'll probably be too hard to see through until at least forty percent."
"So, tomorrow?" Quinn said, frowning. "So we'll just sit here and watch?"
"We're also mapping the entire system," Jolie said. "We don't want any surprises once that nut opens."
"Looks like there's a dead planet in an outer orbit," Krem, the on-duty Comm officer said. "Scout Four is reporting signs of a dead civilization."
"What kinds of signs," Quinn asked.
"Energy fluctuations," Krem said. "But no life signs."
"So, anything?" Quinn said, returning to the bridge several hours later.
"We're down to fifty percent," Yola said, looking tired. "If they're going to attack it'll be soon."
"Or not at all," Hancock said. "Assuming they've noticed."
"Unlikely that they haven't," Jolie said. "We're pulling a lot of energy away. If they haven't noticed they're either dead or not alive in the first place."
There was a loud hum over the comm, for a brief moment.
"What was that?" Quinn asked.
"Something was probing us," Krem said, quickly making some adjustments. "Looks like they tried to use the comm links to do it."
"So they're in Hotep's systems?" Jolie said.
"No," Krem said. "The hum was caused by a subspace channel mismatch. Their comm channels don't appear to be compatible with ours."
"Do we even know if they use similar comm channels?" Quinn asked.
"The original comm channels were the result of research during the last Bug incursion," Hancock said. "It's likely we don't use them the same way as the Bugs but the original science behind them was based on equipment discovered in derelict Bug ships."
"So they could be listening in on us?" Quinn said, horrified.
"No," Yola said quickly. "The only thing we use is the science behind subspace comm channels. There's no way for them to listen in on our comms."
"Are the sensors showing anything there?" Quinn asked.
"There are distinct shapes," Yola said. "But that could be asteroids, not ships."
"Looks like we've gotten their attention," Hancock said. A large smooth object started poking out of the shield. Twice the size of the Hotep, it didn't resemble any ship Quinn had ever seen.
"Any comm traffic?" Jolie asked her comm officer.
"Dead silence," Krem said. "It's like it isn't there."
"But it's glowing with the same element the gallium sensors were detecting," Yola said.
"So, it's what we followed here, and likely what destroyed the Chandar system," Jolie said.
"Orders ma'am?" Hotep's XO said.
"Keep draining their energy," Jolie said. "We need to see everything. And prepare for firing."
"Yes, ma'am," she said. "Preparing for action."
"Still no comm traffic," Krem said. "But static is starting to build up around the ship."
"Energy down to thirty five," Yola said. "Getting a view inside now."
A grey object appeared on the screen. Floating in it were three small Bug ships, the size of Hotep, and two double the size of Flag.
"Those are large," Quinn said.
"They aren't fighting ships," Jolie said. "Must be gathering ships."
"And something is going to want what they've gathered," Yola said.
"So we can set a trap," Jolie said. "But first we need to deal with these ships."
"No signs of life on any of the ships," Yola said, as the shield completely disappeared. "No organic material matching know life profiles."
"Automated?" Jolie asked. "Autopilot or AI?"
"Unknown," Yola said. "Someone will have to go take a look."
"Which ship is the control center?" Quinn asked.
"We're picking up comm traffic, of a sort," Krem said. "It all seems to originate with that one." She pointed at the first ship they'd detected.
"You'll need to keep the other ships busy so we can board that one," Quinn said.
"How?" Jolie asked. "We removed their energy shield and they're just sitting there like they haven't even noticed."
"Just start shooting?" Quinn said. "That should get their attention. Just give us ten to get to that ship."
"Ten it is," Jolie said. "The boarding flat will be at the main troop hatch."
Quinn look over her two teams carefully as they waited for the all clear to get on their boarding float. They practiced ship to ship boarding drills on a frequent basis but it'd been a while since they'd boarded a hostile ship of an unknown type.
"Gold, you're with me," Quinn said to her five Gold troopers. "We'll head to the ship control center. Green, you need to find the engine rooms and take control of their propulsion. Keep them from getting away." She pulled up a map of the Bug ship. It was a best guess based on sensor readings, though they weren't always accurate.
"We'll go in here," she said, pointing at what looked like some sort of hatch. "Jeffers and Poll will blow the hatch. Everything will be just like we've practiced."
There were no signs of a pressure difference as the hatch blew, Quinn noticed. Normally, in a situation like this, venting a hatch to space resulted in a flash wave of atmosphere as the atmosphere escaped. Here there'd been nothing.
"Looks like a vacuum, Boss," Poll said. "And no lights."
"Okay Ladies," Quinn said. "You heard her. We're doing this in the dark."
Slipping past the jagged hatch edges, Quinn and Gold team oriented themselves and headed down a passageway that appeared to go towards the section of the ship they'd determined was the control center. Green team entered behind them and headed towards the Engine room.
"This is eerie," Pin said. "The Bugs must not live in this."
"Or they keep it airless during battle to make it harder for boarders," Poll said. "Has anyone ever been in one of these before?"
"Not while it was still mobile," Pin said. "All previous Bug ships were examined after they were destroyed, which almost never happened."
"This is a first," Jony said. "We're the first teams to go inside a Bug ship during combat."
"Not really much combat," Poll said.
"Hush ladies," Quinn said. "We're being watched."
"Where?" Pin said, swinging her suit light. "Ah, ceiling fixtures. Want us to take them out?"
"Any you see," Quinn said. "They should already know we're here. Blowing a hatch isn't very stealthy."
"Boss?" Xano, Green Leader said. "We're outside the engine compartment. No action so far."
"Just be careful," Quinn said, stating the obvious. "They know we're here. Expect a defensive response."
"Yes, ma'am," Xeno said, her tone saying 'do you think I'm stupid?'
"Something's headed our way," Pin said. "Feel the vibrations? Must be something big."
"These are huge corridors," Quinn said. "No one builds a ship with such large corridors unless they have a reason."
"They're Bugs," Jony said. "Do they need a reason?"
"Robots?" Pin said, as it appeared in front of them. "That's not a challenge." She aimed her suit blaster at the front robot and fired. There was no change. It kept coming.
"Maybe a little challenge," Pin said as she changed weapons and fired a burst of anti-armor rockets.
"Less talking, more shooting," Quinn said beside her as she opened fire on another of the robots.
"Not seeing any damage," Jony said.
"Looks like we'll need to get up close and personal," Quinn said. Shaking her hand, she released her suit's monofilament whip. "Everyone clear!"
"Gee, Boss," Pin said, stepping to the size and extending her own whip. "Shall we?"
Together they raced down the hall towards the robots. Quinn's first strike lopped off an arm, and her second cut a robot in half.
"Doesn't look like they know how to defend themselves," Pin said, after they'd destroyed the small party of robots.
"Maintenance droids?" Jony said.
"They don't have any type of weapon I recognize," Quinn said, looking down at the jumble of metal.
"Not expecting to be boarded?" Poll said.
"Not expecting company of any sort," Quinn said. "Cleaning crew of some sort."
"Probably planned to chuck us out an airlock," Pin said. "Like vermin."
"To the Bugs we probably are vermin," Quinn said. "No one has ever asked them what they think of us but it certainly isn't a friendly gesture to strip all of the resources from a system, even if it is unpopulated."
"What's that humming?" Quinn asked.
"Sorry, it's the Terawatt theme song," Tarky said. "Thought I was on mute."
"I really need to talk with Sophia," Quinn muttered to herself. "That Terawatt cult is spreading faster than I like."
"It's not a cult, it's a tv show," Tarky said. "It's even got a catchy theme song."
"Well, unless this Terawatt is going to show up and help us out, keep it off the combat channel," Quinn said.
"Yes, Boss," all of the troopers said in unison.
"Comedians," Quinn muttered. "Thought I asked for top of the line troopers for this expedition."
"You did," Pin said. "But they've all gotten hooked on that TV show."
"It's totally tera," Poll said, before giggling.
"It'll be totally something else if it distracts you from your job," Quinn said.
After silently traveling along empty corridors for ten minutes, they reached the hallway that their intel said the control center faced.
"Any signs of life?" Quinn asked.
"As dead as the rest of the ship," Pin said "Not a squeak at this end."
"What's it look like in the engine room?" Quinn asked Xeno over the battle channel.
"Lots of flashing lights," she said. "but nothing to write home about."
"Blow this door," Quinn said, pointing at the only door in the corridor that could be the control center.
"Ready when you are, Boss," Pin said standing off to the side.
"Go!" Quinn said. The door blew in and Gold team followed, Quinn in the lead.
"Boring," Poll said, once they'd looked around.
"Eye of Sauron?" Jony said, pointing at a large globe in the middle of the room that looked like a rotating eyeball.
"It doesn't seem to see us," Poll said. "Just some automated system."
"We're going to have to clear the whole ship, aren't we," Jeffers said.
"Yes," Quinn said.
"It'll take days," she said huffily.
"Just think fo the glory," Poll said. "You're on the first team to capture a Bug ship, or whatever this is."
"We'll need to take control of this ship," Quinn said.
It took them two days to cover the entire ship from top to bottom and make sure there were no actual Bugs hiding in the ship. In the process they'd discovered that the other ships were definitely controlled from the one they'd boarded.
"That was the most boring ship clearing ever," Poll said. "Not a single explosion or firefight. Just the occasional confused cleaning robot."
"We got lucky," Pin said. "The next Bug ship we run across might not be empty."
"They're all boring Bug strip mining ships," Jony said. "All automated. They fly into a system, set up shields, and strip it down for later use."
"So, your troopers are probably disappointed," Jolie said. "Two days of ship clearing and nothing more exciting than a cleaning robot gone amuck."
"They'll live," Quinn said. "And if we can turn this into a trap, they'll have all of the fighting they want."
"Unless the next Bug ships to show up are also robot ships," Jolie said.
"We learned a lot from this exercise. No one got hurt, which is always good," Quinn said, "and we have some Bug ships taken intact for the Shadows to examine."
"Unarmed," Jolie said.
"Well, no combat weapons," Quinn said. "But they have the tools they use to capture and strip mine a planetary system. Those will be valuable. And the Shadows should be able to figure out how the Bug's new cloaking devices work."
"We've got the ships," Jolie said. "Where to now?"
"A Shadow ship should take over examining the Bug ships, and we'll wait for the Bugs to show up to take them back. If they don't show up, we'll join the fleet watching the main Bug fleet."
"How will your troopers handle all of that excitement?" Jolie said.
"Unless the Bugs change tactics, my troopers aren't going to get to do much fighting. Unless the Bugs take over another populated system and we need to rescue it before they strip it."
"So, no Council plans to take on the Bugs with just troopers?" Jolie asked, nodding.
"We'd still need ships to get to them, and the fleet would have to pound them into submission first anyway. This is a very rare example, we hope, of being able to capture Bug ships with no casualties," Quinn said.
"That must have been disappointing," Rachel said, reading Quinn's report on the Chandar situation. "She went all the way out there and there was no real fighting."
"But she captured a small Bug strip mining fleet," Brittany said. "That's at least as valuable to our efforts as a battle."
"Why were all of the Bug ships automated?" Rachel asked.
"We can't answer that," Brittany said. "It wasn't a very sophisticated setup so they've only recently started doing that.
"So, the next mining fleet may have real Bugs on it," Rachel said.
"Possibly," Brittany said. "We have no way to predict that."
"Do you think there are other strip mining fleets out there."
"Well, now that we now what to look for, if there are we'll stop them.
"It's not just going to be the one Bug fleet, is it?" Rachel asked.
"We weren't told there would be more than one Bug fleet," Brittany said. "This makes things a bit more complex, but we'll adapt."
"Will it make your predictive model worse or better?" Rachel asked.
"It doesn't work that way," Brittany said. "I'll need to adjust it for the new aspect."
"How does it affect our chances," Rachel asked. "Are we better off?"
"Only time will tell," Brittany said. "The Hotep encountered some automated Bug ships and we've learned a few things about them, but nothing about how the Bugs behave in a tactical situation."
"Not exactly something to write epics about," Rachel said, disappointed.
"Nope," Brittany said with a small grin. "Sending in a boarding party to capture an automated mining fleet is not the stuff of which Hollywood action pictures are made.
"When will they be back, or close enough for the comms?" Rachel asked.
"Missing your snuggle bunny?" Brittany asked, smirking. "We should have comm relays set up along the border by the end of the month. And then you can talk with her all you want."
"But not in Blue territory," Rachel said, grumbling.
"Artie is working on that. The Blues are in worse shape than we thought. Their entire Council, and ruling class, was wiped out by the Bugs on their way through Blue territory. There's no one left willing to claim leadership."
"Why doesn't the Confederation just take them over then, like they did with us?" Rachel asked.
"Don't know," Brittany said. "Any idea Artie?"
"Nothing direct," Artie said. "Some believe that the Clans Council does not want another Clan to be under the control of the Confederation and are blocking efforts to efficiently handle the situation."
"We aren't under the control of the Confederation," Rachel said.
"We sort of are," Brittany said. "The Confederation has been very hands-off but they are still the ultimate authority over us, until the next meeting of the Council of Clans can approve our new leadership."
"When will that happen?" Rachel asked.
"Decades," Brittany said. "They aren't going to do it until we've handled our local Bug situation, that's for sure."
"I say we just take over Blue sector," Santana said, joining them on the comm.
"You have the outbound relays set up?" Brittany said, delighted.
"Nah," Santana said. "We're just back in range."
"You know we can't invade Blue sector, babe," Brittany said. "We don't have the resources."
"Well, as a police force for their sector, they're basically nonexistent. Their AI's have their fleet going around in circles tracking Bugs that aren't there. And they aren't taking care of business," Santana said. "Things would be better if we took over."
"We can't," Brittany said.
"Artie won't tell anyone, will you Artie?" Santana said.
"How goes operation 'Poke the Bear'?" Brittany asked. "Any reaction to your presence yet?"
"It's like they don't see us," Santana said. "I don't know how they could possible be missing that old clunker we have keeping station in their path. It's so loud it's giving me a headache."
"More robot ships?" Rachel asked. "Maybe all of the Bugs are robots?"
"No, that would be too easy," Santana said. "Robots wouldn't have defeated Blue Clan's fleet. Not much of a challenge but robots just don't have the flexibility."
"Some kind of AI?" Rachel asked.
"There would be signs of that," Brittany said. "A true AI, capable of the kind of fighting involved, would give off signs that we can see."
"So, you know when an AI is involved?" Rachel said.
"Their actions have a distinct 'flavor' to them that resonates with the model. Just like the Bugs and the different Clans," Brittany said.
"Does the Confederation know about this?" Rachel asked.
"They think it's just some mystical mumbo-jumbo," Brittany said, grinning mischievously. "They haven't been able to duplicate it."
"Good," Rachel said.
"They have good intentions," Brittany said, shrugging.
"No offense intended, Artie, but the Confederation has some of the most arrogant, snooty beings I've every communicated with," Rachel said. "Being AIs doesn't make them superior."
"None taken," Artie said.
"How is your other side project going?" Santana asked.
"The quest we sent Andy and Co. on?" Brittany said. "They're outside the range of our comm network, but Miranda has been dropping off reports."
"That's handy," Santana said. "Any progress?"
"Nothing of note," Brittany said. "The Prophets are being elusive."
"Or they don't exist," Santana said. "And you sent them on a wild goose chase."
"They exist," Brittany said. "They just don't want to be found."
"You're not going to win the bet," Santana said.
"Ye, I am," Brittany said. "Just because you don't think they exist doesn't mean they don't."
"They're not leprechauns," Santana said.
"Leprechauns?" Rachel said, puzzled.
"Leprechauns don't exist," Santana said. "It's a thing. Like unicorns."
"We've modified several long range sensors," Brittany said, recording a message for Quinn and her teams. "We've confirmed that there are several smaller Bug fleets that passed through Blue territory without being detected."
"Too bad we can't find out where they went after that," Santana added. "They hit the edge of Blue sector and just disappeared," she said. "Whatever they are doing hasn't shown up on any of our sensors."
"She's not going to be happy about that, San," Brittany said, pausing the message recording. "We know more Bugs are out there but have no idea where they are? That leads to Unhappy Q."
"Well, the Blues were crap at fighting the Bugs but they shouldn't have been taken apart like that. The Bugs outmaneuvered them right from the beginning," Santana said.
"And they'll do the same to us if we don't find them," Brittany said. "They could be within striking distance and we'd never know it."
"Well, we just have to find them," Santana said. "That gallium trick is useful, but it obviously isn't perfect. The Bugs we found must have switched to another fuel source that doesn't show up on those modified sensors."
"Even hidden like that, they're still a year from the closest habitable system," Brittany said, "but there are other systems they could strip before we noticed."
"We've now got that mining fleet your wiz kids can dismantle," Santana said. "Won't that help?"
"First they have to get out there," Brittany said. "We aren't bringing those ships into our sector intact."
"So, set up a research facility out in no-mans land," Santana said. "Or use the one you already have."
"Research facility?" Brittany said, winking at her. "What research facility?" She turned on her intel shields.
"We do know how you think," Santana said. "We'd be more surprised if you didn't have several hidden research bases."
"Well, don't mention them to anyone," Brittany said. "Please? You, Quinn, and Rachel have clearance, and Sue, of course, but no one else needs to know they exist."
"I won't say anything," Santana said. "I am curious what research you think should be secret."
"Just the usual," Brittany said, shrugging. "Research that is too dangerous to be done in-system or that we don't want the other Clans or the Confederation to know about."
"Ah, so that is where all of those science candidates have been disappearing to," Santana said.
"You know how I feel about having to share all of our secrets with the Confederation, and the other Clans," Brittany said. "It's also going to be useful to have bases the Bugs don't know about."
"You think we have Bug spies?" Santana said. "Who would even work with them?"
"The Red Pirates?" Brittany said. "There's been some suspicious traffic out on the rim. It looks like they are trying to communicate with the Bugs."
"Good luck with that one," Santana said. "If the Bugs were willing to communicate we might have negotiated with them."
"The Bugs don't communicate with anyone," Brittany said. "They're like locusts. They cut through our galaxy without stopping, every couple thousand cycles."
"The Red Pirates have never been very smart," Santana said. "If they were smart they wouldn't be pirates."
"Let me finish this message to Quinn and I'm all yours," Brittany said.
"You're all mine anyway," Santana said, smirking. "Q has nothing to do with it."
"What did Lady Shadow say?" Jolie asked Quinn.
"She's found evidence of other Bug movement through Blue sector," Quinn said. "But the gallium trick stopped working when they hit our border."
"That isn't good," Jolie said. "So, are we going to pursue them?"
"As soon as one of her Shadow teams reaches us and takes possession of the Bug ships, we're to head to the last know coordinates of one of the other Bug fleets and investigate it. Sorry."
"Not your fault you needed a ship," Jolie said. "We serve at the pleasure of the Council, which means we do whatever you need us to do. Besides, it'll put us in comm range again, and that'll help moral."
"I'm sure chasing Bug ghost ships wasn't what you want to be doing," Quinn said.
"Well, we could be out there mapping some of those empty systems," Jolie said. "It's not like there's anything more exciting going on right now. The main Bug Fleet is still moving slowly into our sector, and Lady Air's attack plans are still being refined. It'll be another six months before we start attacking them. So being out here with you and chasing other Bugs is much better. At least we are doing something."
"We'll need to pick up several more teams before we do that," Quinn said. "Our little squadron doesn't have enough troopers if we actually run into hostile Bugs."
"You're the boss," Jolie said. "Are they meeting us somewhere or do we need to pick them up."
"The troop ship Alepsos will meet us," Quinn said. "They'll be joining us. The rest of Gold and Green Teams, and Blue, Red, and Black Teams will be on board."
"So, the Hotep, Alepsos, Apolis , Braise, and the Polly are in this together," Jolie said. "Interesting combination of talents."
"You're still lead captain," Quinn said. "And our arrangement hasn't changed."
"Excellent," Jolie said. "Are we getting any Shadows as part of this?"
"The Alepsos has a Shadow recon team as part of its normal complement. They're very experienced," Quinn said. "Though typical Shadows."
"So, obnoxious and mouthy?" Jolie said.
"Exactly," Quinn said. "But they should be useful."
"Anything else I should know?" Jolie said.
"No," Quinn said. "Business as usual. Keep us afloat and we'll deal with things when they need the up close and personal touch."
"Got it," Jolie said. "And Lady Air?"
"She's still your boss," Quinn said. "Nothing there has changed. She hasn't given me your ships. This is a combined op."
Quinn walked along the deck with Jolie, inspecting the newly arrived troopers. There were now too many troopers for her to say that she'd worked and fought with all of them but she knew the team leaders, having selected them personally.
"Colorful," Jolie said, looking across the rainbow colored troopers.
"All unique in some way," Quinn said. "Makes it easier to identify your team mates in heavy action."
"Not very stealthy," Jolie said. "What do you do for night operations."
"The suits all have camouflage modes for different environments. But we like to go into battle in full color, so to speak," Quinn said.
"I can't wait to see it," Jolie said. "Not that I want you to have to go into battle against the Bugs. But it must be amazing to see."
"Yes, it is," Quinn said. "We do have recordings of training operations where there are several thousand troopers on the field at once, but it isn't quite the same thing as a real battle."
"Who are they?" Jolie asked, pointing at a small group in gray hard suits that were slimmer and lighter looking than the colorful troopers.
"Janice, Joy, nice of you to join us," Quinn said. "Life wasn't exciting enough already?"
"Lady Q," Janice said, nodding her head respectfully. "We heard you needed the best, and we're it."
"Modest," Jolie said.
"They do have a lot of experience dealing with the unusual," Quinn said. "I saw your orders yesterday," she said to them. "You could have gotten your own ship?"
"But then we'd have to be boring and keep everything ship-shape," Joy said. "Lady Shadow has certain expectations for her ship captains. We would have mutinied after a week of being in charge."
"No mutiny on my ships," Jolie said.
"No, ma'am," Janice said, smirking. "No mutinies from us."
"And keep the practical jokes to a minimum," Quinn added. "I expect you to set a good example for your squads."
"Yes, Lady Q," Joy said. "No mutinies, minimum practical jokes, and good examples. We can do that."
Quinn nodded solemnly. "There will be a team leader meeting after this. I expect the two of you and your seconds to be there."
"Yes, ma'am," they said.
Quinn and Jolie continued with their inspection.
"Those two Shadows are going to be trouble," Jolie said. "I'm glad they're your responsibility and not mine."
"They're very good at landing on their feet," Quinn said. "A little too independent to make good troopers but Lady Shadow has sent us her best. I'm a little surprised she allowed both of them to come."
"I've had Shadows on my ship before," Jolie said, "but they usually keep to themselves."
"Janice and Joy believe in mingling," Quinn said. "And they don't take themselves too seriously. Though, if we get them killed, Lady Shadow won't be happy with us."
"Lady Q, you should probably see this," Janice said, holding out her tech tablet. "The Bugs are getting busy."
"How so?" Quinn asked, looking at the data on the tablet.
"We've picked up additional signs of movement," Janice said. "It looks like they are all converging on that system."
"That's a lot of ships to suddenly appear," Quinn said.
"So, they stripped several systems as they drove through Blue territory," Joy said. "It isn't obvious unless you're really looking for them."
"No one missed these systems?" Quinn asked, surprised.
"They're all dead systems," Janice said. "They haven't had any activity in several thousand cycles."
"There must be something they want from those systems," Quinn said. "There was Chandar, where they seem to have stripped all gallium from. What was special about these other systems?"
"We think they're stripping specific minerals so no one else gets it. Something that affects their ships," Janice said.
"So, they took all of the gallium in the Chandar system and it can be used to penetrate their shields. So each of the systems has some strategic material they don't want us to have?" Quinn said. "What other materials are they trying to corner the market on?"
"We're still following their trails back," Joy said.
"I'm assuming you aren't telling Blue Clan that you are digging around their sector," Quinn said.
"Of course, Boss," Janice said. 'What they don't know won't kill us."
"They can go back to sleep and hibernate until the next Council of Clans meeting. No reason for them to get excited."
"There are seven planetary systems, including Chandar, that have signs of the Bugs stripping them," Joy said. "The other six have been abandoned for centuries. Whatever material they had that the Bugs wanted wasn't something anyone else appears to have wanted."
"If we assume each system was visited by similar sized mining fleets, it's a sizable number of Bug ships."
"A second fleet," Joy said. "Which could be heeded this way."
"The sooner we find them, the better," Quinn said. "Do we know anything about any armaments they might have?"
"Just their mining equipment," Joy said. "Those ships at Chandar were basically defenseless. Unless you got in their way and they rode right over you."
"And we expect to see six more flights like that," Quinn said.
"Current projections say yes," Janice said.
"How far away from here is the predicted planetary system they seem to be aiming for?" Quinn asked, frowning.
"It's several planetary leagues away," Joy said. "We can be there in less than a day."