Concepcion watched a moment, then her handheld vibrated. She put it to her ear and answered it.
Edimar's voice was rushed and panicked. "It's coming back," she said. "The pod. It's already close and moving fast. We have about twenty-eight minutes before it reaches the debris cloud."
Concepcion leaped forward to the holotable and swiped her hand through the holospace. The video feeds disappeared. "Show me," she said.
The people around her recoiled, sensing her alarm. "What is it?" asked Selmo.
A system chart with dots of light appeared in the holospace. One light was marked EL CAVADOR. Other smaller dots of light immediately around the ship represented debris. Concepcion ignored those and focused instead on a distant dot of light off to the side, alone out in space. As she watched, a computer-rendered line representing the ship's trajectory extended from the dot across the holospace and landed directly on El Cavador.
The crew stared. They all knew what it meant.
"How much time do we have?" asked Selmo.
"Less than twenty-eight minutes," said Concepcion.
"Everyone to stations," said Selmo. "Move!"
Selmo stayed by her side while the crew hurried to their workstations. Dreo entered from the corridor and flew to the holotable, coming in from the crow's nest. Concepcion spoke into the handheld. "Watch the pod's progress, Edimar. If it changes speed or its trajectory notify me immediately." She ended the call and turned to Dreo and Selmo. "What are our options?" she asked.
"Hard to say," said Selmo. "We don't know what we're up against. We know next to nothing about this pod."
"We know it destroyed the Italians," said Dreo, "one of the best defended clans in the Belt. We know it's lethal. We know the Italians' death wasn't an accident. The pod destroyed four ships, not just one. You can't chalk that up as a mistake. It wiped them out. This was an intentional kill."
"Agreed," said Selmo. "But we don't know if it considers us a threat as well."
"It's heading straight for us," said Dreo. "It's not coming here to play a hand of cards. It likely thinks we're part of the Italians. And for whatever reason it considered the Italians a threat. We don't know why, but it's probably safe to assume that the Italians didn't provoke it. That would be foolish. The Italians wouldn't endanger themselves. They'd play it cautiously. Which would suggest that this thing killed them indiscriminately. But in my mind that isn't even the question we need to answer. The 'why' is irrelevant right now. We need to know the 'how.' How did it wipe them out? What are its weapons capabilities? Can it attack from long range? Are we already within its reach? Consider the debris. The pieces of wreckage aren't clean cut. The edges aren't straight. This doesn't look like laser work. It looks like explosions, like something ripped the ships apart. How did it do that? And more importantly how do we defend against it?"
"Maybe we can't," said Selmo. "Unless the pod attacked and destroyed the Italians incredibly fast, the Italians would have fired back. They would have given the pod everything they had. Yet their weapons, which are much stronger than ours, apparently had little to no effect on this thing. What makes us think we can take it down when the Italians couldn't?"
"Then what do you suggest?" asked Dreo. "We can't run. The pod's too fast. It would catch us easily. Plus running only makes it harder to defend ourselves or to hit it with the lasers."
"If the pod thinks we're with the Italians," said Selmo, "if we're an enemy by association, then perhaps we should move out of the debris cloud. If we distance ourselves from this place, the pod might disassociate us from the Italians and leave us alone."
"If we move out of the cloud, we'll be exposed," said Concepcion. "The debris is the best defense we have right now. It provides some cover and it likely throws off the pod's sensors."
"If it even has sensors," said Dreo.
"Point taken," said Concepcion. "We need information about this pod, and the only people who can provide it are the survivors inside the wreckage." She punched a command into her handheld and called Bahzim, who was supervising the effort outside. When he answered, she told him the situation and asked if there was any way to speak with the survivors.
"The only way to communicate with them is by light board," said Bahzim. "We write, and they give simple responses, nodding their head or writing words on the glass of the hatch one letter at a time."
"We don't have time for that," said Dreo. "Look, these survivors are hindering our maneuverability. We won't be able to move around the debris field quickly if we're moored to a massive hunk of wreckage. They're an albatross. I hate to be the one to say this, but we need to consider cutting them loose."
"Absolutely not," said Concepcion.
"We could come back and get them when it's over," said Dreo.
"They can't survive without us," said Selmo. "We're sup
plying them with oxygen."
"Think," said Dreo. "These are nine total strangers. Are we willing to handicap ourselves and risk everything for people we don't know?"
"They're not strangers," said Concepcion. "The moment we started helping them they became a part of this crew. End of discussion. Selmo, have the miners remove the pylons and pull the wreckage in close with the mooring cables. That will give us more mobility. Dreo, contact the quickship. Get Victor and Segundo and Toron back here immediately."
Dreo hesitated, as if he would argue further, then went to his workstation.
Concepcion turned to Selmo. "We need a better defensive position. I want us behind a large chunk of debris if there is one. Then put our best men on our five pebble-killers."