HAWK

CHAPTER NINE: WORM (3/5)

The den flickered briefly before a miniature sun burst into existence at the centre of the room, the size of Kas's fist. The name 'PRIMI' rotated above it in small white text. Encircling it were five coloured rings spanning the width of the room. The innermost one was purple. Kas saw the small planet, Xeo, orbiting along its path. The small pink and blue planet was quite beautiful to observe, but it was said to be hell on the surface, hence its nickname, The Inferno.

The second circle was orange and showed planet Vesina's trajectory. Vesina was only slightly bigger than Lysan and was the third most populated world after Holgar.

Lysan was the third planet out riding along a bright blue circuit. Kas spotted its moon, Polo, orbiting around it.

The fourth circle was red and was unique in that it contained two objects, though neither of them were planets. Selva and the IRIS followed the same course, with the IRIS leading the way and Selva lagging about a million miles behind.

And finally, there was Holgar, Kas's home and Primi's largest inhabited planet, tracking along a large green circle and currently hovering beside the door.

'This just shows the orbits,' Dante said. 'It's not to scale.'

'I know, I've seen a solar system model before.'

'Glad to hear it. Mr Whiskers, add the model of the Calista.' A small replica of Kas's ship appeared out of thin air, just to the side of Lysan. 'Now apply the timestamp of the Calista's arrival at Selva.'

The Calista, along with the rest of the orbiting bodies, suddenly rotated around the room like a mechanical clock running at high speed. They each found their new positions and stopped dead in the air. By sheer chance, Selva and the Calista were now right in front of Kas.

'Mr Whiskers, calibrate the databeam to the Calista's model and run it through Audio Tracer.'

The terrible, familiar noise that was the databeam shrieked through the air like a murderous scream. It didn't seem to bother Kas anymore. She was fascinated to see that the sound had been converted into a visual audio wave. Blue pulses were rippling away from the Calista like it was creating the noise itself, but the ripples coming from one side were much brighter and bolder than the rest. Kas watched one in particular as it rode right past her and sailed towards the far wall. She glanced at Dante and caught her frowning.

'What's wrong?'

'Mr Whiskers,' Dante said over the noise. 'Mute.' The sound disappeared instantly, leaving only the blue waves as a visual reminder of the databeam. 'I don't understand. Maybe it didn't work properly.'

'Why not?'

'Because look at where the waves are going. There's nothing out there.'

'Can you widen the star-map out any more?'

'I can but there's no point. Mr Whiskers, zoom out twenty percent.'

The entire model of the solar system suddenly shrank, in doing so revealing another orbit around Primi.

'The asteroid belt,' Kas whispered.

'Exactly, there's nothing out there. It has to be a mistake.'

'No. Look at the waves. They're not going over or under the belt - they're going right through it.'

'You want to know what I think? I think the signal was sent from some kind of satellite. Someone dispatched an orbital transmitter to Selva and instructed it to send the databeam remotely. That would remove the risk of being caught.'

'Maybe. But look at it. It's too convenient. Out of all of space, those waves are pointing us right to the asteroid belt. Gotta be worth a look, right?'

'You want to go out there? Kas, are you crazy? Asteroid belts are out of bounds.'

'Federation's a little bit busy to be watching one little ship going into the asteroid belt. Besides, I'm not meant to be on surface anyway. I need to get back out to space while it's still safe to do so, and I'd much rather go check out an asteroid belt than wait in line outside the atmosphere.'

'I would try and change your mind, but something tells me there would be no point.'

'None at all. Thanks for your help, Dante.'

'I suppose you'll be wanting to go get the kid?'

Kas opened her mouth to reply, then closed it.

'What?' Dante asked.

'I can't take her with me.'

'Kas...'

Kas started backing towards the door. 'It'll only be for a few days.'

'You're not leaving her here.'

'You two are going to get along great, trust me.'

'You're not leaving me with a kidnapped convent child and a rogue X1.'

Kas reached the door and stopped. 'You're right. Hik, time to go.' The X1 came to life and marched towards Kas. Dante's black cable snapped from his back and fell to the floor.

'Don't you dare open that door, Miss Balera!' Dante threatened.

Kas mouthed 'sorry' as she opened it and exited, closely pursued by the X1. Dante's howl of rage was cut short when the door closed behind them.