Version Innocent

  ***

  Harding was on the bridge of The Golden Rule when the Captains final words came over the speaker. “It’s exploding! Get us out of here, Nav!” the Captain shouted and then there was static. Damon had Julia, his companion, break the connection.

  “Get the sensors on line. I want to know what happened,” Damon ordered the SS systems of The Golden Rule. The viewers and the central three-D display began to show information to him. The bright light of an explosion arrived with the final words. Then a second later a second explosion, not quite as bright as the first. The sensors combed through the heavy particle flux that came at them a few minutes later. The SS system drew a simple conclusion: antimatter reaction on a large scale.

  Damon already knew what it was. He knew that the Powel had about a half kilogram on board, and judging by the intensity of the first explosion, at least two or three times that much had detonated before. The surface team was certainly lost, and that infuriated Damon. But on the other hand, his problems were now over. The troublesome three and the perpetrator of the virus attack-the only one that could reveal his involvement in the murders-were gone.

  It hadn’t ended as he would have liked, but it certainly solved some problems he hadn’t wanted to deal with. He continued to scan as the brightness slowly faded. Harding ordered The Golden Rule to slow and set course to pick up the buoy. It would undoubtedly contain a lot of useful information. It was too bad Agent Dawson hadn’t been able to uplink his activities on the surface, the bug implanted in Sam 6.7 didn’t have the power to reach him at his distance. Damon desperately wanted to know what had transpired there.

  After The Golden Rule had changed directions and was approaching the buoy, the SS system informed him that it was seeing an infra-red signature very much like the one seen on the strange ship at Europa. Dawson brought it up on the screen. It was the same signature, all right, but much larger. Dawson had the SS system compute the object’s speed and heading.

  “The craft is accelerating a one hundred g’s,” the SS system reported. “It is approximately half the mass of this vessel.”

  Damon crashed his fist on the armrest of his chair. “Damn them! The explosion was just a cover for their escape.” But that wasn’t the worst of it. That ship could be carrying all the things he feared. The three of them, Storm 6.7, a large amount of antimatter and uncontrolled nanotechnology and any technology derived there from. The problem Damon had been so glad was solved only minutes ago was now rearing its ugly head, and it had a bite. He couldn’t catch that ship. He couldn’t even come close…but it had to be stopped before it could deliver any of those feared things. Or worse, prove he’d been involved in the deaths back on Earth.

  Julia, have the ship pick up the Powel’s buoy and set course for Earth, at maximum acceleration. I’ll ride it out in my acceleration bed. Send word to the Fleet when we’re in range. They’re to mobilize, I’ll explain their mission when we arrive. Damon ordered.

  Of course, Damon. The SS system informs me that the acceleration and direction of the vessel will take it out of this solar system.

  That was a glimmer of hope. Perhaps they would just leave. Perhaps the problem would solve itself. If they never returned…and by the time they did, he could probably have had his labs figure out the trick of that propulsion system. Maybe there would be time.

  Julia, belay that order to have the fleet mobilized. We will still head back at full acceleration, and have the SS system monitor that vessel. If it makes any course change to return to this system, send the mobilization orders.

  Of course. We will intercept the buoy in two hours and fifteen minutes.

  Damon sat back in his chair, relieved. Perhaps this wouldn’t be the disaster he’d expected. He would come out on top. He always did, and as long as he was the only one who could build the machines, he always would be.