The two aircars that Commander McGrath had lined up prior to the excursion to the air terminal were thankfully still waiting near one of the main public transit arteries serving the traveling population of Mycenae Ceti Six. With Annora’s crew covering them, Shea’s party scrambled inside. Sergeants Alexander and Dupree arrived moments later and took the shotgun posts in both cars. McGrath grabbed the controls of the lead vehicle and swerved into traffic.

The whisper of superconductive travel filled both vehicles as the Argent officers and crew checked and re-checked their weapons. Annora leaned over her seat.

“How did you know we were looking for you?”

Shea didn’t respond. Her eyes were like saucers.

“Answer me!” Annora snapped. “Why did you come to the air terminal?”

One of her bodyguards replied calmly. “We were told there was someone looking for us.”

“And that’s all it takes for you to show up in broad daylight in a public place with absolutely no protection at all?”

“We were doing our jobs!” the bodyguard shot back. “We’re in charge when it comes to Shea’s safety!”

“Hold on a minute,” Ensign Ahearn interrupted. He leaned over to speak to the bodyguard. “This whole operation here is under military jurisdiction. We have orders from the president himself. This nice lady here is the ranking search and rescue officer aboard the battleship Argent. She’s the only person in three light years who can get you home alive, so my advice would be to stop talking now.”

The bodyguard didn’t look amused.

“Who told you there was someone looking for you?”

Shea still didn’t answer.

“Shea? Who told you?”

“It was an electronic message,” she said quietly.

“What kind of message?” The fire in Annora’s eyes resembled an angry mom.

“They sent me a map and said someone wanted to help me do a public appearance to appeal for peace.”

That one even drew a roll of the eyes from the driver.

“Alright,” Annora sighed. “From now on, you don’t do anything without my permission. You don’t talk to anyone. You don’t answer any electronic communications and you don’t go anywhere. Is that clear?”

The bodyguard still looked more than a little impatient with his sudden removal from management. Shea nodded.

“If you get an electronic communication I want to see it before you do anything else, is that clear?”

Shea nodded again.

Annora activated her commlink. “Erin? What’s our ETA to point Charlie?”

“Six minutes.”

“Very well. Proceed on course and schedule. Joss, what’s our air surveillance status?”

“Probe three is tracking our position. All stations are nominal. Commander McGrath’s estimate is accurate. We should reach our alternate ground transport in–”

The inside of the aircar lurched forward. Debris ricocheted off nearby street fixtures. Shea screamed as the buzz of an electric discharge weapon reported again. A fireball vanished into the distance behind the vehicle.

Annora reactivated her commlink. “Commander, we’re under attack! Evasive maneuvers!”

The two bodyguards pulled Shea down to hide behind her seat back. Sergeant Alexander, who occupied the aft-most bench in the car’s interior with Sable, drew his combination long-range pistol and lowered the automatic window. Two more orange bolts of electrical energy flashed by as he leaned out the window. Two darkly-colored aircars were pursuing Doverly’s formation, and one of them was gaining. Along its passenger side, a gunman in the window aimed at the Sergeant. Alexander fired four shots. Two hit the car’s windshield. One missed. The fourth hit the car’s right-side safety rangefinder. Pieces of metal and composite exploded everywhere, instantly tumbling into the road behind the chase.

McGrath swerved left, and Doverly’s car followed. Alexander tried to withstand the G forces but had to reposition himself to aim his weapon again. The tree-lined roadsides flashed by as the chase accelerated to reckless speeds. Overhead, probe three dove and swerved in an attempt to keep the two alliance aircars in sight. The pursuing vehicles stayed with the fleeing aircars. A barrage of high-energy fire sliced through the air over Alexander’s head. He returned fire, striking the pursuing vehicle’s forward frame. The special forces marine recognized the lead pursuit vehicle had some kind of navigational shielding that was deflecting his pistol fire. He glanced back inside the car. Sable was sitting politely, tongue lolling, watching the road go by.

“We’re going to need heavier weapons!” Alexander shouted before leaning out again and trying to line up a decent aim at the pursuing shooter.

Commander McGrath heard the Sergeant’s warning over the communications net and turned right before flooring the accelerator. The two aircars howled up the rural street, past the trees and into an open area leading towards the nearby foothills. It was fairly late in the day, and the commander recognized the setting sun gave her some advantages. She put the car on automatic operation for a moment and keyed a security sequence into her handheld. Protocols and passwords were exchanged between probe three, McGrath’s commlink and transponder and one of the concealed Superjack fighters nearly 12 miles away. The lethal spacecraft’s interior automation console lit up. A stream of green command directives scrolled up the screen until a commit option appeared. McGrath’s signal activated the autosystems and the fighter’s engines began to whine with their power-up sequence.

Suddenly the screen on Annora’s handheld went black. A moment later, the unmistakable visage of a Sarn noble of some kind appeared.

“Commanderrrr Doverleeee I presume.”

Annora frowned. “Whom am I addressing?”

“I am First Scale Yalaa, captain of the Imperial cruiser Utal. You have something I want, commander. Ssssurely we can come to an agreement.”

“I didn’t know the emperor let his pets travel this far from home.”

“You might be surprised, commander. Our realm grows even as we speak.”

“If you’re so intent on taking your prize, why only send two cars and one mediocre shot with a power rifle?”

“Why commander, you haven’t figured out why we’re only chasing you and not trying to catch you?”

Realization dawned. Annora activated her commlink, but it was too late. The mine detonated between the two aircars. The pursuers watched as the vehicles somersaulted trailing dirt and burning smoke. Fires surrounded the wreckage in the late day sun.