The Dark Imbalance Read Online Free PDF

ignoring hails as you instructed, although their numbers are increasing—as is the number of ships following us. There are eight currently matching our course, and I have detected emissions from another five suggesting that they might also attempt to do so. No one has actually made a move against us; although it is difficult to project the precise makeup of the regions ahead of us, I am doing my best to keep us out of any regions where forces are massing. But we can’t keep this up indefinitely; sooner or later, we will miscalculate.”
    Roche could see what Kajic was saying: they ran the risk of running headlong into a trap. “So you suggest we stop running?”
    “No, Morgan. There’s something else.” Kajic changed the view in the screen to a recent telemetry display. The eight ships tailing them were marked clearly in red; a handful in yellow were the ones he suspected were about to join the convoy. As Roche watched, one green dot darted into view from off-screen, angling down and toward her to match velocities with the white Ana Vereine at the center.
    “Is that real-time?” she asked.
    “Yes. This happened only a minute ago. I should point out that I am currently accelerating at seventy percent of my design tolerance.”
    The green dot braked effortlessly to a relative halt a hundred kilometers away. “What the hell is it?” Roche asked.
    “A large drone or singleship. I’m not familiar with the design or its markings. But we clearly can’t outrun it.”
    “Has it tried to contact us?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Are we camouflaged?”
    “Mildly, only in order to give the appearance of trying. Our position has been well-known since we arrived and we are currently too well-observed to successfully drop out of sight.”
    She nodded. “Drop the pretense, then. Hail that drone, or whatever it is. I want to talk to it.”
    Kajic’s hologram abruptly dissolved.
    Roche stood, and Cane followed her out of the small office. “As you said, Morgan: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because they haven’t threatened you yet doesn’t mean that they won’t.”
    “At the moment, that’s good enough for me.” She assumed her usual station at the first officer’s post. “Maii? Anything?”
     said the reave.
    “I have a lock on it,” said Haid. “Its E-shields and hypershields are down.”
    “I doubt it’s defenseless,” Roche said, watching a close-up of the craft on the main screen. It resembled a mushroom in shape: flat, circular cap with a trailing stem five meters long and two meters wide. There were no visible drive outlets or weapons ports. “Whoever it belongs to, they’re more advanced than us.”
    “I have a reply,” said Kajic. “The drone is a relay.”
    “Open a direct line. Let its source talk to me.”
    Seconds later, a voice issued from the bridge’s speakers:
    “Welcome to Sol System, Morgan Roche.” The female voice was precise and clipped, and unfamiliar. “The Interim Executive Pristine Council has been expecting you.”
    “You’re not the only ones, it seems.”
    “Your arrival has created something of a disturbance. As the news spreads, we expect the situation to worsen.”
    “Meaning?” Roche wished for an image to give her something to focus on.
    “In case you failed to notice, the atmosphere in this system is somewhat tense. There have been many skirmishes in the last few days—even several attempts at outright war. As we speak, Olmahoi forces are preparing to engage the Kesh—acting on information you brought with you. You are a catalyst, Roche, a destabilizing influence. The council would ask you to restrict your activities before you cause more damage.”
    “Is that a request or an instruction?”
    The woman’s voice sounded amused. “It is an appeal,” she said, “to your better judgment.”
    Roche was silent for a moment. “Perhaps you should tell me who you are and