Book 5: Chapter 28: Wish Granted
Icarus
August 2321
Hub Zero
Four ships approached at high speed, then braked at a level of deceleration that left me boggled. The ships all but stopped instantly from a speed of several kilometers per second, then hit us with a SUDDAR scan.
“Eep. They are fast,” I said to Dae. “We should probably cross off running away as an option.”
“Uh-huh. Have you gotten a challenge?”
“Not yet. I imagine they’re—oh, wait, here we go.”
I’d just received a low-power radio burst. A quick inspection showed it to be the same general format as the ID packets with which the gate controllers responded. Which didn’t mean the payload would be comprehensible.
I responded with the packet I’d received from the other end of this gate. Not out of some deep strategy but simply because I couldn’t think of anything else to do.