Part 33 (2/2)

Aldriena used her override and shut down the communication interface completely. She was running. She didn't want to communicate or take any action that would risk her s.h.i.+p becoming compromised.

New panes exploded across her PV. Red ones. s.p.a.ce glowed outside Silvado's tiny view ports.

”Caralho!”

Synchronicity had gone up like a supernova. Aldriena's PV wavered erratically. She'd never seen that happen. Even when she was kicked in the head.

A nuclear strike. She swallowed. The Chinese had destroyed the station!

She felt a moment of panic. Would Silvado's EM s.h.i.+elding keep her electronics intact? If they didn't, she'd die, or be picked up by the Chinese.

No, I'd die first, she vowed.

Her PV cleared. She ran a diagnostics check. It reported a long list of anomalies in a tiny red font. But her basic systems appeared to be functional.

I guess the cold war is heating up. Why would they do that? Oh, of course. The Chinese didn't nuke the station. The UNSF did it to keep the stars.h.i.+p out of the hands of the Chinese.

Aldriena increased Silvado's thrust, pus.h.i.+ng her deep into her pilot's couch. The Chinese weren't likely to take the destruction of their prize lightly. They might well start shooting out of spite, even on civilian vessels. Aldriena wondered if the nuclear blast would inhibit their tracking capabilities.

She accelerated for another sixty seconds. No long lances of killing light reached out to incinerate her s.h.i.+p.

Aldriena let her hopes rise. Apparently, she was now the only soul in possession of the information gleaned from the alien vessel.

She wondered what Black Core would do with it.

end.

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