Hoping that Rook didn’t have a final bomb capable of shattering the complex, I used anti-gravity to send us upward and then moved forward, aiming toward the complex.

Over the comm, I said, “Ghost? We’re heading in your direction. Are you okay?”

“Well,” she said, “I don’t feel more hurt than I did before, but I still don’t feel good. Stop over the complex and I’ll aim for the jet.”

As we closed in on the complex, I checked the radiation levels of the smoke floating out of the complex, and they were high. I avoided them. The jet probably had enough shielding to handle it, but why take chances?

Rachel floated up through the floor as we slowed down and phased in, sitting down in the second row.

She shook her head, “That was crazy. I don’t know what that was, but I’m betting on nuclear. It didn’t destroy the building, but everything I could see inside was vaporized—including some of their people. They left without them.”

Moving the ship away from the smoking complex, I said, “Did you see anything in there? A lab or maybe another ‘Kilroy was here’?”

She shook her head, “I didn’t get too far past the big room with the lake when the explosion hit, but there was a room with technology. They’d grabbed devices from it and were taking anything they could on the way out. Don’t ask me what they got. I have no idea.”

Sitting a few seats away from her, Jaclyn said, “I think following them would be worth trying, but I don’t think we can count on the device we need being in whatever they grabbed before leaving.”

I nodded, “I feel like the best thing we can do once we get home is grab the Mystic and see if he can predict the best place we can go or just probe Rook’s brain. Maybe finding Rook’s place and having the Mystic read minds inside will get us what we want. All we need to know is where Magnus is. The connection portal will be close.”

Marcus grinned and rested his arms on the seat ahead of him, “I like that one. If we’re really lucky, they’ll never even know we were there.”

“That’s a thumbs up from me too,” Cassie said from the seat next to mine. “We should keep them in scanner range.”

“Yeah,” I said, aiming upward to follow Rook’s ships. They weren’t too far away and unlike us, they weren’t cloaked. I hoped they couldn’t and as long as I was at it, I hoped our cloak was as good as I thought it was.

Rook had to have heard we had one by now. Plus, even a minimally active fan of science fiction would have encountered the idea. I could only hope he hadn’t gone down the right avenues of research to reproduce it or detect ours.

It didn’t take long to leave the atmosphere (what there was of it), following Rook’s two ships out. I lowered the level of our shield to make the cloaking better in the atmosphere. The better protected we were, the more likely that the shield would generate a shimmer effect on radar.

Now hanging in the darkness of space, I was reminded of the Xiniti base. In terms of stellar distances, we weren’t far from it and its associated interstellar gate. Rook had to know about it. Would he go there?  It was an option.

UN efforts had tried and failed to meet Alliance standards to be allowed to use the gates, making international news, but Rook might have a way to use them.

I checked our sensor readings in the direction of the base and gate, wondering if I’d see anything interesting. I didn’t. Our sensors didn’t pick up any traffic by the gate—which was weird.

Earth was a restricted system according to the Alliance, but since it was inside the Human Ascendency and the Ascendancy also banned travel to it, it did get used. Merchants, military, and even alien passenger liners popped in on the way to somewhere else because it was one of the few safe transfer points within Ascendancy space.

I’d almost always seen traffic the few times I was out this far.

I considered actively scanning the area in addition to passive sensor use but dismissed it. Rook might notice that.

As I thought through my options for investigating without losing Rook’s ships or being detected, my implant notified me that I was receiving an ansible message from Xiniti high command and it wasn’t just me that was receiving it, it was everyone.

I didn’t need to see Marcus’ eyes widen, Jaclyn sit up straighter in her seat or Cassie let out a breath to know it.

Rachel, though, did, glancing around the cabin and saying, “Great. Don’t forget to mention what you decided when you’re done talking without me.”

We, meanwhile, were hearing the voice of Iktak Magtuktar, General Group Leader of Irregular Forces. In short, the voice of the Xiniti responsible for alien members of the Xiniti nation within Ascendancy space and the sectors nearby.

“Citizens, we’ve temporarily withdrawn from your home system and shut down your gate. There is currently civil war within the Human Ascendancy that already extends into Alliance territory.”

That would be Kals and the resistance movement her mother created. She’d gone home to lead them or at least be an inspirational figurehead.

I hoped she was still alive.

The general continued, “You are now the only Xiniti unit active in your system. Because we detected activity around Artificer and Abominator installations in your system after we left, be aware that we have given you authority to scrub your planet should you need to.

“Be aware, this is not a command, but there are situations in which billions of lives may need to be sacrificed to save trillions. We know that we’re talking about your home world and do not say this lightly, but keep in mind that many things the Artificers created were designed to destroy all intelligent life. Don’t let your affection for your world let an infection spread and wipe out civilizations. Watch for the point of no return. If you reach it, you’ll have the necessary tools available.”