But there was another side to that coin—and that’s what this was all about, what it should be all about. Making this mess better for those who came after.
“You know…” Emery began, letting out a long sigh. Cavalon blinked the dryness from his eyes, then twisted in his seat to face her. “I heard the EX in there talkin’ to Mesa. She said something about there being Viators out here…” She glared at him skeptically. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Cavalon instinctively prepared to disavow any insider knowledge on the subject. He’d been instructed to, if memory served, “not breathe a word of this to anyone.”
But Emery had been dragged along with the rest of them to risk her life on a chance to stay a step ahead of the Divide. She deserved to know the truth, or at least whatever part of the truth they thought they knew.
“All we saw was a recorded video message,” he said quietly.
“A message?” she whispered, leaning toward him, mouth agape.
“Yeah. A Viator giving that Drudger captain instructions.”
“Instructions?” Emery squeaked. She gave an edgy glance toward the cockpit, then regained control over her voice. “For what?”
“I dunno. It wanted them to restart something. The beacons, I guess. That’s what Rake claimed it said, at least. I don’t speak Viator.”
“Damn.” Emery sat back and crossed her arms. “Just … damn.”
A few minutes later, Cavalon’s stomach flopped as they decelerated from warp. Rake exited from crew quarters and Mesa followed, golden pyramid in tow, heading straight to the cockpit. Cavalon exchanged a curious look with Emery, and followed them in.
“This is … it…” Jackin said as they entered. The optio sat in the pilot’s seat, Rake and Griffith standing beside him. Cavalon stepped next to Mesa, and Emery sidled up, chomping her purple gum. They all stared at the viewscreen in silence.
The SGL’s dim searchlight shone on the side of a small structure positioned straight off the vessel’s stubby nose. He found it surprising Jackin would have dropped them from warp so close to the beacon.
From the narrow portion illuminated in the beam of light, it appeared to be spherical and built of the same matte-black aerasteel as the exterior of the Apollo Gates. The hull consisted of a series of overlaid scales not unlike the ominous halls inside Kharon Gate. Unlike the gates however, each panel on this structure had a series of tiny, intricate grooves carved into the surface, similar to the perpetual, geometric designs on the outside of the atlas pyramid.
The SGL drifted toward it, very, very slowly. Cavalon glanced down at the terminal in front of Jackin and realized their ion engines were engaged. They were still speeding toward it.
Cavalon looked back up at the screen. His stomach stirred and his mind recomputed, shifting his perspective. It wasn’t close, and small. It was still quite far away, and quite large. He couldn’t find a way to properly determine the scope, but he could tell the “tiny” grooves recessed into the scales were in fact enormous trenches, running dozens of meters deep into the thick metal hull.
Finally, Jackin broke the silence. “That’s, uh … quite a ‘beacon.’”
Rake exchanged a concerned look with Griffith, then said, “It’s definitely Viator.”
“This can’t be a data beacon,” Griffith said, incredulous.
“An old operations base, maybe?” Jackin suggested.
“This far out?” Rake shook her head. “And it’s nothing like their military structures. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Five gazes turned to Mesa. She stood staring at the sphere, eyes wide and unblinking. She licked her lips. “I, um…”