Comfort Coming

The radio's playin' some forgotten song.
Brenda Lee's coming on strong.
The road has got me hypnotized,
As I spin into a new sunrise.
Golden Earring - Radar Love

Continued from Sweet Sorrow

"Found it," Hallan said over comms, "Bearing 419 by 423,"

"Just warp to it," Mynxee chimed in, "We'll follow you,"

Hallan smiled inside as he engaged his Hound's warp drive, "You know I always found it a bit odd," Hallan continued.

"What's that?" Shae asked as her Myrmidon came out of warp a few hundred meters from him.

"Well, every time I've been in one of these wormholes, there are sleepers inside,"

"And?" Shae let the question hang for a moment.

"And isn't that odd? Every single one. Not a one in normal space. They're only inside the wormholes,"

"I don't get what you're driving at," Mynxee's Hurricane finally landed on the gate.

"What if they're the ones opening the wormholes?" He cleared his throat, "What if that's how they travel?"

"I've faced a couple of them. You do not want that to be true," Mynxee's voice betrayed her impatience.

"Alright, go through. Engage the Hulk and Raven on the other side. Hulk first. I'll keep a point on the Raven,"

"Roger that," Mynxee's voice said sweetly.

"On it," Shae said as her ship disappeared.

Hallan moved his ship into position and passed through the shimmering hole in space. The Hulk and the Raven were sitting on the other side, about ten kilometers away. The Hulk began to align to warp as Mynxee and Shae nailed it down. Hallan's targeting computer came alive, but he missed a lock on the Raven as it flashed off his overview.

"That's not possible," He yelled into comms. The girls sighed audibly but poured the damage on the Hulk.

Hallan moved his ship into the Raven's last known position as he locked the Hulk and fired a torpedo at it in vain. He deactivated the launcher just as he bumped into the cloaked form of the Raven.

His targeting computer found a lock this time and his warp scrambler came alive. He began a quick orbit before calling up his ship database to check against his target.

"Ladies, this is a Navy Issue Raven,"

No one said anything as the Hulk began to disintegrate. The pod was locked and dispatched in short order as the points and gunfire converged on the stricken beast of a ship.

"We going to ransom?" Shae spoke up as it dipped into armor.

"He's to close to getting back through the wormhole. We'll ransom the pod,"

The Raven lurched forward as an explosion rocked it's engine section. It's front half twirled through the wormhole as it's center broke up. The pieces began to bounce off the sides of the wormhole as the energy of it's engines dissipated. The front half exploded halfway through in a shower of light and debris. The escape pod simply disappeared in the mess.

"Hallan, long range sensors are picking up a huge fleet headed this way. Unknown transponder signals," Mynxee stopped for a second, "That means Sleepers. We'd better move,"

"Back through guys, forget the loot,"

"Oh of course," Shae sarcastically added.