He paused, then took a gamble.  “And see if you can link into the Russian deep-space surveillance platforms,” he added.  “Use the command codes the Russians provided.”

“Chancy,” Fitzwilliam muttered.  “The aliens might well have destroyed it.”

Ted couldn't disagree.  Like most interstellar powers, the Russians had established a sensor network to watch for illicit activity in their home system.  Unlike multinational systems like Terra Nova, the Russians owned the entire New Russia System and refused to allow anyone else to establish settlements within their territory.  It was easy enough to hide from such a system, but not without restricting one’s activity to the bare minimum.  Besides, there were enough unclaimed systems for hidden colonies to establish themselves without the risk of being obliterated by the Russians.

The seconds ticked away as the passive sensors began to pick up traces of alien activity.  A handful of signals seemed to be emitting from the direction of New Russia itself, while another handful seemed to be coming from the asteroid cloud surrounding the system’s larger gas giant.  Ted wondered, absently, if the aliens had managed to capture the system’s cloudscoop intact, before deciding it didn't matter.  It wasn't as if a cloudscoop was a difficult device to construct.

“I picked up a low-level query from the Russian system,” Farley reported.  “They took their time.”

“Too long,” Fitzwilliam said.  “What do they want?”

“More codes,” Farley said.  He looked up, alarmed.  “Sir, we don’t have any other codes.”

Ted frowned.  It was understandable that it had taken several minutes for the Russian system to respond.  The closest platform was several light minutes from the tramline, while the automated systems would have to decide if it was worth taking the risk of responding to the signal.  But to ask for other codes ...?  It made no sense ... unless, of course, there were a handful of Russians still hiding out in the asteroid fields, watching the aliens from afar.

“Check with Ivan,” Ted ordered.  If the codes they had were insufficient, did they dare risk sending a signal in clear?  And would the Russians believe them if they did?  “If not, we will have to do without the Russian platforms.”

There was a long pause.  “Ivan thinks that the system has been reprogrammed by one of his people,” Fitzwilliam reported.  “It was apparently a security precaution.  He suggests sending a message in Russian.”

Ted frowned.  “Ask him to record one,” he ordered.  He looked back down at the display.  If it was a trap ... they were about to spring it.  “And then transmit it.”