Long hours ticked by as Ark Royal and her accompanying ships crawled across the useless system, every passive sensor primed for the faintest hint of an enemy presence.  Ted forced himself to stay alert, reminding himself that the enemy could be anywhere.  If they’d been fooled, all well and good ... but if they hadn't been fooled, they could just be biding their time.  Why bother sweeping vast reaches of empty space for the carrier when they could just wait for the carrier to show itself?

“The enemy ships haven’t moved at all,” Farley reported.  “Either they haven't seen us or they’re definitely drones.”

Ted scowled.  One disadvantage of widening the distance between them and the enemy ships – or drones – was that it took time to see what the enemy were doing ... and, by then, the enemy might have started to do something different.  The enemy ships were helpfully identifying themselves, which added some credence to Farley’s theory that they were actually drones.  No manned starship would identify itself so openly to a stealthed enemy.  But there was no way to know for sure.

He shook his head.  “We remain in silent running,” he said.  He’d never seen a drone that could jump through the tramlines, but the aliens might well have devised one.  They might be automated, yet they could still alert the aliens at New Russia if the humans threatened to return.  “Concentrate on Tramline Two.”

There was a long pause as the small fleet crawled closer to the tramline.  “No enemy ships detected,” Farley said, finally.  “But if they’re in stealth ...”

Ted nodded in understanding.  A single enemy ship could be lying doggo ... he forced the thought aside as he studied the console, reminding himself that they were committed.  He couldn't keep his ship in the useless system indefinitely, nor could they hope to fight their way past the aliens at New Russia.  They’d already come alarmingly close to trapping and destroying Ark Royal once.

“Prime our passive sensors,” he ordered.  “Then order Kiev to pass through the tramline.”

On the display, there was a brief gravimetric flicker as Kiev vanished from the dull system, jumping directly to Vera Cruz.  Ted watched, half-expecting an alien fleet to appear at any moment, but nothing happened.  Cold suspicion prickled at the corner of his mind.  The aliens seemed to have left the backdoor open, which meant ... what?  Did they believe the humans to be destroyed or were they setting up a trap further into unexplored space?

Kiev returned in another flicker of displaced gravity.  “They’re transmitting now,” Farley reported.  The display changed, showing the Vera Cruz system.  “No enemy starships detected.”