“Lieutenant, it’s through. Scanning now.” Then: “Lieutenant, it’s…”

Poole’s voice told Higgins all he need to know. Trouble.

“It’s huge, sir. Scanners are still chewing on it, but I’d estimate four klicks in length at least. And the power readings…they’re massive.” Poole turned and stared over at Higgins. “It’s got to be a warship, sir. A damned big one too.”

Higgins froze for a few seconds.

A warship? But whose?

Then he snapped out of his shock. It didn’t matter whose ship it was. It was here…and he was the Confederation commander on the scene. “Reverse thrust, Ensign Poole. Full power away from the contact.”

“Yes, sir. Full thrust.”

“Flash com to Condor…tell them we have an unidentified vessel coming through the transwarp portal. Include all scanner data. Com status Omega-Two.”

“Yes, sir. Omega-Two protocols.”

Omega-Two was the Confederation’s signal for a possible invasion. Higgins knew Lieutenant Childress would pass the warning through the transwarp com system.

Higgins slumped in his chair, struggling to maintain his calm as panic began to creep over him.

I didn’t put all that effort into this transfer to the Rim to end up staring down some mysterious battleship. Or to get blasted to atoms before a shot is fired on the real battle front.

He shook his head, staring at the small, locked control panel on his workstation, the one that activated the Omega-One call.

He moved his fingers over the smooth metal. He unlocked the small door, flipping it open. There was a button below, not red or yellow or any other color that spoke of war and strife and danger. It was black, the same as every other control on the bridge. But this one was special. If he pressed it, Stingray’s com system would send out a communications blast, one that had a single meaning.

Omega-One. War.

*   *   *

“Contact confirmed, Commander. Small vessel, roughly five thousand tons, on a direct course toward us…no, scratch that. They appear to be decelerating. My guess is they’re trying to reverse their vector and run.”

“I want their com jammed, Optiomagis. Now!” Kat stared at the display. The data was still coming in, but she was going on the assumption it was a Confederation patrol ship. It was no real threat to Invictus, at least not in a fight. But it could cause trouble with its com units. She had hoped to get much deeper into Confederation space before the incursion was detected. Running into a patrol as her ship transited was just bad luck. “Engage active scanners—I want to know what else is in this system. Full thrust as soon as possible. I don’t want them getting away to send any warning.”

“Yes, Commander. Jamming on full power.” A few seconds later. “Engines ready.” Another short pause. Then: “Commander, I think they might have sent some kind of communique before the jammers engaged.”

“An alert?”