‘Hopefully the Mjollnir’s usual commander, a man named Martinez, and one or two of his senior staff. I’m not sure the expedition would even have happened if not for him. He’s currently under house arrest, but I’m working on tracking him and the others down. White-cloud’s been spirited away, but assuming we find him too, he’s coming with us. Leo Olivarri and Ray Willis should get here any day. Once I’ve had a chance to explain what I’ve got in mind, I’m hoping they’ll agree to come along also.’

Lamoureaux shook his head and grinned visibly beneath his mask. ‘You realize how insane all this sounds.’

The way he said it, it almost seemed like a compliment.

‘Our plan is to board the frigate in less than a week, when it’s scheduled for final maintenance and diagnostic checks. Security will be low, and we won’t get a better chance.’

‘And if it all goes wrong? If I don’t hear from you, or they arrest you or kill you meanwhile, what then?’

‘Then I’d advise you to find some way off Redstone and out of this system as fast as possible. Until then, we’ve got a lot of work to do.’

Chapter Fifteen

The return journey aboard the Mjollnir had proved a difficult time for Ty. As soon as he and Nancy had reached the safety of the frigate, the ship had jumped to a point a few hundred light-years distant, while the Atn’s remains were placed under guard in the ship’s aboratory complex. Ty had been turned back when he tried to enter the labs, and told in no uncertain terms he was not to be allowed access to the Atn’s body for the remainder of the journey.

It had soon become clear there were political machinations taking place far beyond the frigate, which Ty could only guess at. Martinez vanished from the bridge, and if not for Nancy he might never have known the Commander had been confined to his quarters while his second in command, Simenon, assumed control. Other members of Martinez’s senior staff had also quickly vanished from the ship’s centrifuge, replaced by hastily promoted members of their crew. An angry confrontation with Simenon over access to the Atn’s remains had ended with Ty barred completely from the bridge. He had risked his life to retrieve the thing, yet his every request was dismissed out of hand.

On arriving back at Redstone, teams of armed soldiers had boarded the freighter, rapidly separating Ty from the rest of the crew without explanation. Before long he was ferried down to a spaceport and transferred to the windowless rear of a robot truck that drove away immediately.

He still had no idea where he was being taken, or whether or not he was under arrest.