“That’s why we were so surprised when you were able to break through and order us out of orbit,” Barrett said. “We’d been trying to get in touch with you or Ensign Accari, and then when that didn’t work began sending requests directly to New Sierra Platform to have them at least forward you a message.”

“What are our new friends doing?” Celesta asked.

“From what we can tell out here, just sitting there, ma’am,” Washburn continued her briefing. “They’ve activated a position beacon and we can detect com traffic to and from their formation, but the encryption isn’t something our com section is able to crack, at least they don’t have the actual decryption routines. I wasn’t going to order them to try and forcefully break it without your permission.”

“Let’s leave that alone for now,” Celesta said. “Where are we in relation to their formation?”

“They’re parked in a heliocentric trailing orbit behind the sixth planet … here,” Washburn said as the display winked out and then came back up with a representation of the DeLonges System, complete with ranging data. “We’re here”—a green spot winked on deeper in the system from the flashing red dot of the alien formation—“just over two point six billion kilometers away. Their ships are also emitting a bright, rotating laser strobe that we assume is meant to broadcast their position in conjunction with the RF beacon. We’re tracking them with the Icarus’s optical sensors as well as the passive detection grid.”

“And so far no Fleet ships have moved out to meet them?” Celesta asked.

“No, ma’am,” Washburn said. “At least none that we can detect with our passive sensors.”

Celesta drummed her fingers on the edge of the tabletop display, lost in thought for a moment. “Commander Barrett, call the bridge and go dark,” she said after a moment. “I want the Icarus under strict EMSEC protocols, no light pollution, no RF emissions.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Barrett said and stepped away from the table while pulling his comlink.

“Do you think they’re really friendly, Captain?” Washburn said.

“They claim to be, Lieutenant Commander,” Celesta said, resisting the urge to shrug helplessly. “But we know the Darshik sure as hell aren’t and I would bet a year’s pay that this unexpected visit has something to do with them. What I’m more worried about is how the Ushin just happen to show up so deep in Terran controlled space, exactly at the new capital world just as the new government is being ratified.”

“They had to have tracked the Amsterdam and John Arden back from the meeting point,” Barrett said as he walked back up to the table. “Which means they have active trackers they attached to the hulls that are capable of superluminal transmissions or they have a way to track ships while in warp.”