star drive and followed the rapidly failing trail.
95 "Either they've got engine troubles," said Navigation, "or they're
deliberately holding back. They're only doing factor five by my
calculations. We should slowly overtake them."
96 After four days under star drive, North was again woken early.
"You'd better come up and see this, sir," his Number Three said. "We
don't know what to make of it."
97 North quickly made his way to the command deck. What showed on the
screen made no sense at all! For a short way the trail of the star
drive engines disappeared. When they reappeared again, they split and
went off into separate directions, heading for different systems about
the same distance away. "Which of these trails is the strongest?" asked
North.
98 "They're both equal, sir," announced Helm. "Firing Control agrees.
Both trails move away at factor five."
99 North thought for a moment. Some of the equipment that had been
stolen from the colonies were four star drive engines, that the
Governor was planning on attaching to his destroyers. One of these
trails could be a decoy. The other one could be the real ship or they
both could be decoys. "Any sign of a system trail?" asked North.
100 "Yes, sir," answered Firing Control. "Apparently they turned on
their system engines while they were still under star drive. But they
turned them off almost immediately. It looks like they may have been
testing them; maybe not sure if they were functioning."
101 North could not avoid making a decision for long. The trail they
were following was already faint. If he didn't act soon, they'd lose it
for good! "Crew the scout craft!" North ordered, "and prepare it for
departure. As soon as we can drop it, they'll take the trail to
starboard and we'll take the one to port."
102 "I thought you might want the scout," announced Number Three. "It's
all crewed and ready. It can be launched