“Hold your tongue, Miller!” Marcus cut in. It was especially hard for him, having been pacified for so long, but Miller managed to staunch his stream of consciousness. “I know what sort of mission we sent you on. I knew before we sent you, and I’ve seen the footage that proves we were right. You were supposed to bring me Drogan, and instead, you got put out of commission. You,” the Councilman dropped his heavy eyes on Howard, “were supposed to bring me files, but Drogan got them. And you, Ms. Redding, were supposed to be our contingency plan. Alice went down and what did you do? Banged up the Arcadia half to hell to take down a single scrapper?”
“You strayed,” Dawn said, intentionally vague to break his stride.
“Excuse me?” Marcus countered.
“The Captain of that ship was supposed to be Roger Donovan. It was a woman, when we met them. She said you strayed, then attacked us. They were more than just scrappers, Brass. Give us some credit for getting back here at all,” Dawn bit back.
“Give you… your foray in the outerworlds made an impression on you, I see. Earth isn’t there. We’re supposed to spread organization and civility, not invite the chaos in from out there. You have my forgiveness once. Don’t speak to me that way again,” Marcus told her, “The Arcadia was damaged. That’s an issue. That ship was chosen for this mission for a reason just as specific.”
“Yeah, we know. Ease of travel to the outerworlds,” said Miller.
“And beyond,” Marcus amended. He left the trio to develop their own conclusions.
“You mean… the SkyLine extension from Neptune?” Dawn realized.
“Yes. It’s not fully completed, but that doesn’t matter to a ship like the Arcadia. To an AI like Alice. Isn’t that right, Howard?” Marcus asked. Howard’s head only dipped in knowing shame.
“We planned to have you use Drogan, or track the other Dragons, to find their homeworld,” said Marcus.
“So the initial mission was a ruse?” pouted Dawn, arms crossed.
“We couldn’t very well label your official assignment based on postulation. But now you’ve confirmed both the true form of Drogan and the existence of his brethren... The red Dragon’s body from Saturn is already en route to Neptune for analysis. We were able to track the two survivors, since we suspected they would strike ahead of time,” Marcus explained.
“Where are we going?” Miller stomped, no more thrilled about Marcus’ tone than Marcus was with theirs.
“A planet in the galaxy Antila 2. With the Arcadia and the SkyLine expansion, you should be able to reach it in a few weeks. Intercepted transmissions call it Mukurus,” said Marcus. It took a few meditative seconds for it to sink into everyone’s gray matter. In double that time, they had hardly begun to digest what it meant.
“The Dragons’ homeworld?” Dawn’s lips moved, whether or not she believed what came from them.
“Yes,” said Marcus.
“To do… what, exactly?” Miller asked.
“Gather information. Capture one of them. Steal technology. Destroy the place. Whatever you can do, you will,” Marcus told them, “They’ve been encroaching on our own homeworld, taking resources as they go. They don’t try to communicate. It’s clear how this ends, if we don’t strike first.”
“If we don’t…” Howard mumbled to himself.
“What about the return journey? There isn’t exactly an Earthbound SkyLine to send us back,” Dawn objected.
“We traced two Dragons flying from Saturn to Mukurus… faster than I could explain to you. I guarantee you’ll be able to secure the means to return. Just make sure things go better than they did on your last mission,” Marcus assured them. He at least gave the three a few seconds to mull it over. But, if there was one thing Dawn had taken from her first mission to the outerworlds, it was to act before her mind had the chance to catch up.
“When do we leave?” she managed.
“Tomorrow. Repairs on the Arcadia will be done by then,” Marcus told them. Dawn slid her chair out. The scrape of its legs was such a pronounced, abrupt noise in the hesitant silence, that Miller and Howard twitched.
; “Dawn?” said Howard.
“You heard him, didn’t you? We leave tomorrow for a planet no one’s ever been to, complete with a Dragon’s nest. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got packing to do,” said Dawn. She waited on step two of the three it would take to clear the door. Marcus didn’t stop her, so she went.
“Morgan,” Marcus phoned her in as soon as Howard finished relaying the results of his research analysis, 3D androids and all.
“Dearest Councilman,” her tired old voice came back.
“I’m thankful you’re a terrible captain,” Marcus bit. The old woman gave a few thin guffaws.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds, shooting someone down without killing everyone on board,” Morgan objected, “And… the girl’s a damn good pilot.”