Battle in space changed tactics forever. In space, there is rarely any cover, distances are extreme, and even with the best magic it is impossible to have perfect invisibility. Heat profiles change too much and too often for expensive magitech baffles to cover it all, and no mage has the power to hide the heat output of an entire ship. Stealth, then, requires coming in so fast that the threat is upon you before it can be identified.

  – Grazin Formel, A History of Modern Warfare, Volume II

  The navigation room was rarely occupied by anyone, let alone two people. Apex never bothered to look at it, but he realized belatedly that this had been a mistake. Sallus hadn’t used it much because she already had coordinates for most jumps, so only needed the room for a few minutes at a time, but the large display in the navigation room could access a library of known systems and planets, along with their expected positions at any given time and date. From this, Etherspace coordinates could be calculated with a little effort.

  With the interrogation of the freighter’s navigator, Sallus had to work with new information. Naven’s reluctant help also played a factor, and the newly clean-shaven former Lieutenant stood nearby, arms crossed and looking surly, while Sallus traced a finger over the giant glass pane that served as the main display.

  “So I’ve triangulated the likely routes.” Sallus tapped a finger. “We know where this ship goes to and from, but the production facility there already gets refined product. The vector that each shipment comes in on doesn’t point to any particular system, so we know they’re trying to keep it hidden, but it would be way too expensive to have too many waypoints that change direction.”

  Naven was watching all of this, but he spoke up after that. “It’s likely they have more than one production facility. I haven’t kept up with this because the Commonwealth doesn’t share a border with Elarkis, but it just makes sense not to have only one.”

  Sallus nodded in agreement. “Oh I’m sure. There may be dozens of planets that refine the derivative drugs made from kaleidoscope, and probably at least three that make the ‘scope itself. I already knew one of the latter – right here.” She tapped one of the lights on the display indicating another system.

  “With what we learned earlier, I’ve also tracked down the most likely system for another, over here.” Sallus pointed to another point, a fair distance from the first. “Here’s the interesting part, though. While the derivative drugs are made in quite a few factories, the actual pure kaleidoscope isn’t made anywhere outside of Elarkis, as far as I can tell. Whatever special ingredient they use to make it work must have a short shelf life, which means we can make an educated guess as to where some other factories are, and the source is narrowed down to one of these three systems.”

  She tapped the display so that three of the lights changed color to green. They were all relatively close together, but that still left three choices.

  “How do you expect to narrow it down further? Will you hit one of the refineries you pointed out and try to trace it back?” Naven’s question was more curiosity than anything, his foul mood lightening. Doing it this way was extralegal, but the Navy man wasn’t about to fight too hard about crippling supply lines for something this dangerous to the people.

  Sallus chuckled, “That was the original plan, yes. It had some flaws though… once we hit one of those, we need to be sure we get what we want, because the others will become much harder to deal with once they know we’re targeting them. It was always the riskiest part of the plan, but plans change.”

  “I do not see a problem with just destroying all of them until we find what we want.” Apex joined into the conversation here, grumbling that he couldn’t just use the most straightforward method. The planning made sense – he could strategize just fine – he just didn’t see the need for it.

  “You’re still not at full strength, so let’s not pick a fight we don’t know the odds for.” The elf frowned at the camera, then tapped the display again. Several systems, much farther away from the targets, lit up in blue. “I had no idea that you would be able to hide from sensors, Apex. That changes the game completely.”

  Naven arched an eyebrow. “Hide from sensors?”

  With a low growl, Apex clarified. “I cannot mask my heat signature completely, only… smear it, to try to describe it. It takes concentration and fuel, although less than I’d thought. It is certainly easier when not under burn, as well. I doubt it will be that easy to fool more experienced escorts.”

  He hated to point out a weakness in his method, but relying on an imperfect strategy was foolish to him. Apex grumbled internally at how weak he was right now… he deserved better. Though his pondering brought up a good point. “If I can close with a ship, then it is dead. Fighting in close combat is something none of these vehicles seem designed for. Yet unless I am mistaken, my other weaponry is severely lacking is it not?”

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  Sallus opened her mouth, but Naven cut her off, earning himself a scowl and a glare from the elf.

  Naven ignored the dirty look. “If you can obfuscate your heat profile, that’s actually all you need if you’re careful.” He rubbed at his chin, thumb sliding over the newly-shaven skin in a thoughtful fidgeting motion. “If we were dealing with the inner system, it might be trickier, but even the fancier military out here wouldn’t immediately peg that as a threat. Heat signatures show up all the time as noise… if you aren’t matching a known threat profile they won’t immediately target you as a problem.”

  The explanation soothed Sallus enough that she said nothing about the interruption, turning back to the display. “In that case, then the plan I have will still work. We need to draw them out, to increase our chances.” She gestured to the blue lights of the various systems that she’d indicated.

  “These are systems that contain refineries or distributors of derivatives.” She tapped a few. “Smaller scale operations can refine them in hiding, but the amount they’re producing and distributing requires some serious manpower. This isn’t just a bunch of small scale operators. If we attack several of these in quick succession – maybe even destroy some of the factories – it should put them on high alert… especially if we leave a hint that we’re looking for the source of the refined ‘scope.”

  Apex rumbled, “Would that not make them more likely to increase protection around the true source? And how does this relate to my own objective?”

  Naven shook his head and was the one to answer. “No, I see what she’s planning and it’s a good idea. These aren’t professional soldiers, they’re drug dealers. Protecting the source is fine, but if they lose a major hub then that means less product. The customers – the dealers – will complain and the actual producers will find themselves in a dangerous position. If they think that a new player is out there looking for the refineries, they’ll protect them… but we already know where they are, so that isn’t our target.”

  “Exactly,” Sallus agreed. She tapped the three options for the source. “I think once you’re close enough, it should become clear, Apex. But we do what Moongale said. We hit a few of these distribution points, and they will protect the refineries. While they’re moving ships around, we duck in – quietly – to these three and take a better look. One of them is an industrialized world, so we’ll check that one last. The other two hold a resort world and a small mining outpost. If either of those is the source, we should be able to tell. If not, then it’s the more populated system by process of elimination.“

  Naven let out a deep sigh. “That does make sense, but… as much as I’d like to save lives, I also am not sure you’re ready for this. Apex is right, you’re severely underarmed for a ship your size. No missiles or torpedoes, a couple mana cannons, and a point defense are basically escort-level weaponry. You can expect at least a frigate in opposition. They’re unlikely to be military vessels, but a couple of well-armed frigates will outgun you by… a lot.”

  “I realize that.” Sallus frowned and stepped back. “I did plan on getting some more refits done, but when Apex trashed the dock, he already drew some unwanted attention, and we already have people looking for us in the inner systems. We need to move fast or this opportunity will vanish, and we’ll be up against a lot worse than a couple of patched-together frigates.”

  The human watching twisted his face into a doubtful frown. “I highly doubt you’re seen as that important.”

  “I would not know.” Apex rumbled quietly as he considered the opponents so far. “The ship I saw when I first woke up here was much more impressive than any that I have seen since.”

  “That was a cruiser, and military,” Sallus supplied. She crossed her arms and looked at the display. “You’re lucky, Apex. If one of the larger cannons had hit you, I doubt we’d be having this conversation.”

  Naven’s eyebrows rose in alarm. “Wait, you were up against a cruiser? When? What did you do to attract that attention? This is serious. If someone is sending cruisers after Apex… actually I’m not sure what you could have done to merit that.”

  The glance Sallus gave was annoyed, this time. “Did you think I put Apex together out of spare parts all by myself? I’ve been working at this for years, but I can’t do everything. I already told you I wasn’t the necromancer involved. Right now I am the Cult of Renewal’s leadership. Everyone else is either dead or captured.”

  The human held up his hands, as if he could defend himself from the barrage of words. “Look, I don’t know anything about your Cult other than what is on the media, but that sounds like a big operation. If they’re sending cruisers after you, you’re already dead and just don’t know it yet. What the hell did you do to get that much attention?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Sallus shook her head and sighed heavily. “Apex, I do have to admit that he’s right. Since you cut me off from my failsafes, this decision is up to you. If we’re going to do this, I need to know you’ll commit fully. Do you think you can handle yourself doing a few stealth missions?”

  Apex watched the entire argument with interest. The question was a mild surprise, but the rest was much more informative. What had Sallus done to get that attention? It was starting to dawn on him that the galaxy was massive enough that getting the military going after her was a lot more serious than a few knights pestering younger dragons.

  More importantly, did they know what he was? Naven didn’t believe, he was certain, and the rest of the crew had various opinions, but did they send a cruiser knowing he’d be summoned? Or was it just Sallus who was a liability?

  The dragon shook off the various thoughts and growled, “Of course I am.” He snorted loudly through the speakers, which did a passable job of imitating the noise despite his lack of lungs or breath… or nose. “Now that I have done it once, it is a matter of refining technique. I do enjoy experimenting with magic, this is… how do you say it… ‘fun’ for me.”

  His Essence pulsed within, tempting him to touch it, to draw upon it. To see what wonders he can do even with that tiny fragment. He resisted the call, once more… and then paused.

  Why am I so hesitant to use my true power?

  As the Crow Flies