The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (The Battle for the Solar System)

XIX - An Uncomfortable Revelation

Over time, the grey form of Arlos loomed steadily larger as the ATAFs hurtled towards it, hidden from all but the most diligent observer beneath the veil of the starfighter's cloaking device. Owing to the direction of their approach, the starport was obscured from the White Knights behind the far side of Arlos; and as he rounded the dull planet, Dodds expected to see a flurry of activity from their dodecahedral-shaped destination.

Contrary to his expectation, the starport was quiet and appeared to be all but abandoned. The normal glow of lights and other illuminations that would have welcomed travels were absent, the port's lifelessness echoing that of the rest of the star system. He got the feeling that the port wished to convey the impression that it had been out of use for quite sometime, its previous residents having upped and left many years ago.

It was the second time in almost as many days that Dodds' destination had presented him with a cold and dead demeanour, and it was a theme that was starting to become all too common. The only indication that the port was not as dead and lifeless as it would have had one believe was the presence of a solitary cargo vessel resting near by; though it too was shrouded in darkness.

"Think anyone's home?" Dodds asked of his companions as they came closer to their destination.

"Looks abandoned," Enrique said. "Either that or our friend has been busy here, too."

"Estelle, are we in the right place?" Dodds said with genuine uncertainty.

"These are the coordinates that Commodore Parks gave us," Estelle said.

Dodds' eyes flickered over the surface of the port. Under normal circumstances, a starport would be a hive of activity, its presence advertised far and wide by the constant flow of traffic to and from it. Mining vessels, transport ships of various shapes and sizes would be docked in and around the port, dropping off passengers, cargo and spoils. Even without the heavy flow of traffic, the port could be spotted from a long way off, the bright multicoloured lights guiding people home. All that was gone now, cold, uninviting grey steel the only thing remaining to greet visitors.

"I've just scanned for a possible means of entry," came Chaz's voice. "But it appears all docking ports have been sealed. Looks like we're going to have to find another way inside."

"We'll have to use an airlock," Estelle said. "Which means we'll have to leave the ATAFs outside the port."

"We're just going to leave them floating here?" Dodds said.

"We don't have much choice in the matter. As Commodore Parks instructed, we'll keep them cloaked whilst we retrieve the data from the agent."

"Sure. And then we'll just fumble about in empty space looking for them when we come back out," Dodds said sarcastically. He could see no clear avenue to how they were supposed to get back into the ATAFs once they had left them. Since they were invisible, the White Knights would have to grasp around in the starfighter's general area and try and feel their way back in the cockpit. But that could take hours, maybe even days. Maybe even longer. Dodds hoped that they would not be in a hurry. Taking any sort of mobile sensor device with them was not an option, either. Whilst the ATAFs' radars themselves displayed the positions of the other fighters, cloaked or not, they were not removable from the craft.

"We'll have to turn the cloak off..." Dodds began.

"No, Dodds," Estelle said. "We were given very specific orders by Commodore Parks not to deactivate the cloak for any reason."

Dodds said nothing else on the subject, sensing that Estelle was still upset after being chewed out by the commodore, despite averting Operation Menelaus from becoming one of the greatest naval catastrophes in recent history.