Chapter 441: Someone Used The Same Route

Talyra made good time after leaving Helion, but she deliberately avoided the most direct route toward the old recovery depot.

The obvious approach passed through several known wreck fields and abandoned shipping lanes, making it faster but also easier to monitor.

If Malrec Dane was really hiding at the depot, he might have already set up some kind of warning system around the usual approaches.

Talyra preferred not to announce herself.

Her destroyer reduced its power output after entering the outer recovery region, keeping only the systems needed for navigation, passive sensors, and communication with Eirenne.

Her engines remained ready in case something went wrong, but she avoided unnecessary acceleration and allowed the ship to move quietly along the edge of the wreck field.

The Helion patrol ship assigned as backup remained much farther behind. Aurelian had been clear about its role. Talyra was there to look, while the patrol ship was there in case looking turned into something worse.

Several hours into the mission, Eirenne contacted her through the secure relay. "You’re approaching the first old navigation marker. Anything unusual?"

Talyra studied the passive sensor returns before answering. "No active transmissions. The marker itself is dead, but something passed through this area recently."

"How recently?" Eirenne asked, immediately becoming more attentive.

"Within a few days."

That was interesting enough for Aurelian to join the channel from Helion. "What did you find?"

Talyra brought up the sensor record, highlighting a faint trail running through the region.

"Engine residue. There’s not enough left to identify the ship, but the path matches the route recovered from Dane’s tender."

Aurelian studied the projected line for a moment. "So someone used the same route."

"Yes."

"Can you follow it without increasing your signature?"

Talyra checked the surrounding wreckage, then gave him a confident nod. "I can."

"Then continue, but don’t rush."

Talyra acknowledged the order and moved deeper into the region. The old recovery depot was still several hours away, and she had no reason to sacrifice caution just to reach it sooner.

Back at Helion, Aurelian continued working while Eirenne kept Talyra’s sensor feed open on one side of his tactical display.

He had quickly discovered that watching a reconnaissance mission in real time mostly involved staring at empty space and waiting for something interesting to happen.

Astra seemed to find his impatience amusing. After he glanced toward the display again, she gave him a knowing look. "You sent her to observe quietly."

"I know."

"Quiet observation usually involves being quiet."

"I also know that," Aurelian replied, already seeing where she was going with this.

Astra’s smile grew slightly. "Then stop checking the display every thirty seconds."

Aurelian turned toward her. "I don’t check it every thirty seconds."

"Twenty-two," Eirenne corrected from nearby without looking away from her work.

Astra smiled wider.

Aurelian decided not to respond.

Other things required his attention anyway. The temporary Valeris corridors were operating without major trouble, and Orison had kept its patrol ships outside the agreed civilian lanes.

Harrow’s Rest also continued cooperating with the investigation, although its council still insisted that the attackers had acted without settlement approval.

So far, the evidence did not contradict that claim. Several residents had clearly helped Dane, but investigators had found nothing showing that the council itself had approved the attack.

That distinction mattered.

Aurelian had no intention of punishing nearly two thousand people because a small group among them had made a very bad decision.

The investigation into Dane’s financial records was proving more useful.

Eirenne and the Orison investigators had identified payments to twelve of the captured attackers, along with purchases of weapon components and communication equipment.

Most of the money had passed through ordinary recovery accounts, but one account stood out.

It had been created only four months earlier and had since received several large transfers from companies connected to disputed wreck fields.

That gave them another direction to investigate, although Aurelian refused to jump to conclusions before they knew who actually controlled those companies.

The last few days had already given him enough reminders about the difference between suspicious evidence and actual proof.

By the time he finished reviewing the financial report, Talyra was nearing the old depot.

Her voice suddenly came through the channel. "I have a contact."

Aurelian’s attention immediately returned to the tactical display. "A ship?"

"Station."

Eirenne enlarged the passive sensor image. At first, Aurelian could see little more than a dark shape surrounded by debris.

The depot had been built into the remains of a large Vhaloric industrial structure, and centuries without proper maintenance had left most of it cold and lifeless.

But not all of it.

Talyra highlighted three areas. "There is power in the central docking structure, one storage block, and what used to be the traffic-control section."

Aurelian leaned closer to the display. "How much power?"

"Low. Enough for life support and basic equipment."

"Any ships?"

"One confirmed."

The image shifted, revealing a small recovery vessel docked beneath the station. Eirenne immediately compared its shape against their available records, but Talyra spoke before the search finished.

"It’s not Dane’s tender. This one is smaller."

"Can you identify it?" Aurelian asked.

"Not while its identification systems are inactive."

Aurelian studied the station again. Dane could be inside, but so could a group of ordinary salvagers who had nothing to do with him.

Finding an occupied station along Dane’s possible escape route was suspicious, not proof.

"Can you get closer without being detected?"

Talyra hesitated briefly. "Probably."

"Probably isn’t good enough."

She didn’t seem offended by his caution; instead, she considered another option. "I can deploy a remote sensor platform."

That was safer. "Do it."

One of the seven usable platforms detached from Talyra’s destroyer and began drifting toward the depot with almost no active emissions.

Its approach was painfully slow, but speed mattered far less than remaining unnoticed.

Aurelian waited.

This time, Astra made no comment about how often he checked the display.

Eventually, the platform reached a position where it could properly observe the depot’s active section. The first useful information was disappointing.

People were inside, but the passive sensors couldn’t identify them.

The second piece of information was more interesting.

The docked ship had recently received fuel.

The third was considerably less welcome.

Talyra marked several structures around the depot. "I’ve detected old defensive weapon mounts."