Border Worlds

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Three hours had dragged by since the distress call.

The first hour filled Commander Aaron Rayne with hope. Trident was less than three light-years away—this time they would arrive in time to make a difference. The second hour, he paced the length of Trident’s bridge as she burned through the void at maximum warp speed. Maybe the faster he paced, the faster the ship would arrive—it was wishful thinking.

The final hour, a sense of hollowness rose inside him each time he replayed the end of the distress call from the freighter . . . “If anyone is out there—help us!”

If he felt this helpless, he couldn’t quite imagine the despair tormenting the crew and passengers aboard the freighter. By now, the raider had jammed the freighter’s comms, and its captain had no way of knowing help was on the way.

Minutes ago, Trident transitioned from warp and entered Orion, receiving sensor telemetry from the powerful sensor relay throughout the system. The freighter was on scan at the far side of the system. Sensors showed it was intact but adrift. There was no sign of the raider. Under maximum sub-light burn, it would take another two hours to reach and assist the crippled vessel.

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