“I just picked something up on the sensors,” Veller stated. “Either it’s someone else who picked up the distress signal or the Markus Models are on their way back.” He paused. “I’m picking up two ships now.” His voice deepened. “Shit. They are reading as Genesis Four shuttles. It’s the Markus Models.”

“They likely found their brothers and are traveling at their top speed.” Stag ground his teeth together. “Full burn now, and forget about trying to stay off their sensors by moving slow enough to be mistaken as space debris. They must suspect a ship is here. We can’t win a battle with two S-class shuttles. They’re faster and maneuver better than the Varnish. Take us out of range, change course, and find cover.”

“On it,” Hellion rasped. “I don’t like running from them. Every instinct says to fight.”

Stag hated it too. “We’re outnumbered, and our mission was to locate the Markus Models and set out trackers. It’s going to take more than just the Varnish to destroy their shuttles. Patience will win this war.”

Tension filled the control room as they all watched the sensors. They made it out of range of tracking, which meant the Markus Models couldn’t be seen either. Veller spoke first.

“I found cover.”

“Where?” Stag leaned forward in his chair.

“A cluster of four moons.” He tapped in the coordinates and displayed them for everyone.

Stag gazed at the map. “Too obvious. That’s where I’d look first.”

“There’s not much this way except a dead zone.”

Stag jerked his chin up and stared at Veller. “Dark space?”

“Affirmative. Some warning markers are up and transmitting. It’s vast.” Veller tapped his pad, reading something on it. “Four ships are reported lost in it. No charts are showing anything on the other side.”

Stag fisted his hand. “Take us to the edge and stop.”

Hellion drew his attention by cursing. “That’s insane. I know what you’re thinking but we can’t go in there. We might not find our way out.”

“The Markus Models will deem we’re too smart to have entered it. They’ll waste time searching those moons.” Stag smiled.

“Unless they think we’re Earthers.” Hellion snorted.

“Exactly,” Kelis agreed. “It’s stupid to enter it. We’d have to go deep to avoid them visually spotting us. That means they’d lose sight of us, but we’d lose sight of where the entry point is. Our sensors will have nothing to read to pinpoint our location.”

“We’re cyborgs,” Stag reminded his crew. “We’re smarter than the Earthers who have ventured inside. We’ll get out, but I’m going to send our coordinates to the Star just in case, with a seventy-four-hour window so they’ll know to come looking for us if we don’t contact them after that. The Markus Models won’t waste that much time searching in this area. They’ll return to whatever mission they are on or move right past us.”

“They could pick up the transmission. There’s only one relay in this system to send our message. It’s probably why they avoided using it to contact each other.”

Stag didn’t need Kelis to tell him that. “It’s why I’m typing out my breeding-pact lists with names. I’m number four on mine. I’m creating a code. It’s too easy to break if they use a zero-to-nine numerical system.”

“Smart,” Hellion muttered.

“That’s why I’m in charge.”

Stag quickly typed out the message by using the first initial of each male on his list, to signify a number, until he had the coordinates of where they’d enter the dead zone of space. He sent it.

“Do you think they’ll figure it out easily?”

“Flint is smart, and he’s in charge of the Star right now. I titled it B.P. List, and that will clue him in.” Stag sighed. “Otherwise he’s an idiot but he’s not one. He’ll realize I’m giving him numbers. The Markus Models won’t be able to break my code, Hellion.”

“How will he know who is on your list and their numbers?”

Stag hated his authority being questioned. “At least three men in mine are assigned to the Star.”

Hellion nodded. “They can decode it.”

“Exactly.” Stag leaned forward. “Take us into the dead zone. Count it out every second, our speed, and record how far we go before changing course. We’ll just reverse and exit by using that information.”

“It’s going to mess with our sensors.”

“I’m aware. Don’t use them.” He stood up, walked to the front, stared at the utter blackness they flew into. “Visuals only. Mark time and speed.”

“Shit,” Hellion muttered. “I get why we’re doing this but I’m not happy about it.”

“Turn on your emotion-suppression chip if you’re going to whine.” Stag had no time to deal with feelings. “I refuse to allow us to be captured by Markus Models. I’d rather us all die on our terms than be tortured for the location of other cyborgs. We have a good chance of getting out of this. Those bastards have two Genesis Four shuttles at their disposal and the Varnish would be no match for them. They’d take out our engines and board us. Our intel said they’re traveling in units of four to six. We’re not equipped for hand-to-hand combat with that many.”

“It’s a sound decision. The Markus Models wouldn’t think we’d do this.”

He turned to glance at Kelis. The male gave him a sharp nod, communicating that he was in agreement with Stag’s decision.

“Maybe they’ll follow us in and get lost if they enter the dead zone too.” Veller grinned. “That would be a bonus.”

“They are intelligent. They’d have the same odds as we do of finding the edge again.”

Stag’s words muted his crew. He faced forward. “Tell me when the sensors stop getting readings.”

Long minutes passed. “Now,” Parqel whispered.

“Visuals?”

Hellion answered. “Gone. Not a glimmer of light from the stars.”

“Shutter all ports and turn off any exterior lighting.” Stag returned to his chair, changing course himself. He knew his crew was watching, memorizing every order he input. He finally used the thrusters and brought the shuttle to a full stop. “We’re going to become as dark as our surroundings.”