The Other Side

 

     The holotank flashed briefly with the appearance of a large whirlpool of blue and green color, drawing Galaxy Commander Russou Howell's attention.  The display disappeared a few moments later, as the ship entered the maw of the whirlpool, and empty space appeared on the other side.  Howell blinked, almost believing that his eyes had played a trick on him.

     "Galaxy Commander, Huntress is gone!"

     Howell turned angrily to the sensor officer.  "What are you blabbering about?!"

     "The entire system is gone!  It is as if we have jumped by ourselves..."

     "Where are we then?"

     The sensor officer keyed several buttons and displays at his station, and the holotank brought up a view of the solar system they were in.  Eight planetary bodies, plus the distant field of ice bodies, revolved around a large yellow-orange star.  Howell's eyes widened as he tracked the planets one by one into the middle of the system, where his gaze settled on the blue and green third planet.  "Show me the third world, Star Commander," he rasped.  Howell's heart beat with ferocity as the planet grew larger, and he could make out the landmass of Eurasia.  "Terra!  We have reached Terra!"  With frenzied eyes he turned to the sensor officer.  "Are there any ComStar fighters or ships deploying to meet us?!"

     "Neg, Galaxy Commander, I am not picking up any ships or fighters in system.  In fact, I am not picking up anything.  There is merely the ruined remains of what appears to be a primitive space station and many satellites in Earth's orbit.  There are no space-bound facilities near Venus, Mars, or Titan, as we would know."

     "Could Terra have been so badly damaged by the Succession Wars?", Howell wondered aloud.

     "Wait, Galaxy Commander," the Star Commander stated, "I am now detecting a ship near Terra, it is burning on a course away from the planet."

     "Which jump point is it heading toward?"

     "None, Galaxy Commander."

     Howell's brow furrowed.  Nothing was making sense.  ComStar possessed Terra, yet such a techno-centric organization, with access to Star League technology, would never allow the defense stations and colonies on Mars and Venus to be destroyed.  Some had survived the retaking of Terra from Amaris, after all, and Howell could not see ComStar just letting them fall into disrepair or destruction.  And then there was that one ship...

     "We are reading the IFF code of the DropShip, Galaxy Commander.  It appears to be a Union-class.  DropShip Wolf's Claw of the Wolf Clan.  Sir," the Star Commander looked up, "the ship is listed as having been with Phelan Kell's forces when they left their Clan."

     "That ship is with Phelan Kell's traitors?"  Suddenly something began clicking in Howell's mind, something delightful.  If this is one of their ships, then, then there must be something here, something that connects the Inner Sphere to our homespace!  If that is true...  Howell realized just how remarkable the discovery he had just made could be.  A gateway from the Clan Homeworlds to the Inner Sphere, cutting a rough seven to nine month journey into a mere month at most.  The find that could, if used properly, bring victory to the Crusade!

     Howell knew what he had to do.