“Are you sure?” asked Carol. “I thought he went down with the orbital command station.”
Bryson raised an eye-brow. “Never heard of rats and sinking ships? His kind always betrays those who serve them.”
“It gets better.” said Ford. “He’s got a planet cracker.”
“Come on Ford get real that's a myth.” protested Lucy. “No one has a planet cracker, it’s just something you see in sci-fi holomovies, bad ones usually.”
He shook his head. “And I helped them build it. Someone has been very busy piecing together all the bits of alien tech I and other relic hunters gave them to come up with this.” he pointed at the sensor image of the Fury moving steadily towards the planet.
“More importantly will our defences hold?” asked Bryson. “Can we stop it?”
“Unknown.” said Ford. “They were blocking Gaia's scans letting us see just enough...”
“...to worry us?” interrupted Carol. “Well I think it’s fair to say they've succeed.”
“So if they're smart enough to block Gaia's sensors they could smart enough to cut through her defences?” concluded Bryson.
Ford nodded as he stroked his goatee pensively, lost in his own thoughts for a moment or two before speaking again. “There may be a way to stop them and send the galaxy a message at the same time, but there's a cost. The human sacrifice will be enormous.”
“What was it Gaia said to Bryson?” said Lucy. “People will die whether or not you act, but by your actions you determine the meaning of your life.”
Bryson looked at Ford. “Doesn't make the decision any easier does it?”
Ford sighed heavily, shook his head and rolled his eyes up into his skull revealing the bloodshot whites of his eyes.