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Kira had been about to explain the issue when Quinn arrived on the bridge. An accompanying drone set three more of the trackers on the table. Alec got up, taking one. He’d been earlier than the others and he’d gotten a partial rundown.
“They came on board to plant tracking beacons,” Kira finished her train of thought with that. “Watson suggested we jump quickly and avoid the next few quadrants. Quinn is going to scramble their signal and we’ll drop them on the next jump as well for extra safety. Their vessel isn’t equipped to follow us for too terribly long.”
None of the crew looked overly concerned. They lived a smuggler’s life under the pretense of being legal. They all knew that. It came with certain dangers.
Hela sat next to Rick. Rick looked furious, not with Quinn but with himself, his expression cold. Hela touched his shoulder, and he softened only a little.
Alec held the tracker and said with a sigh, “We have to consider other ways they could track us as well if they’re sending a different vessel, lass.”
Kira nodded.
Morgan grinned and took it from Alec. “Let them try to catch us.” Always confident in his abilities, and he wanted to play with them.
“Statistically, the Praetorians would win through numbers if nothing else,” Quinn rationalized. “Sorry, you were just displaying bravado, weren’t you?”
Alec clapped Morgan’s shoulder and chuckled.
Even Max let out a tight smile at that one. Kira tried to keep hers hidden.
Rick stood up. “More than one jump,” he put in his vote. “It would be safer until we get far enough that we are a needle in a haystack.”
Quinn spoke up again. “I’ve already prepared an interception for the subspace signals the tracker broadcast on. The next time they transmit, it will send out a set of coordinates in a random direction, tracing them away from us. The number of jumps is irrelevant.”
“It doesn’t matter, they might guess we found them,” Rick clarified. “Those should still go as soon as possible. We should make a cluster of jumps until we can scan again.”
Kira did not disagree with his logic. When they scanned, it left them in one place for quite a while, and she did not want to be vulnerable for any reason. “That’s fine,” she agreed.
“Does anyone have any other suggestions?” Kira would hear everything, even if it was not helpful. Sometimes the smallest things made a difference.
With the consensus being no, she said, “We’ll keep to the schedule and make consecutive jumps in the morning. After the first, we will drop the tracking beacons.”
With the matter being settled, everyone dispersed, save for Morgan, Watson, and Quinn.
“I will take the watch tonight, Morgan.”
Morgan looked a little crestfallen at that, but nodded.
“I can stay as well, Captain. It will be a long night.” Watson’s offer came quickly.
“I was going to stay,” Quinn replied.
Kira may not have been looking at either of them, but she didn’t need to. The peacocking would have to come to a halt quickly.
Watson merely glanced at Quinn and replied shortly, “I do not require sleep and I do not tire. My offer is to keep the Captain awake or to monitor when she cannot.”
“My offer is because I enjoy her company. However, I think it is her decision if either of us stays with her this evening.” Quinn sounded a bit clipped, slipping into a monotonous drone.
“Both of you stop.” Kira snapped. Quinn had said he could mind his manners, but he was losing them at the baiting of Watson.
Watson let out a soft, “Sorry, Captain.”
The glance that Kira gave Watson was one of exasperation in the face of uncertainty. “You are right, Watson. I cannot monitor throughout the night without some fatigue. I will stay until midnight and turn it over to you, then.”
Watson nodded. “Kira,” There was emotion in his voice when he said her name. “This is only one attempt.”
“That’s all, Watson,” she said dismissively.
Quinn was blissfully quiet.
