*   *   *

Shabalala glanced down at the command chair from the tactical station on the da Vinci bridge. “The Dancing Star has cleared the corona, Captain.”

“Opening cargo bay doors,” Haznedl added.

“Good.” Gold leaned forward. “Wong, take us out of this beast, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

The da Vinci’s engines fired up, and the ship moved out of the hold and back into space. Gold couldn’t help but sigh in relief. He wasn’t normally claustrophobic, but having his entire ship inside another ship, and that ship inside a sun, had been a bit much. Being back out among the stars, where he could see their lights twinkling against the darkness, made him feel a lot better.

He tapped the comm unit on his chair. “Gomez, do you read me?”

Sonya replied quickly. “Yes, Captain?”

“The da Vinci is clear. How are you and your team doing down there?”

“Almost done, sir. Another ten minutes or so.”

“Fine—let us know when you’re ready.”

Gold sat back and waited, and enjoyed the view. In what seemed like less than ten minutes—and, knowing this team, probably was—Gomez requested that she and her team be beamed up. Chief Poynter responded immediately, and reported to Gold a moment later that the full S.C.E. team was now back on board.

“Good. Mr. Wong, get us out of here, please. Set a course for Starbase 222.”

“Yes, sir.” And with that the da Vinci was moving again.