Chapter 3 Part 6

Thomas was awaken from his sleep by the buzzer on the comm unit. He rolled over and noted that it was only an hour before dawn. Keying the receiver, he rubbed his eyes to wake up. "Thomas," he answered.

"Nathan," Cain's face appeared on the monitor. "I don't know how you knew, but you called it right. We have a positive track on a rocky NEO inbound on a direct heading for Terra."

Nathan was instantly on his feet and reaching for his pants. "Target?"

"It is on a collision course with Madrid. The accuracy factor is now up to ninety-four percent."

"That figures," Nathan muttered. "Now I am sure of the Syndicate's involvement. Madrid is where all of the Market's financial records of the past are kept."

"We have already dispatched a destroyer to intercept it. Unless something goes wrong, we will be able to prevent the collision."

Nathan slipped his shirt on and reached for his shoes. "I am coming down," he said. "When is the interception?"

"We expect to be in interception envelope in six and a half hours. Seven hours to be in firing range," Cain advised.

"That will give me time to get something to eat," Nathan mused. "There is no real need to hurry."

"Take your time. It will still be out there," Cain laughed.

"Have you back tracked the object?" Nathan asked.

"Way ahead of you on that one," Cain answered. "We dispatched the second destroyer to the point of origin at flank speed. Maybe we can get a scan of the culprits before they can clear out of the area."

Nathan logged off and sat on the edge of his bed. Seven hours until intercept, he reminded himself. That left plenty of time to finish sleeping and get breakfast, so he set the PC to alarm at sunrise plus two hours and lay back on the bed. He had a little trouble getting back to sleep as the excitement of the interception danced in his mind, but years of discipline kicked in and he dismissed the thoughts on things he could do nothing about.