For what seemed an eternity they fled through the green blaze of the
sun, after the ship Durham could no longer see. And ahead of the
lifeboat, a light and a portent in the void, went the Bitter Star with
its attendant shadows. And Durham, too, began to worry, he was not
sure why. Jubb's flagship closed up to them, a vast dark whale beside
a minnow. And after a while a tiny bright ball that was a planet came
spinning toward them. Karlovic pointed.
Hung like a net across space, between them and the planet, was a series
of glittering metallic flecks.
"The squadron."
The communicator buzzed. Karlovic snapped it on, and the face of a
Nantan officer appeared on the screen.
"We have Morrison," he said. "Come no closer with the Star."
Karlovic spoke to the darkbird. Durham's hands, heavy with weariness,
slowed the lifeboat until it hung almost motionless. Jubb's great dark
cruiser slowed also. Above and between them burned the Bitter Star. It
had ceased to move.