"He's gone." Officer Byrne set down the tablet with a curl of her lips. "Whoever that ghost is, he's gone."

    "You're absolutely positive?" Captain Thorn checked.

    "The only trace of him on this moon is a ship being hijacked and flown back to Zoel," she replied shortly. We all stood in the room we'd gathered in. Officer Decker stood with us, leaning slightly on a cane. His breaths wheezed but he was alright. He insisted he was fine. We all knew better but I knew he was stubborn enough to never admit otherwise.

    "Full report."

    "Yes, Captain." Officer Peterson placed down his own tablet. "It's a copy of the situation on the Patriot. No traces. No doors opening, no motion detectors set off, no heat sensors triggering. The only trace of him is a patch of his blood in the Courtroom. As far as the computers know, he doesn't exist."

   "I've already sent off the blood for identification purposes," added Byrne. "The results should be back shortly. We can also be sure that he's no longer on Satov. One guard reported that his space ship was stolen by someone he couldn't shoot. No one else believed him, but he put the report in anyway."

   "Any way to track it?"

    Officer Peterson pointed. "I've got him pinged. He's half-way to Zoel right now."

    "Any reason we're not rushing to beat him there?" Officer Decker rasped. My thoughts echoed his statement.

    Byrne smiled darkly. "He's taking a slower ship. It's meant for cargo, not transportation. It will take him about four hours to land. We can take a HyperZipline and be there in ten minutes. We've got his landing site marked down so there's no rush."

    "This seems too easy," I said sharply. "After all of that work, how easily he has been evading technology detection . . . leaving a tracker seems too careless."

    "I thought so too." Byrne finally had a shred of doubt. "I couldn't find how he got to Satov in the first place, unless he was on the same ship as us. I've already put in the order to cross-reference his DNA profile with the soldiers on our transportation ship. But there's no other way. The ship took off seemingly by itself – no heat sensors, no motion, nothing to suggest anyone was on board."

   Despite my grudge against her, I had to admit Byrne was good. She had covered all angles I was still coming up with. I reluctantly admitted the Captain might have had a point in reinstating her to her position.

    "If we find out that he wasn't on the same ship as us on the way here," said Bird suddenly, "then I think it's fair to say that this hijacked ship is a ploy. If he got here undetected, he could leave undetected."

    "What about if he was panicking? After all, he was wounded. People don't always think rationally," questioned Peterson.

    I gritted my teeth. "I hate to say it but I agree with Bird. If this man's DNA profile doesn't match anyone's on our ship or on the most recent incoming ships, then that hijacked ship is a lure. It's too easy."

    "What option do we have?" Officer Edwards put in. "We've no other lead. Even if he's not on the ship, it could clue us in on how he managed to make it take off without a pilot. I'm positive that ship is linked to this man, I just don't think he's on it himself. The ship itself might have clues."

    A stubborn silence fell over us all. I saw valid points on both sides. The man could be on that ship, or he might not. Chasing after the ship – regardless of whether if he was on it – could lend clues. However, if it was a lure, we would willingly be falling right into the trap and the man would get away. There were just too many What Ifs. Which direction to go?

    Our gazes shifted to the Captain. He was looking at the tablets in thought. A tiny crease had formed between his brows. Finally, he spoke. "We'll follow to Zoel. Besides the fact that it could be a lure, we need to secure the Patriot. The man broke into it once and he can do it again. He could kill our crew easily. We need to go back and secure the ship before we run after the trail."

    He looked up. "Besides, we have another lead. After discussing with an engineer, there is a decent chance that this man is capable of all of this because of sekrite. To put it shortly, there's a theory that sekrite is a destabilizing agent. It would explain why only sekrite – that chair leg – could touch the man when we couldn't. The only person who ever entertained the idea of that theory was a doctor by the name of Ambrogio Tase. There is no death notice linked to him, so he is likely still alive." The Captain looked around at us. "There's a very good chance that if this man used sekrite to become destabilized, then he met with Dr. Tase about it. We just have to hope that we're on the right track and Dr. Tase is youthful enough to remember the encounter."

    "Where does he live?" I inquired.

   Captain Thorn's face darkened. "Settlement Vilara of Nusora. It's on the other colonized planet. As soon as we're done with the hijacked ship and the Patriot, we make for Nusora."