"Your cruiser is not quiet," Talyra said, giving Vaelith a calm look.
"It can be."
Talyra simply stared at her.
Several seconds passed before Vaelith turned toward Aurelian with an accusing expression. "She's doing it again."
"I noticed," Aurelian replied, while Astra covered another smile beside him.
The mood became considerably more serious once Talyra entered the outer recovery region.
Instead of following any of the known supply routes, she approached from above the main traffic plane and gradually reduced her destroyer's power output.
The indirect route made the journey longer, but it also reduced the chance of someone connecting her arrival to the supply network Crownward had uncovered.
The journey took most of a day, and nobody at Helion expected immediate results.
That changed while Talyra was still several hours from the reserve site's recorded position.
Her expression sharpened as new information appeared across her display. "I have a sensor contact."
