*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** "Captain, a moment of your time?" Amanda Greene flinched upright. She had dozed off in her command chair and her right arm had been propping up her tired head. She blinked away sleepiness and composed herself before turning around to face Rolf Sorenson. "What is it?" Even though the ensign looked even more tired than Greene felt, she still appeared focused on the task at hand. "Ma'am, I believe we can solidify the theory of this anomaly." She motioned to her screen. Greene straightened up fully in her chair and pointed to the main viewscreen. "Bring it up here." After a moment hesitation of shyness, Rolf transferred her screen and the moon data on F342w 3L was replaced by a plethora of equations, mathematics, and hand drawn diagrams. The captain cracked a smile. [i]Now I know why she felt nervous at the attention[/i]. "What have you concluded?" "There's a good chance that the radiation levels--that we've already detected with our long-range sensors at the anomaly site--line up with the signatures we find in FTL drives." She switched the view to a chart of multiple makes and models of various UNSC and Covenant ships. "We can rule out smaller ships, such as [i]Prowler[/i]-class vessels, but the larger ones . . . well, there are a few possibilities." As she spoke, certain ship-types dimmed and the ones remaining brightened and were brought forward. "From a Covenant Corvette to a UNSC Cargo Hauler; they are all capable of producing such a massive disruption that [i]Raven's Call[/i] detected." Amanda nodded. Sorenson's file stated that she had an IQ level that rivaled most top researchers in their collective fields, but it was her tact for analysis that was one of the primary reasons Amanda had brought the promising ensign aboard. Aside from her social awkwardness and a few odd reprimands in the past, Sorenson had amazing potential in the Prowler Corps. "I concur, Captain," Melissa spoke from her pedestal. "There are still a number of possibilities as to what exactly caused their drive to falter, but . . . " Greene frowned. "What is it, Melissa?" The AI cleared the main viewscreen and the previous image of the moon nearest the target location was back on the display. A red dot appeared on screen, hovering above the moon's thin atmosphere. "Captain, I have something." Amanda nodded. "Go ahead." Melissa tilted her head to the side ever-so-slightly. "I'm getting faint readings of an oscillating energy signature. There's some magnetic distortion from the moon itself, but I believe I can lock it down if we cease our lateral course adjustments." "Do it." It was a few minutes longer, but when Melissa turned to face her, the AI's expression was as serious as ever. "The sensors are picking up a fluctuation similar to a ship's cloaking system activating and deactivating at random. It's as if the mechanism itself is failing." Greene felt her stomach grow cold. "What profile does the energy signature match?" Melissa turned to face forward and the text on the viewscreen sent a shiver down the Captain's spine. The AI folded her arms across her chest. "Covenant." The word hung in the air like smoke from a cabin fire. Greene swallowed hard. [i]This mission just got a lot more complicated.[/i]