Why are the Varthans descending to the surface? This penultimate snippet sets up the chapter for its conclusion, while still keeping much of the backstory secret.

The Varthans change their ship’s heading as they descend to the planetary surface, Ha’ajik security slowly losing ground. After another failed attempt at communication, the Djeha’ajik open fire. They target the shield generator of the vessel. Nothing happens. This little ship seems to have undergone some upgrades. They attempt a tractor beam lock. It won’t hold. Options dwindle one-by-one. The Varthans once again change the heading. A moment later, the lifesigns on the ship vanish. The ship collides in a massive explosion with what could appear, to an outsider, to be either a structure or a hill. In a matter of seconds, the debris vanishes with a ripple, and the smoke clears. Ha’ajik homeostasis technology intervened.

The Varthans materialize inside a room where a klaxon begins to sound as the Djeha’ajik realize the breach. Eying their surroundings, the Varthans find themselves in a large hangar with several spacecraft unlike any seen in the battle above the planet. They appear to be prototypes. The elderly Varthan, holding a small, unknown device, points to a ship in the back of the room, and they proceed toward it. The Ha’ajik security teams hustle down the hallways of the bunker and enter the hangar from each entrance, simultaneously in flanks of three. After a moment of inspecting the hangar floor, they see no trace of the Varthans intruders, who have obviously entered one of the ships since there was no means of escape.

One-by-one, each of the four security teams searches the vessels with portable lifesign scanners while the remaining teams stand guard on the hangar floor. They narrow down possible hiding places to a single ship in the back of the hangar: the timeship. Of all the spacecraft in the room, one could understand how the Varthan intruders believe it to be the most self-beneficial if stolen. Yet, the Ha’ajik have placed the power module safely in an offsite location where it remains to this day after a series of unfortunate circumstances of the past.