“I like it,” Admiral Townsend said. “The farther away they are the better. But that’s not why we’re here.”

“No, sir,” the lieutenant said. “However, it’s important to the story of HD 36951. The point is that HD 36951 is the nearest gate we have to the area the Dreen may be infesting. So the post was recently upgraded with a small security contingent and there were plans in the works to put up a satellite system. However…”

He tapped his computer again and a video started. The initial view was of the ground and the audio of panting.

“The base… it’s gone…” a man’s voice said, the view coming up and showing an area of dust and smoke. “There was… a big explosion. I was out surveying the… there’s… Oh, my God…”

The view whipped upwards and a dark shadow could be seen in the sky. The outlines were ovoid but that was about all that could be seen as the view began jumping all over the place.

“Grapp this… grapp this…” the voice said, panting and apparently running. “I’m heading for the gate. If I don’t make it…”

The screen went to snow suddenly and the strained voice was cut off.

“On the far side of the gate a major explosion was detected coming through,” Lieutenant Fey said, cutting off the video. “Kinetic energy only, no radiation. A response team took about two hours to get there. The local sheriff’s office in the meantime sealed off the gate. The response team from SpaceCom found the base destroyed, apparently as a result of a kinetic strike. They also found the video camera but not the person using it who, based on the voice analysis, was Dr. Charles Talbot, an archaeologist studying the ruins on the world. There was no evidence of any alien presence; however, based on standard protocol a Mark-88 was fired through the gate, destabilizing it, and the gate is now being moved to Antarctic secure area as all potential Dreen gates have been moved.

“While the main base was destroyed, there was a secondary base in the nearby ruins. It is likely that there were survivors of the initial attack and the blast. They had limited supplies, however. Their holding out for the time for us to get there would be… problematic.