Volhun grunted. "Raise shields. Give me a firing solution, Weapons."

"Standing by," the weapons officer replied.

Algomon spoke up. "Sir—I'm picking up something else."

Volhun glanced at the technician. "What?"

"Radiation of some kind..." Algomon muttered, tapping controls on his console. "Low gamma rays—some delta and beta. No alpha spikes..."

"Radiation?" Volhun snapped. "What's he doing?"

"He's not firing anything," Algomon said, examining his screen. "He's not putting out a weapons spike—radiation's coming from his drive. It's like—"

"His drive's overheating?" Volhun asked. "Is he pushing too hard? Has he got a power failure?"

"Possible," Algomon replied. "I'm detecting signs of power fluctuation—he's getting drive spikes and dips—he's not on a stable power curve..."

"He's losing control?" Volhun asked. His frown hardened. "Is he going to blow his drive in our face?"

"Hard to say—"

"Firing solution acquired," the weapons officer said. "We can target him at one-hundred kilometers."

"Hold fire—" Volhun said.

"Sir?" the weapons officer protested.

"I want him intact," Volhun replied. "Do not fire unless ordered. Algomon—do you have his power spikes in pattern?"

"I've got the power data," Algomon said. "He's in a bad way—drive's fluctuating all over the place—"

Volhun grunted again. "How much time before he powers down completely?"

Algomon looked up, blinking fast. "I—I don't know. Drive output is dipping—power dips are getting worse—we're picking up power spikes and fluctuations—it looks like his generator is shutting down—"

"Can we pick a tractor beam on him?" Volhun asked. "Or can we fire an extendable and tow him?"

"Stand by—" Algomon tapped more controls, staring at his screen for a few moments. "His shields are down—I can lock the tractor beam."

"Fire it," Volhun ordered. "Bring him in."