One Good Soldier

altitude orbit just beneath them and the QMT facility. They were right on top of them.

'All right, those are bogies one and seven. All mecha to one, all fleet vessels focus on seven! Roosevelt, hold back and cover our ass from those targets above.'

'Roger that CO Madira. Roosevelt taking up the rear!' the CO of the Roosevelt replied.

'CO! CDC!'

'Go, CDC!'

'We've got incoming missiles and cannon fire, sir!'

'Roger that, CDC!' Wallace gripped his chair. 'Brace for impact!' Timmy, sound the warning.

Aye, sir.

'All hands, all hands! Brace for impact! Emergency crews stand by! Multiple threats detected. Repeat, brace for impact and prepare for incoming fire.' Uncle Timmy's voice boomed over the 1-MC intercom, shipwide.

'XO!'

'Aye, Skipper?' the XO replied.

'Larry, we need to report back to Washington. Get the first courier loaded with as much info as we can and snap him back to the Oort Cloud base.' The admiral uploaded some thoughts very quickly to Uncle Timmy.

Timmy, get as much data as possible summarized for President Moore and get it on the courier.

Aye, sir.

He needs to know about DeathRay and about the size and strength of this new Seppy fleet.

Aye, sir.

'Quartermaster of the Watch!' the XO shouted. 'You heard the admiral! Let's get courier one ready to snap-back in less than ninety seconds.'

'Yes, sir!'

'Sir, another one of the Seppy supercarriers just went into hyperspace!' the STO announced. 'I've got a conduit opening up behind us, sir. They'll be right on top of the Roosevelt!'

'Thanks, STO.' RADM Jefferson adjusted his mindview to see the battlescape around the Roosevelt. If they played it right, they could get into a game of cat and mouse using the QMT asteroid as cover. 'CO Madira to CO Roosevelt!'

'Go, Madira!'

'Jaunt behind the asteroid. I want to see if this Seppy bastard will pursue. If he doesn't, then jaunt back and press the attack! We'll focus on a crossfire gambit.' The admiral knew that pulling the Roosevelt off their rear flank would leave the backdoor open and put them in a bad crossfire situation. But he needed to know if that was the Seppy battle plan or not.

Just how clever is their fleet captain, or are they fighting as individuals?

I see, Admiral. This will tell us how orchestrated their attack is.

Yes.

'Roger that, Madira.'

'Sir, the Roosevelt just jaunted out of the battle to a cover position behind the asteroid,' the STO said.

'Doesn't look like he's going after the Roosevelt, sir.' The XO added, 'We're gonna be in a serious crossfire any second now.'

'Good.'

'CO Madira to Fleet! Tyler and Lincoln, take up point on the two lower bogies and give the Roosevelt and the Madira cover to take on the one that just jaunted to our backdoor.'

'Sir! The Roosevelt is waiting for your order to jaunt back into play!'

'Tell them to bring it!' Wallace ordered.

Chapter 20

July 1, 2394 AD

Ross 128, Arcadia Orbit

Friday, 3:21 PM, Earth Eastern Standard Time

'Gotcha!' Karen toggled her mecha into fighter mode even as she passed through the debris field of the Seppy she had just splashed. She looked for her stand-in wingman, Dragon. The rookie was good, but Fish had flown as DeathRay's wingman for over a decade. Partnerships like that are hard to beat. Fish was as much a pro as DeathRay, and it was only a