better look at those defenses.'
'They can do that with recon drones, if they wish to,' al-Bakr countered. 'There's no need for them to risk their LACs doing the same job. So, with all due respect, Dame Evelyn, I believe the reason they are using LACs is specifically to draw you out of position.'
'I doubt very much, Sir, that Peeps are going to be able to sneak recon drones deep enough in-system to obtain the sort of information they need without our detecting them. Their drones simply aren't as stealthy as ours, and their sensors aren't as good. They couldn't pick up our concealed units... unless those units go active. Which is why they're using LACs. They may well have a drone screen out, but they want us to engage the LACs-or at least move to do so-because their drones can't pick our units up unless and until we bring them on-line.'
'Havenite technology has clearly improved greatly since the previous war, Admiral,' al-Bakr said. 'I believe it may be good enough to accomplish the task even if our defenses remain covert-or that they believe it is, at any rate. And it is, after all, their own assessment of their technology's capabilities which will govern their choice of tactics.'
'Sir, I'm afraid I can't share your interpretation of their intentions.' Padgorny kept both her tone and her expression as nonconfrontational as she possibly could. 'But whichever one of us is correct, we're faced with the fact that almost seven hundred hostile LACs are headed in-system and accelerating at over six and a half KPS squared. And while they're already inside most of your asteroid industry, there are-' she checked the CIC sidebar on the main plot '-twenty-three of your extraction freighters directly in their path. In addition to one Manticoran, one Solarian, and two Andermani merchantmen. If we don't respond, most of those extraction vessels and at least one of the Andermani freighters will find themselves in the Peeps' attack range before they can reach the cover of your orbital defenses.'
'I'm aware of the shipping movements, Admiral Padgorny,' al-Bakr said a bit frostily. 'This, after all, is not the first time the Peeps have visited this system,' he added pointedly. 'And I haven't said you can't engage these intruders. I've simply said that I won't authorize Hildebrandt. Your vessels, and the inner-system LACs, must remain in position to cover the planet and our most vital space infrastructure. I would point out to you that it was for precisely this sort of circumstance that the outer-system LACs and pods were deployed in the first place.'
Padgorny discovered that her teeth ached from the force her jaw muscles were now exerting.
'Admiral al-Bakr,' she said after a momemt, 'at this time, we have no reason to believe the Peeps realize the outer-system defenses are present. If we use them against this attack, however, that will change. Which will provide their planners with valuable intelligence in the event that they do decide to execute a serious attack on Zanzibar in future. I strongly urge you to allow me to use Hildebrandt rather than reveal that capability.'
'I'm afraid I can't do that,' al-Bakr said flatly. 'I realize you continue to have a great deal of faith in the superiority of our-and, particularly, your Star Kingdom's-technology over that of Haven. However, I-and my Caliph- are no longer in a position to place complete trust in that superiority, especially in light of the price the Caliphate has already paid. I believe it's probable Haven already knows from its own recon drones or other intelligence sources that we've been deploying LAC tenders and pods in the outer system. Which is one reason I believe this is a feint.'
Padgorny tried hard not to goggle at him. If the Caliph and his military advisers thought anything of the sort, why the hell hadn't they said so sooner than this? From the hardening of his expression, she realized she hadn't fully succeeded in controlling her own.
'At any rate, Admiral Padgorny,' his voice was flatter than before, 'I am not prepared to further debate my decision as the commander of this star system's defenses. You will not execute Hildebrandt and uncover the inner- system. And you will use the outer-system defenses to deal with this attack. Is that understood?'
Padgorny inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring, and reminded herself diplomacy wasn't her forte.
'It is, Admiral al-Bakr,' she said, her voice almost as flat as his. 'For the record, however, I strongly dissent from your analysis of the situation and of the enemy's intentions. I wish for my objection to the orders you've just issued to be made part of the official record. And I will be reporting that objection to my own superiors in my next dispatch.'
Their eyes locked in the com display. It was hard to say whose were harder, and tension hovered between them.
'Both your dissent and your objection are noted, Admiral,' al-Bakr replied. 'And, you are, of course, free to state whatever objections you choose to your superiors. Nonetheless, at this time, my orders stand.'
'Very well, Admiral,' Padgorny said coldly. 'With your permission. Padgorny, clear.'
Chapter Nine
'You're kidding.'
Commander Eric Hertz looked in disbelief at Captain Everard Broughton's face on his com screen.
'No,' Broughton said with commendable restraint. 'I am not kidding. Neither is Dame Evelyn.'
'But there's no need,' Hertz protested. 'I thought the entire idea was for us to be a hole in space until they really needed us!'
'Plans, apparently, have changed.'
Broughton turned away from Hertz to glare disgustedly at the tactical plot. The oncoming Havenite LACs had been inbound for almost thirty minutes. They were up to a velocity relative to the system primary of 12,788 kilometers per second, and they'd traveled over twelve million kilometers. They were also only about twenty minutes from bringing the closest extraction ships under long-range missile fire.
'Whatever we may think of it, we've got our orders,' he said, turning back to his com pickup. 'And under the circumstances, since there's no way you're going to be able to actually intercept them before they hit the extraction ships, we might as well go for the whole enchilada.'
Hertz's expression tightened.
'What do you mean?' he asked in the tone of a man who suspected he'd already guessed.
'The only way we're going to be able to do anything to save the extraction ships is to use the pods,' Broughton said bitterly. 'So since we're going to give away our presence, anyway, we might as well get the best return we can.'
He looked across his command deck at his tactical officer.
'Activate the pods,' he said. 'Target the LACs with-' he glanced at the plot's data bars '-the gamma platforms that have the range. Then bring up the delta platforms and designate the CLACs for any of them that have the reach.'
'Anything from the drone screen?' Oliver Diamato asked.
'Uh, no, Sir,' Commander Robert Zucker, his ops officer said quickly, and looked a silent question at his admiral.
'There ought to be,' Diamato said. 'Look at it. The LACs are going to run right over those extraction ships. And it's going to take some sort of miracle for that merchantman to slip away. They've got to know we're here-for that matter, the fact that the extraction ships are scattering the way they are proves they know. So, where's the response? There ought to at least be a flock of Manty LACs coming out to meet us by now!'
'You think they're up to something sneaky, Sir?'
'I think there's a pretty good chance of it, yes,' Diamato replied. 'Manties can screw up just like anyone else, but counting on them to do that isn't exactly the smartest thing you can do.'
He frowned at the master plot for a few more seconds, then wheeled around to face his communications officer.
'Get me a link to Admiral Duval.'
'Yes, Sir.'
Diamato crossed towards his command chair. He was just about to sit down in it when a strident alarm sounded.
'Missile launch!' a taut voice from CIC announced sharply. 'Multiple hostile missile launches along the belt! Many missiles inbound at four-five-one KPS squared! Time to first impact four-zero-niner seconds!'
'Well, there they go,' Hartnett observed bitterly as the firefly icons of multi-drive missiles suddenly speckled the master plot. They streaked across it, moving visibly even on the plot's scale, and the smaller, far more slowly moving light codes of LACs began to blossom as well, as the Shrike and Ferret squadrons lit off their
