you’re made of.”
She backed away. “Rebels, surrender or die. I beg you to surrender.”
Trexler and Waverly looked at each other in amazement. “Is she foolish?” Waverly asked.
“She’s calculating and, I think, brave. Did you know the Chosen cannot lie?”
“I’ve heard. I’m not sure I believe it.”
“It’s generally accepted out here in the Empire to be true. She will fight him if he comes, and Chandrajuski will have to let him through. She can’t tell a lie, but she doesn’t have to tell the whole truth either, and she’s clever about it. She didn’t tell him she’s in a fast ship. I would give a fast frigate a fair chance against a slow cruiser. If nothing else, she could just stay out of range of his guns, taking occasional pot shots at him. She’d wear him out until he gives up or runs, but his men here don’t know that. I wonder if he’ll come?”
“Maybe we’ll just have to keep an eye on those four command ships.”
“Maybe now would be a good time to take them out,” Trexler said with a smile. “I don’t doubt for a minute that Chandrajuski is thinking the same thing. Their use to us is over. Any surrenders will be on a ship by ship basis, possibly a unit or a wing here or there, but those top commanders are unlikely to approve a general surrender.”
“I would when it reached a certain point, and it’s going to reach that point. Are you giving them full credit? They’re just as good at commanding as we are. They have to care about their men.”
“Chandrajuski will be the better judge of that. A lot of these guys got their appointments by replacing the A- teams; they’re second string and might not have the seasoning it takes to admit defeat. Is there anything harder for a warrior to do?”
“No, unless it’s watching your men die.”
Twenty minutes later, two of the command ships far out in the system winked out, having jumped into hyperspace. After two hours passed and they had not reappeared, Chandrajuski announced to all ships, Empire and Rebel, that the top Rebel command had fled. He offered surrender as the only Rebel option. He pulled all of his slow ships from their targets and let the fast ships remain engaged.
Rebel ships began fleeing, but they were days away from jumping into hyperspace. Some risked jumping early, and their fates were unknown, but most stuck to doctrine. Chandrajuski waited until trajectories of fleeing units were known, then issued instructions to the remainder of Seeton’s reserves to intercept them. When the additional 273 squadrons emerged from hyper, essentially simultaneously, one of the far Rebel command ships contacted Chandrajuski and surrendered. The battle was over.
Chapter Twenty-six
Reba entered the nearly empty sick bay. Everyone but Trexler had been transferred to another ship. He was in the net and did not sense her entrance.
She announced to the room, “Ship, alert Admiral Trexler that he has a visitor.”
The phone beside Trexler’s bed began vibrating. She picked it up.
“General broadcast is not permitted in sick bay.”
“There’s no one left in here who is sick. Notify Admiral Trexler.” She hung up and waited.
It wasn’t long before Trexler removed his helmet and looked around at the vacant room. His gaze settled on Reba. “Hi, Lady.”
“Hi, yourself. Where is everyone?”
“I’ve transferred everyone from sick bay to other ships. The command staff will be on their way out of here shortly.”
An eyebrow ticked up on Reba’s face. “Why?”
“Because I’m taking this and another fast squadron to Earth. They are the only two squadrons that are undamaged.”
She visibly sagged with relief. “I’m so glad to hear that. We left them essentially defenseless.”
He nodded. “We left Korban undefended, as well. Chandrajuski has agreed to send two fast squadrons to him. I don’t know how long he’ll get to keep them, but he’ll at least have them until we can get him some slow ships.”
“Do you have to go to Earth personally?”
“No, but I won’t be staying long. I just want to get a feel for how Buskin and Godfries are doing, and I want to check on the new projects we’ve begun there. I’ve been out of that loop for too long. As soon as Buskin’s ships get back, I’ll return here with my fast squadrons. I hope to work with Waverly for a while.”
She grinned. “You’ve been reading minds.”
“Whose?”
“Ellie’s and Mike’s. They’re here talking to Chandrajuski. They’ll be down to see you any minute. So…” she began with a twinkle in her eyes, “Two down, 68 more to go.”
He grimaced. “I hope not. I don’t want to do this one by one. A lot of good people died out here this week, good people on both sides.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” a new voice piped in.
Trexler looked around Reba to the door and nodded his head. “Your Majesty.”
Two Protectors sprang into the room, followed by Mike, Val and Josh. Ellie came to Trexler’s bed and brushed a hand fondly across his head. “You’ve done well, my friend. Chandrajuski gives you full credit for winning the two largest battles in the history of Empire. I give you credit for sending Struthers running with his tail between his legs. He will be a long time recovering from these losses.”
“He’s not going to give up with just two losses, Ellie.”
“I know. And we can’t keep fighting sector to sector like this. My time is coming up. I will speak to the Imperial Senate as soon as it convenes, which I do not think will be much longer.”
“How?”
“We don’t know yet. Otis has been working with Mike, Val, Reba, and Josh to develop a plan. The four of them are going to Triton. Otis cannot go. There are no Great Cats there now.”
Trexler looked to Mike. “What’s your plan?”
“Our job is to find a way to get Ellie into the Senate chamber, then back out. We don’t have a clue how we’re going to do it. That’s why Josh is coming. It’s really his mission since Otis can’t go. The Protectors, all of them most likely, will be tasked with making it happen.”
“Can I assume you have plans to communicate with the rest of us? I’m guessing it will take every ship we have, and the fighting could be bloody.”
“We’re counting on you, Ray. We’ll let you know what we need as soon as we know ourselves. Actually, our hope is that you will just distract them. We plan to bring everyone in on traders. This will not be a massive assault with our own ships. It won’t work if it comes to that.”
“Unless you take the whole planet,” Trexler replied.
Mike looked out into space for a time. “Probably not likely, but we’re not closing off any options yet.”
“We have other business to conduct here, Ray,” Ellie said. She stepped over to him and placed a hand on his head. “You fight for the people of Earth, but you fight in my name, as well. You are my representative to your people, and when you speak, you will be speaking for me.”
Reba took Val’s hand in her own and laid her head on his shoulder. Mike, on the other hand, did not have warm fuzzies. Ellie had high hopes, but he believed she would suffer disappointment this day.
“Raymond Trexler, today is your Naming day. Will you swear allegiance to my Crown? Will you wear the Pin of a Knight of the Realm?”
Trexler stared into her eyes. For the two of them, thoughts of battles and plans receded. Her request, though official, called on the very personal friendship they had developed during the preceding months.
“I would proudly wear the Pin if I could, Your Majesty. You know I would. Remember our conversations about the problems on Earth that have to be resolved before the existence of extraterrestrials becomes common knowledge?”
She nodded her head, sensing his tone, and suddenly fearful that this great man might actually refuse
