“I don’t think so. Forty-one of them were fairly close to wings. We think they might be calling the shots for the wings.”
Chandrajuski considered Trexler’s words. M’Coda started preening furiously. “We might want to shift our attacks slightly, but we have to make the bumps first.”
“Agreed, Admiral. Identifying the Chessori is certainly a top priority. There were four more ships very far out. It looked to me like they were far enough out to jump instantly.”
“The main commanders?”
“Probably.”
“Juster’s here,” Chandrajuski said softly, displaying his teeth in a grin and knocking his fists together. “And maybe Struthers himself. Oh, my!”
M’Coda spoke up. “We cannot take out the command ships until they have ordered the reinforcements to enter the fight, and those reinforcements must be far enough into the system that they cannot jump back out quickly.”
“There’s one more piece to the timing, gentlemen. Jim not only discovered the Queen’s ship, he has a job for her. If she announced her presence to the Rebels, she would be a magnet for their reinforcements. Struthers, if he’s here, will do anything to take her out. And there’s more. Something that Jim doesn’t know, most likely, is what happened when the Queen announced her presence to the Rebels at Gamma VI. Remember?”
“The squadron was brought to its knees,” Chandrajuski said softly. Both of his hands formed into fists again, and he knocked them together a few times. “Is there anything else?”
“Just one more thing. Reba is captaining one of those slow cruisers. If time permits, I’d like to get her out of the way. She’ll think it’s because she’s a female, and she’ll be mad as a hornet, but that’s not my reason. I want her out of there because she’s a Knight. I don’t want to be wasting Knights out here. I was wondering if, instead of tight beaming the Queen, Reba can just take the message to her.”
“I’ve already dispatched a fighter to pick her up. I, too, do not want Knights captaining my ships.”
“Won’t all of this fast shipping alert the Rebels?”
“We’re using fighters, and their beacons are off. Ray, every ship out here began its life as an Empire ship, so we know how they work. Our ships’ AI’s look for beacons.”
“How do we see Chessori ships?”
“They, too, have beacons. They’re not the same as ours, but they shine clearly to the AI’s.”
“I thought the AI’s read drive signatures.”
“They do, but only after fine tuning their sensors on beacons. They might pick up a drive without a beacon if it’s close to them, but they won’t pick up anything else unless it’s close enough to hit. Fighters have small drives, and it’s unlikely they’ll be picked up. It’s a gamble, but the stakes are not high. The Rebels are far enough into the system now that they cannot escape.”
An angry, red-headed woman stormed into sick bay. “How could you! You sorry… Oh!… What happed to you, Ray?” Her eyes moved left for an instant, then back to the left again. “Jim?” Left again, and, “Stevens?” Left again, and “Walters?” Left again, then back to Trexler. “What’s going on here?”
“It’s a long story, Reba. Can it wait?”
“Uh, yah. Anything serious?”
“No. Have you seen Chandrajuski?”
“Just for a moment. He sent me to you with orders to see him before I leave. What’s up?”
“Ellie’s here.”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not. She’s way out in the system, and we need you to take a message to her.”
Anger showed for a moment, then she caved in and came to stand beside him. She brushed a hand across his face, pushing a few short hairs back from his forehead. “Are you really okay? All of you?” she asked, turning to take in the Raiders.
“We’re really okay, Reba.”
“There are lots of other messengers.”
“Besides the injured men in this room, three people in the operations center know about the Queen. No one else. Who would you send? The message is critical. It’s a job for a Knight, My Lady.”
“My Lady, hmmph. You won’t get off that easy with me.”
“I know, but you’re here now. It’s too late to back out.”
“What’s the message?”
“Do you have any idea of what’s going on out here?”
“I only know the targets my ship was assigned. It’s frightening, Ray. It’s going to be a hard, bloody battle. The whole thing defies management.”
“I hope the Rebels see it that way. I’m sure that’s what Mike and the Queen see. Among other things, I want you to put their minds at rest, but she has a job to do for us.” He gave her the big picture. It didn’t take long; it really wasn’t that complicated, and she was a quick study.
When he was done, she said, “The fleet should know what you know, Ray. Do you have any idea of the stress levels out there?”
“I do. How would you have me notify them without letting the enemy know? They have the same radios we have.”
Her lips thinned. “It’s a harsh job you have, sir. Every ship here is undermanned, and our guys know it. Staring out through the net at that horde of ships coming at us is intimidating.”
“I know it, too well. They might not know it, but the slow ships like the one you were on will likely not end up facing worse than two-to-one odds. We’ve done that before and come out on top.”
“I’m telling you, our guys would do a better job if they knew.”
“There’s no way to tell them. They’ll do their duty.”
She moved to his bed and stared down at him, then kissed him lightly on the forehead. ”It’s been a while, Ray. You look older.”
“You look just as ravishing as always, My Lady. Val is a lucky guy.”
She turned away with her eyes brimming to find Waverly staring at her. She took his hand and leaned down to kiss his cheek.
“Your Raiders pulled it off again, My Lady.”
“I know, Jim. There was never any doubt in my mind.” She went to Stevens, ran her hand along his arm, then went to Walters and did the same. “Did I ever thank you for saving my life?” she asked.
“When?”
“When you opened fire on that gun emplacement on Orion III. My ship was holed with the first shot. You were ready, even though we weren’t supposed to open up on it for another half hour. I wouldn’t be here today if you hadn’t been ready.”
“I never knew,” he said in amazement. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, then turned to leave. Before stepping out the door, she turned back to Trexler. “You owe me, Ray.”
After she’d gone, Lieutenant Stevens moaned, “How come I never get the kisses?”
Reba double-checked that her beacon was off, studied her screens for a while, then picked the biggest hole in the Rebel armada she could find and fast-shipped out of the system. When clear of the gauntlet, she turned the small fighter back and set course for the Queen’s frigate. Several short jumps brought her alongside, and she latched her fighter to its side.
The first person she met was Mike, and he was angry. “What are you guys trying to do?” he demanded. “Attract all the Rebel forces to us?”
“Hi, Mike. Actually, yes.” She turned to Ellie and gave her a hug. “You have a job to do for us, Your Majesty.” She greeted Otis, Jessie, Ralph, and Josh, then turned back to Ellie. “I’d forgotten how crowded it always is around
