“How bad is it?”
“This force was commanded by Great Lord of Order Hothan, the Great Visit’s second in command. In light of Great Lord Sorkar’s reports of our first clash, the main body was split.”
“Maker!” Tamman breathed.
“Great Lord Hothan proceeded immediately to rendezvous with Great Lord Sorkar,” Dahak continued. “Great Lord Tharno is currently awaiting word from them with a reserve of approximately two hundred seven thousand ships, including his own flagship—the true viceroy of this incursion.”
Colin knew his face was bone-white and strained, but he could do nothing about that. It was all he could do to hold his voice together.
“Do we know where they are?”
“At this moment, they are three Aku’Ultan light-years—three-point-eight- four-nine Terran light-years— distant. I calculate that the survivors of Great Lord Hothan’s force will reach them in six more days. Twenty-nine days after that—that is, in thirty-five Terran days—they will arrive here.”
“Even after what happened to them?”
“Affirmative, Sire. I calculate that the survivors of our battle will inform Great Lord Tharno—or, more accurately, his command computer—of what transpired, and of our own losses. The logical response will be to advance in order to determine whether or not we have received reinforcements. If we have not, Battle Comp will deduce—correctly—that none are available to us. In that case, the logical course will be to overwhelm us and then advance upon the planet from which Great Lord Furtag’s scouting reports indicate we come.”
“Sweet Jesus,” Adrienne Robbins whispered, and no one said anything else for a very, very long time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I blew it, ’Tanni.”
Colin MacIntyre stood staring into the depths of Dahak’s holo-display while his wife sat in the captain’s couch behind him. The spangled light of stars gleamed on her raven hair, and one hand gripped the dagger at her waist.
“I know how thou dost feel, my Colin, yet ’tis sooth, as Dahak saith. Even if this Tharno comes now upon us, what other choice did lie open to thee?”
“But I should’ve planned
“How now? Given what thou didst know, how else might thou have acted? Nay, it ill beseemeth thee to take too great a blame upon thyself.”
“Jiltanith is correct,” Dahak said. “There was no way to predict this eventuality, and you have already inflicted more damage than any previous Achuultani incursion has ever suffered.”
“It’s not enough,” Colin said heavily, but he shook himself and turned to face Jiltanith at last. She smiled at him, some of the strain easing out of her expression; Dahak said nothing, but his relief at Colin’s reaction flowed into both humans through their neural feeds.
“All right, maybe I
“’Tis hard to know,” Jiltanith mused. “Could we but do it, ’twere doubtless best to fall back on Terra. There, aided by the parasites we did leave with Gerald, might we well give even Tharno pause.”
“Not a big enough one. Not with our manned vessels alone. From what Dahak’s been able to discover, this reserve is their Sunday punch.”
“Unfortunately, that is true,” Dahak agreed. “Though they have scarcely twenty percent of Great Lord Hothan’s numbers, they have very nearly seventy percent of his firepower. Indeed, had they maintained their unity, they might well have won our last engagement.”
“That may be, but it’s kind of small comfort. We had seventy warships
“In truth, yet must we stand and fight, my heart, for, look thou, and we flee before them, we lose the half of our own vessels—and abandon Dahak.”
“I know.” Colin sat and slid an arm about her. “I wish you were wrong, babe, but you seldom are, are you?”
“’Tis good in thee so to say, in any case.” She managed a small smile.
“Your Majesty,” Dahak said, and Colin frowned at the formality. Dahak intended to say something he expected Colin not to like.
“Yes?” He made his tone as discouraging as possible.
“Your Majesty,” Dahak said stubbornly, “Her Majesty is correct. The wisest course is to withdraw our manned units to Sol.”
“Are you forgetting you can’t go supralight?”
“I am incapable of forgetting, but I am logical. If I remain here with the remaining unmanned units of the Guard, we can inflict substantial damage before we are destroyed. The manned units, reinforced by General Hatcher’s sublight units, would then be available to defend Earth.”
“And you’d be dead.” Colin’s eyes were green ice. “Forget it, Dahak. We’re not running out on you.”
“You would not be ‘running out,’ merely executing prudent tactics.”
“Then prudence be damned!” Colin snapped, and Jiltanith’s arm squeezed him tight. “I won’t do it. The human race owes you its
“I must remind Your Majesty that I am a machine and that—”
“The hell you are! You’re no more a machine than I am—you just happen to be made out of alloy and molycircs! And can the goddamned ‘majesties,’ too! Remember me, Dahak? The terrified primitive you kidnaped because you needed a captain? We’re in this together. That’s what friendship is all about.”
“Then, Colin,” Dahak said gently, “how do you think I will feel if our friendship causes your death? Must I bear the additional burden of knowing that my death has provoked yours?”
“Forget it,” Colin replied more quietly. “The odds may stink, but if we hold the entire force here, at least you’ve got a chance.”
“True. You increase the probability of my survival from zero to approximately two percent.”
“Yet is two percent infinitely more than zero,” Jiltanith said softly. “But were it not, yet must we stay. Dost’a not see that thou art family? No more might we abandon thee than Colin might leave me to death, or I him. Nay, give over this attempt and bend thy thought to how best to fight the foe who comes upon us all. Us
There was a long silence, then the sound of an electronic sigh.
“Very well, but I must insist upon certain conditions.”
“Conditions? Since when does my flagship start setting ‘conditions’?”
“I set them not as your flagship, Colin, but as your friend,” Dahak said, and Colin’s heart sank. “There may even be some logic in fighting as a single, unified force far from Sol, but other equally logical decisions can enhance both our chance of ultimate victory and your own survival.”
“Such as?” Colin asked noncommittally.
“Our unmanned units cannot fight without my direction; our manned units can. I must therefore insist that if my own destruction becomes inevitable, all surviving crewed units will immediately withdraw to Sol unless the enemy has been so severely damaged that victory here seems probable.”
Colin frowned, then nodded slowly. That much, at least, made sense.
“And I further insist, that you, Colin, choose another flagship.”
“What? Now wait a minute—”
“No,” Dahak interrupted firmly. “There is no logical reason for you to remain aboard, and every reason
