by comm laser from an asteroid, and it’s in the clear. It’s supposed to be from a Warrant Officer Severin of the Exploration Service.”
“Let’s hear it,” Martinez said, and then winced for forgetting he wasn’t in charge and anticipating his commander.
Coen didn’t wait for Michi to confirm the order, but sent the message to everyone in the Flag Officer Station. A miniature Severin appeared in a corner of Martinez’s display, a shaggy-haired, bearded man in the blue uniform of the Exploration Service. Martinez enlarged the image as the man began to speak.
“This is Warrant Officer First Class Shushanik Severin to any incoming warship,” the bearded man said. “My crew and I were assigned to the station at Wormhole Two when the rebellion broke out. When the frigateCorona transited the system to Seizho, Captain Martinez warned me that a Naxid squadron was following within hours. I therefore ordered the wormhole moved seven diameters off the plane of the ecliptic, and then loaded my crew into the lifeboat and grappled it to an asteroid. Since that time, we’ve been powered down and keeping the enemy under observation.”
The bearded man leaned toward the camera, and his voice took on urgency.
“My lords,the Naxids never left Protipanu ! The original eight warships have been reinforced by two more, and they have scattered approximately a hundred and twenty decoys throughout the system. Our observations have been updated every hour, and I am appending a standard navigation plot with the latest information. The positions are a bit approximate, since we’d give ourselves away if we used radar, and have been forced to use our visual detectors to look for engine flares and then do a bit of interpolation, but we’ve been accurate in the past.”
Martinez could see that Severin’s breath turned to mist as it left his lips. “We will be standing by to answer any questions, though we request permission to leave for Seizho as soon as possible because, ah, the Naxids are bound to notice us now, and we are unarmed and helpless.
“We are standing by. This is Warrant Officer Severin.”
“Message from Captain Fletcher, my lady.” This was Lady Ida Li, the other signals lieutenant and a distant relation of the Lord Richard Li who had been engaged to Terza before the war. “The captain suggests the message may be Naxid disinformation.”
“I don’t believe so, my lady,” Martinez said. He looked at the image of Severin, who was now wrapping himself in a silver thermal blanket. “I remember Severin fromCorona ‘s passage through the system. This is the man.”
He’s had his ass frozen to that rock for five months, he thought in disbelief. And I believe that is frost I see on his mustache.
“Tell Captain Fletcher,” Michi told Li, “that Captain Martinez has encountered Mr. Severin before, and vouches for him.”
Which was not quite what Martinez had said, but Martinez knew better than to correct his superior.
“Comm, reply to Mr. Severin’s message,” Michi said. “Acknowledge, and tell him to stand by.”
“Acknowledge Severin’s message,” Coen repeated. “Tell him to stand by. Shall I give him permission to evacuate the system?”
“Yes,” Michi said. “Why not?”
“I’ve checked the attached file,” Coen said. “No viruses or other sabotage software.”
Martinez loaded Severin’s file into the tactical computer, and the near-empty Protipanu system blossomed with bright images, all attached to little identification labels giving course, speed, and class of vessel. There were far too many to take in at once. Martinez decided a virtual display would be more useful, and at his command the vast spaces of Protipanu’s system blossomed in his mind. He sat at the central point of the brown dwarf and looked with care at the distant fires that orbited him.
The supposed enemy squadron was two-thirds of the way across the system, partway between the Olimandu and Aratiri gas giants. It was moving in the same circle around Protipanu as Chenforce, and if it accelerated, it would eventually come up on Chenforce from behind, perhaps after four or five days.
Other icons identified as decoys were scattered throughout the system, some orbiting Protipanu in one direction, some in the other. All of them were echeloned to look like enemy squadrons, and if Severin’s estimates were correct Chenforce was going to be encountering one of them head-on in about fourteen hours.
The problem was that there was no real confirmation for any of this. Chenforce’s radars had yet to reach any targets and return with information. If Severin’s information were in fact Naxid disinformation, Martinez had no way of knowing.
Martinez let the virtual solar system fade from his mind and delivered his analysis to the squadron commander.
“If we increased acceleration we could probably make Wormhole Three before the Naxids could stop us,” he said.
Michi shook her head. “No. I’m not going to strike out on this mission with an enemy force right on our tail. I want to beat them right here, at Protipanu.”
Martinez looked into her dark eyes and felt a stirring in his nerves.To our hunt.
“Very good, my lady,” he said. He looked at the plot on his display, then put it on the wall display for both of them to see. “If Severin’s right about the location of the enemy it will be days before we engage, but I can see one decision we’re going to have to make fairly soon.” He manipulated a pointer on the display to indicate the supposed decoys they would encounter in fourteen hours. “Do we behave as if we already know these are decoys, or as if they’re real ships? We’d use a lot more missiles on real ships.”
Michi’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the advantage to putting on a pretense that we think they’re real?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Martinez admitted. “It depends on how they plan to use their decoys.”
Michi considered. “We have some hours to think about it,” she said. “Let’s see if Severin’s information is confirmed.”
“Transmission!” Coen called. “Radio transmission, from Wormhole Station Two.” He frowned at his display. “What we’re getting is fragmentary and low quality. And it’s coded.”
Sent by radio instead of powerful communications laser, the message was having a hard time getting throughIllustrious ‘s radioactive tail. The Naxids in the wormhole station were broadcasting to everyone in the system rather than to an individual ship.
“Send the message to cryptographic analysis,” Michi said. “It’ll give them some practice.” She looked at Martinez. “Which raises another issue,” she said.
“Yes, my lady?”
“We’ve got to destroy all three wormhole stations. I don’t want any information getting to the Naxid fleet command about the tactics I’m going to use.”
There was a brief silence as Martinez thought of the crews of the stations watching the missiles racing toward them, the speeding death they could do nothing to stop. “Very good, my lady,” Martinez said. “Shall I ask Severin to confirm that the relay stations are all occupied by the enemy?”
“Blow Station Two first,” Michi said. “They’vealready shown they’re the enemy.”
“Yes, my lady.” Martinez transmitted the order to Husayn, Fletcher’s weapons officer, and then—when Fletcher broke in asking for confirmation—informed the captain that the live-fire order had come from the squadron commander.
Martinez enlarged the communications board on his display, with its picture of the bearded Severin puffing out steam as he sat at his acceleration couch waiting for his engine start-up sequence to conclude.
“Mr. Severin,” he transmitted, “it’s very good to see you again. This is Captain Martinez, tactical officer for Squadron Commander Chen. I would advise you to remain at your present location until the plasma cloud near Wormhole Two has dispersed, and in the meantime to get your crew into their hardened shelter. Right now, however, I’d like your confirmation that all wormhole stations have been occupied by the Naxids.”
Severin was already several light-minutes from the squadron, so it was some time before Martinez saw him turn from a conversation with someone off-camera, and stare with quick attention at the incoming transmission. At first there was a moment of pleased apprehension—Martinez assumed he’d been recognized, and felt a touch of vanity at Severin’s reaction. Then Martinez saw Severin’s moment of puzzlement, followed by alarmed concern. Severin gave a quick glance to another display, presumably to confirm that the missile was on its way—which in fact it was, though it wouldn’t have shown on Severin’s display as yet.
“Captain Martinez,” he said, “welcome back to Protipanu. The pleasure of this meeting is all mine, believe
