changed, apparently. Now, fully two thirds of that cloud had vanished. In the middle of it was another cloud of larger objects. Nano ships-hundreds of them.
“It’s a full attack, Colonel,” Miklos said, spotting me for the first time.
“Have they broken through yet?” I demanded. A half dozen people recognized me and threw me significant glances. I ignored them all, and they lowered their voices. They still conferred with others on station around the planet we all orbited.
“This vid is four hours old. The conflict is still on-going.”
“Is this as close as we can get? Zoom in.”
“We’ve lost that capacity, sir.”
I looked at him. He looked back significantly. I could tell he thought we’d lost control of the ring.
“This is exactly why I wanted to build a battle station out there. Something tougher than a mine field. They came through with what-three hundred odd ships? With two guns each, that’s six hundred guns. They knew the field was there after their little scouting mission, so they came in nice and slow. Our mines are ineffective if the enemy isn’t charging into them blindly.”
“Yes, sir,” Miklos said.
“So, we have to assume the field is lost, and they’ve managed to punch a hole right through it.”
“That is a logical assumption, Colonel.”
“Where are they headed?”
“We won’t know until the battle plays out.”
It was a hard thing, watching a battle that had already happened. I kept wanting to press some kind of fast- forward button and get to the conclusion. The Nano ships were taking no chances. They edged forward, almost drifting. Arranged in a layered ovoid mass, they fired their hundreds of guns relentlessly as they detected the tiny mines and destroyed them one at a time. Beams stabbed out in every direction from the central mass of ships as they advanced, destroying our mines almost without a loss.
“Total numbers?” I asked about an hour later when they’d passed the minefield successfully.
“Twenty-one ships hit, eighteen destroyed. Mines left in the region-nine hundred sixty-one, sir.”
I studied the numbers. “You included their losses from the earlier scouting trip. That means we only knocked out what-two? Two of this entire new armada?”
“Yes sir. We did score a few other hits, mostly from mines that detonated prematurely. But the Nano ships were only damaged and are still functional in most of those cases.”
“Great,” I said. “That’s just great. They made it through almost intact. Any response to our attempts to open channels with them?”
“No response, sir.”
“Projections of their course?”
Miklos hesitated. “We can’t be certain yet, Colonel.”
“What do you mean? What’s your best guess?”
“I–I don’t understand the data, sir.”
“Just tell me if they are coming to the Centaur homeworld to wipe us out. I don’t care if you’re wrong. Give me what you have.”
“Yes, sir. See the projected arcs on the screen?
An orange spray of pixels appeared. It was an arc which cut a broad swathe across the system. It widened steadily as it moved farther from the ring. It was a projection of where the enemy fleet might be headed. Every minute that passed, their most likely goals narrowed and the arc narrowed with it, graphically depicting targets. The arc was huge, encompassing several planets. I was reminded of weathermen, plotting the likely path of an incoming hurricane. The analogy was a pretty close one to us. The storm of ships that had just entered our system was capable of destroying anything that got into its path.
I frowned at the data. The Centaur homeworld was not on the list. Neither were most of the habitable planets. Only the hottest water-world, the innermost tropical planet, was inside the fringe of the arc.
“I don’t understand. They are heading inward, toward the star, but at an angle. What are they aiming for?”
“They could be planning to adjust their course as they advance. Possibly, they wish to avoid any more minefields we’ve placed in the most likely orbital paths to the inner planets.”
I nodded slowly, glaring at the screen. As I watched, the arc narrowed a tiny fraction. “What do you think they’re doing, Captain?”
“Let’s expand the view, and look farther out,” Miklos said.
As I watched, he worked the screen. Again, his efforts seemed clumsy compared to Major Sarin-I mentally corrected myself Rear Admiral Sarin.
When Miklos finished with his adjustments, much more of the system map was included. His theory was unmistakable at that point. The center of the projected arc collided with a single planet, and it did so with precision. The very center line of the arc cut right through the sole gas giant in the Eden system.
“The Blues?” I said. “They are targeting the gas giant?”
Miklos locked gazes with me. He nodded. “That is my conclusion, sir,” he said. “But this could change. It might be a ruse of some kind.”
I stared at the data. Every minute, it updated and drew the lines more tightly. The projections were unmistakable.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “These bastard lobsters haven’t impressed me so far as being subtle people. Somehow, they realized they outnumbered everyone in this system, and they decided to make their play now while they have more firepower than we do. Maybe they think this is necessary-maybe they think they are making a preemptive strike.”
“But in that case, why head to the gas giant? We are unaware of any ships there, other than the few mining scoops we have at the planet’s rings.”
I thought about it. “Maybe they think we need that material. We did, until recently. Now that we have Macro workers sucking up minerals on the Centaur homeworld, the dust loads coming from those rings is negligible. But that wasn’t the case just a week ago. Maybe their intel is old.”
“Yes,” said Miklos, leaning on the board and staring. “That would make some sense. Perhaps they don’t know our ship strength, so their first move is to cut off our supplies, rather than directly confront our fleets.”
I nodded, agreeing with the analysis more every second. “Right,” I said. “This side-attack has several advantages for them. They think they are cutting off our raw materials. If we fly out to defend the mining ships, then they can meet our fleet out in open space, away from any defensive fortresses we have around the planet.”
“Even if we don’t come out, their plan hurts us and gives them time to gather intel concerning our fleet strength.”
We both stared and someone put a cup of coffee into my hand. I drank it, and wished it was something stronger. The situation was grim. There were now three fleets in this system, and I suspected ours was the weakest-by a large margin.
— 27
As the hours passed, it became increasingly clear the enemy was indeed targeting the gas giant. I didn’t make any moves against them, as I didn’t want them to change their minds. I didn’t even order my mining ships to run. They were all automated, so no one was in danger of being killed. Given the situation, I wanted the Crustaceans to think they were catching us by surprise.
When the Nano ships reached the gas giant, the first thing they did was swarm my three pathetic miners as they scooped up ice and dust from the rings. They obliterated them in seconds. If we’d had any questions about their armament, or their willingness to use it on our ships, we had our answers now.
“Sir,” Miklos said, interrupting me as I mused over the Nano ships and their silent, mysterious mission.
“What is it, Captain?”
