

THE KAITIAN WAR

By Sami Salkosuo

Copyright 2014 Sami Salkosuo

Smashwords Edition

Discover other titles by Sami Salkosuo:

Truths, Half-Truths and Lies

Stories from the Strangers' Universe

Table of Contents

Prologue

About Sami Salkosuo

Other books by Sami Salkosuo

Connect with Sami Salkosuo
Prologue

"This is your final warning," said Commander Jeffery Bainbridge of Sea of Boston, a Human Empire Frigate, to a Miccvan frigate that had been trespassing into Human Empire territory for several months, if not years. The Miccvans came regularly to refuel in the Fexsol system, the first system colonized by Human Empire after the Revelation.

"No response," said the first officer, Lieutenant Lisa Jensen. "No reaction at all."

Jeffery mentally sighed, then cursed.

"Very well," he said, not allowing his concern to be reflected in his voice. "Launch torpedo bombers and escorts. Advance toward the enemy. Ready all weapons."

"Yes, sir!" said Lisa and carried out her orders.

Jeffery watched the tactical screen as the torpedo bombers and their escorts advanced toward the enemy.

"Long range weapons ready, sir!" said Lisa.

"Fire a warning shot to their engines. Low power. Don't damage them," ordered Jeffery.

"That got their attention," said the weapons officer, Lieutenant Darnell Carroll, after firing a low power laser beam against the Miccvan frigate. "They are turning toward us! They are targeting us!" he shouted and looked at Jeffery. He was young and his worry was clearly visible.

"To hell with this," said Jeffery. "Maximum power to weapons! Fire on my mark!"

"Commander!" shouted the communications officer, Lieutenant Lance Watkins. "Two enemy frigates decloaking!"

"They are all targeting us!" shouted Darnell. Worry was now very clear in his voice and tensions rose on the bridge.

Jeffery cursed again. There was no turning back--the enemy was approaching and they were outnumbered. Retreat was out of the question and there was no room for any subtle tactics. He had to use what he had.

"No retreat!" answered Jeffery to the unspoken question from the crew. "We end this now. Full speed ahead! Fire on my mark!" He tried to sound confident against the superior enemy and chose targets for the weapons. "Ready?"

"Commander!" shouted Lance. "Enemy decloaking! It's a cruiser!" Jeffery cursed aloud as the cruiser appeared beside the advancing frigates.

But before Jeffery could do anything, the science officer, Lieutenant Tricia Reese, yelled in surprise, "Commander! It's the Ocean of Titan!"

"It's firing!" shouted Darnell, and they saw how the heavy cruiser, Ocean of Titan, the flagship of the Human Empire Navy, hammered the nearest frigate to pieces.

"Fire everything we got!" ordered Jeffery and targeted the frigate farthest away from the Ocean of Titan.

Torpedo bombers and their fighter escorts had stopped their advance before managing to fire a single torpedo. The pilots just leaned back and watched as the Ocean of Titan destroyed the second enemy frigate and the Sea of Boston destroyed the third frigate with ease before the enemy got over their surprise.

"Ha ha ha," laughed Darnell, and the bridge crew joined the laughter.

"That taught them!" said Tricia.

Jeffery was all smiles.

"Incoming hail from the Ocean of Titan, sir!" said Lance.

"Put them on screen." Jeffery smiled and Commander Jiao Bai, of the Ocean of Titan, appeared on the main screen.

"Apologies for crashing your party, Jeffery," she said and clearly didn't mean it at all. She had obviously enjoyed herself.

"No apologies needed, Commander," said Jeffery. "If you hadn't come, we wouldn't be here."

Jiao smiled. "You're right. Lucky that we came . . . may I come aboard?"

"Of course, ma'am," said Jeffery, slightly surprised.

"Good," said Jiao. "Talk to you soon."

***

Unbeknownst to Jeffery and Jiao, the battle had been monitored by a cloaked corvette, Lake of Nevada, the most advanced ship of the Human Empire Navy, which was under direct command of Commander William Johnson of the Special Intelligence Center. William was also secretly the ultimate authority of the Human Empire. And immortal, although still very young--a thousand-year-old immortal.

"Excellent work, Commander," commended Advisor Milton of the Miccvan Empire. "Excellent. The cruiser was a surprise."

William glanced at Milton and grunted. "As were your two frigates."

"Heh heh," laughed Milton. "I wanted to give you a challenge."

"Challenge indeed," said William. "Without the Ocean of Titan, we would have lost."

"Ah." Milton smiled. "But you had your cruiser and you didn't lose."

"True," said William, also smiling. "I believe we achieved our goal. We had our victory against a superior force."

"Sir?" interrupted the science officer, Lieutenant Udo Thomas. "The data you requested."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said William. He was eager to see the data about the battle and the reaction to it back on Earth. More importantly, the data related to a top-secret project known only to handful of people. Udo had been testing the new version of their cloaking device and the cloak detection system. A small indicator hidden in the data told William that all the tests had been successful.

"Excellent news," said William, delighted. "Take a look."

Milton took the tablet that showed Primary News Service, PriNS, and Secondary News Service, SeNS, already presenting footage of the battle and both cheered Navy for victory. SeNS even went so far to dub the victory as "the second Revelation."

"You did achieve your goal," commented Milton. "Humans have now shown their worth in the galaxy and in the Coalition. And you have no need for fear of the unknown in the galaxy anymore. News of your victory will spread."

"As will news of your defeat," said William.

"You're right, but that doesn't matter," said Milton without concern. "Victories come and go and few care about these kind of skirmishes. Besides, you had a worthy victory. Excellent tactics to bring in the cruiser."

"It pays to be prepared." William smiled again.

***

Jiao arrived at the Sea of Boston and was cheered by the crew the second she opened the shuttle door.

"Commander." Jeffery saluted once Jiao had managed to get through the cheering crew and then shook her hand. "I can't say how glad I was when we realized it was you decloaking."

"My pleasure." Jiao smiled. "May we discuss in private? I have to go back to my ship and be on my way."

"Certainly," said Jeffery and led the way to the observation deck.

"What I'm about to say can't leave this room," said Jiao in a serious tone after they'd walked in front of the window that looked toward a gas planet.

"Ma'am?" said Jeffery curiously.

"It was good that we were here, wasn't it?" asked Jiao, looking at Jeffery.

"Yes, it was," answered Jeffery. "But how come you were here? I wasn't told of any backup. My orders were to drive away the enemy frigate by any means necessary."

"That's an interesting story," said Jiao. "Six months ago I was called to see Admiral Dana Anderson."

Jeffery raised his eyebrows. Anderson was one of the Admirals in the MilFor Board, in charge of the Navy.

"I didn't know that I'd meet Anderson when I was called for briefing, but there she was, alone," said Jiao. "She ordered me to go on a patrol to selected systems and to remain at all times cloaked. I was not allowed to decloak for any reason. Under penalty of death," added Jiao.

"What?" interrupted Jeffery, surprised. "Excuse me?"

"Under penalty of death," said Jiao. "I also interrupted her, but she didn't allow me to ask any questions. But it gets even stranger... the patrol route ended here one month ago."

There was a pause as the words sank in.

"One month ago, you said? So you've been here for a month? You've seen the Miccvans before?"

"I saw them--the same frigate--twice before today," said Jiao. "I had very specific orders."

"And those were?" asked Jeffery.

"My orders were to wait until one of our frigates showed up and engaged the Miccvan frigate. Anderson was very specific that I should not reveal myself," said Jiao, "not unless there were more than one enemy ship. And only if that happened, I'd have full authority to destroy the enemy."

Again there was a pause and Jeffery felt a strange feeling in his stomach. "I got my orders only a few days ago. They said I was the nearest vessel from Fexsol and that their patience had gone long enough and I should drive the Miccvan frigate away. By any means necessary, they said. And they were very specific about that."

"Do you understand what this means?" asked Jiao.

Jeffery thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm not sure if I want to understand. Or even think about it. It's way above my pay grade."

Jiao looked at Jeffery thoughtfully and finally said, "You are right about that. Do you know why? Because after Admiral Anderson left, a commander from Military Intelligence came in and told me that if I wanted, I could share my orders with the commander who'd come to Fexsol. There's definitely something going on in the background here.

"Besides," she continued, "The way the commander said that I could tell you about it if I wanted to left me little choice not to tell you. I believe he was not any ordinary commander. I can't explain it but he had a certain authority around him--not even Admiral Anderson had that."

"Really?" asked Jeffery.

"That's right," said Jiao. "For a person to display such authority can mean only that he's, as you said it, way above our pay grade."

Jeffery nodded and looked out to the gas planet and empty space that somehow looked much more ominous than it had looked before.

***

William watched as the shuttle left from the cruiser and knew that Jiao would go on and tell Jeffery about her orders, just like he'd said. He'd specifically chosen these two commanders, Jeffery Bainbridge and Jiao Bai, for this mission. He'd watched the two since their graduation and both showed qualities that he could use in the Special Intelligence Center. Now that they'd fought together against the Miccvans and Jiao had informed Jeffery of what she knew, they shared a common experience and it would help them working together if William decided to enlist them.

"Sir?" Udo came to William. "You asked to be informed when Advisor Milton had left."

"Yes, thank you, Lieutenant," said William. "Let's go to my office. Give me full report of the tests."

Udo was all smiles. "Yes, sir. We are making excellent progress."
1

The sun was high in the cloudless sky while William paced back and forth near the cemetery gates.

Milton had not yet arrived, although he'd left the Miccvan home world immediately after Bruce, Human Empire Ambassador to the Miccvan Empire, had given him the news. He'd been quite shocked, and so had been William and Bruce. William had to personally check the surveillance data before he was convinced that she'd really had an accident and had died. Or so it seemed, but he couldn't understand how she'd done it.

"William!" shouted Milton and hurried toward William.

"Milton. Let's go," said William. "I can't wait to see her grave."

"You weren't at the funeral?" asked Milton, a little surprised. He'd assumed that William had attended the service.

"I had to check everything," answered William, "But I didn't find anything that could explain this."

"You don't really think she died, do you?" asked Milton.

"Not for a second," said William. "Come."

The men walked, a little too fast for any casual observer, toward the grave. The funeral service had been the day before and only her family and close friends had been invited.

Soon the men were in front of the newly erected gravestone in the shadow of a tall, old tree.

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Milton and shook a fist at the grave.

"That . . ." William started to curse but stopped. The men stared in silence at the inscription in the gravestone.

Eternally Loved

Susan Caldwell

From Dawn She Came

Beyond Death and Time She Follows

Only the birds sang amidst the silence as the men stared at the inscription. Milton paced nervously and William was deep in thought.

"She knows," said Milton after a while. "She knows about us."

"That . . ." Milton pointed to the gravestone. "That is message for us. And so is this . . . her death."

"I agree," said William thoughtfully. The woman, whom he'd known for a millennium, was now gone and they didn't know where. Special Intelligence Center had kept her under constant surveillance ever since she'd said she wanted to live a normal life. That had been twenty years ago and he'd seen her only once during this time.

And now she was gone.

"I wouldn't be surprised if others disappeared, too," said Milton, "Lea, Harry, Michael . . . and others."

William glanced at Milton and grunted. "That would be exactly her style."

"What do we do?" asked William.

Milton was quiet as he thought about the question and then said, "Nothing."

"We continue as nothing had happened," he continued. "When she comes back . . . we'll see."

William nodded and turned again toward the gravestone. He remembered the discussion he and Milton had had on the Miccvan home world long ago.

An odd cloud blocked the sun and William looked up to see not a cloud, but a familiar flying saucer coming toward them.

"Why I'm not surprised?" said William, smiling. Milton also looked up and they followed the flying saucer with their eyes as it came down toward them.

The saucer landed, hovering just above the headstones in the cemetery. A thin, tall man exited it and came toward them.

"Mr. Grey!" said Milton teasingly, and Grand Admiral K'aa Z'eenkoo of the Rg'Tkeen Empire frowned. He still hadn't gotten used to the nickname that was now widely used, a constant amusement to William and Milton.

"I came as soon as I heard," said Mr. Grey, and looked at the gravestone. William wondered how he'd heard--but guessed that Susan had been under their surveillance as well.

"She knows then," he said, without emotion.

"Looks that way, yes," responded Milton.

"You know . . . we were monitoring Lea when she came to our home world two rotations ago," said Mr. Grey. "She came disguised, but we'd been monitoring her for some time by then and her disguise was nothing we couldn't detect."

William and Milton were all ears, but both of them had been expecting what Mr. Grey had to say.

"But suddenly she disappeared," said Mr. Grey. "Not one of my agents could tell how she did it. The agents were all very experienced and I'd also ordered one of my frigates to follow her from orbit. But still . . . she disappeared."

"I knew it," said Milton. "And I'd bet Lea's disappearance happened at the same time as Susan's death."

Mr. Grey grunted. "You'd win that bet."

The trio quietly stood and looked at the grave. They heard only a slight hum from the flying saucer and the singing of birds.

"There's another reason," began Mr. Grey, and William got a strange feeling in his stomach, "why I wanted to come here personally. And now that I say it, a thought occurs to me--that Susan's and Lea's disappearances and my coming here may not be coincidences."

Both Milton and William became very curious.

"Oh?" asked Milton.

"This can't be good," commented William.

"No, William, it isn't," said Mr. Grey gravely. "We've lost contact with all the infiltration teams in the Kaitian home world."

The birds had stopped their singing and only the ominous hum from the flying saucer penetrated the silence of the cemetery.
2

"Captain! Captain!" The Black Priest commanding the Company 7-4 of the Sword Legion rushed toward the young captain who'd just come back from a scouting mission deep within the Godless Others' space.

"Sir?" responded Captain Kould and took a step back as the priest stopped just in front of him.

"Captain!" shouted the Black Priest again. "We are leaving!"

Kould was annoyed by the shouting, but he couldn't show it.

"Sir?" asked Kould again, very calmly.

The Black Priest took a breath and wide smile came upon his face.

"We are leaving," he said, more calmly now. "I just received message from the Divine Command. They are ordering us back to the home world."

"May I ask why?" wondered Kould. He'd been under impression that they would be stationed at the rogue planet for a long time--until the Divine Forces were ready to launch a full-scale assault.

"They didn't say," said the Black Priest, "but I've heard rumors. The entire Sword Legion has been recalled. And so have the other legions--and do you know why?"

Kould shook his head.

"A sign, Captain! A sign!" yelled the priest excitedly.

"A sign?" asked Kould. But he knew that the sign could mean only one thing, and joy filled him.

"Yes!" said the priest. "A sign from the Black Gods!"

The captain smiled. He knew what this meant.

"So it seems that you'll get your wish, Captain Kould," said the Black Priest, and he put his hand to Kould's shoulder, like a father commending a son. "I have no doubt that we'll launch full-scale assault against the Godless Others very soon."

"I can't wait!" said Kould and now he, too, was very excited.

"Me neither," said the Black Priest, smiling.

***

Far away from the Captain Kould and the Black Priest, the frigate Sea of Boston docked with the MilFor supply depot, SD-9, in the emptiness between star systems, halfway between Earth and the Ooktian Empire.

"Finally, a little R&R," said Jeffery.

"I hear you, sir," said Lisa. "And we finally get our detachment of Marines."

"I haven't forgotten," said Jeffery.

He was very glad they'd get Marines on board. He'd had an odd feeling about the future ever since the battle at Fexsol and he was certain they'd need the Marines sooner rather than later.

"Any confirmation what we got, Lisa?" asked Jeffery. He had asked for a full company, but he doubted that he'd get it.

"Yes, sir," answered Lisa. "We got three platoons from the 9th Marine Brigade. Two, three, and five of the Delta-3 company. Approximately one hundred Marines."

Jeffery said nothing and he was neither pleased nor disappointed. Three platoons was more than none. He nodded acknowledgement to the lieutenant.

"They are already waiting permission to come aboard," said Lisa.

"Really?" Jeffery was delighted--he'd not expected them to be here already. "Grant the permission and let's welcome them onboard."

***

Private Karl Thornton from 2-Delta-3 of the 9th Brigade exited the shuttle and was surprised at the cleanliness of the frigate.

He'd gotten used to a little more dirty environs in the basic training and he had expected that he'd be assigned to some outpost in faraway colony. Karl had expected correctly since they'd been already en route to some outpost in faraway colony when his platoon had received orders to be reassigned to the Sea of Boston.

"Pheeuwww!" said Private Ellen Girard as she exited the shuttle just behind him. "I think I like this."

Karl smiled. "We're all gonna like it."

"Cut the chatter!" ordered Sergeant Caleb Simmons from behind Karl and Ellen.

"Move! Move! Get in formation! The commander of the ship is coming to welcome you worms!"

Karl went quickly to formation with a smile in his lips as they all settled in.

"Attention!" ordered Caleb as Jeffery came to shuttle bay with Lisa.

"At ease, Marines," said Jeffery, but was interrupted by the loudspeaker.

"All hands! The Village is decloaking at starboard!" said someone in the loudspeaker and before Jeffery could do anything, Lisa was already beside a panel on the wall and the entire wall became transparent, looking out to empty space.

Karl and Ellen exchanged looks. Neither of them knew what "The Village" was, or what was going on. But Caleb knew, that much was clear from his look.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Jeffery to the crew. His voice was heard from the loudspeakers. "You are about to see something few have seen. Or will ever see."

A brief moment after he finished the sentence, they saw a ship decloaking as if a curtain was taken away in front of it.

"The Village of War!" whispered Caleb in awe, and both Karl and Ellen felt their jaws drop. The size of the ship was something unbelievable, even from a distance. It looked more like a huge space station than a ship. The Village of War was the nickname of the 7th Fleet of the Human Empire. The origin of the nickname came from the ancient home base of the Jaeger Brigade.

"I have never seen anything that big," whispered Karl.

"It is not common knowledge," said Caleb, "although I wouldn't call it a secret. Besides," he continued, "you can't keep something that big a secret."

"No, you can't," said Jeffery from behind Caleb. "Do you happen to know what its mission is?" he asked.

All shook their heads.

"Good!" said Jeffery and laughed. "I don't know it either!" Caleb laughed; he knew now that they'd been stationed on a good ship.

"Sir?" asked Caleb. "I've heard rumors about it. Their mission, I mean."

"Oh?" wondered Jeffery.

"They say The Village explores all around the galaxy, far beyond known space. They also say that it comes back only for reinforcements," said Caleb.

"That's what I've heard, too, Sergeant," said Jeffery. "And I've also heard that they roam in known space, too. And that they fight along other Coalition empires."

"Against who, sir?" asked Karl.

Jeffery didn't answer right away. He looked serious and said, honestly, "I don't know, Private. I don't know."

"Sir!" called Lisa. "May I speak with you?"

"Duty calls, Marines," said Jeffery, smiling, and left to speak with Lisa.

"He seems to be a nice commander," commented Ellen and smiled. "Good-looking, too."

"Don't get in over your head, Private," said Caleb. "You are way out of your league."

"Hah!" Ellen laughed, but stopped when she noticed a serious look on Karl's face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"You said it only comes back for reinforcements?" asked Karl.

"That's the rumor," answered Caleb, "and the commander seemed to agree."

"Right," said Karl. "Look."

He pointed out toward The Village. Beside the huge ship were three cruisers, five frigates, and many smaller ships.

"If those are reinforcements," said Karl, "I wonder where they've been that they lost all the people those ships are reinforcing?"

No one answered and all who heard became uneasy.

Lisa also heard Karl's comment and said quietly to Jeffery, "I wonder that, too. And I noticed two unmarked corvettes entering The Village."

"Really?" said Jeffery. Unmarked ships typically meant Special Intelligence ships or ships belonging to high-ranking government officials.

"Lisa," said Jeffery after a long moment, "I don't know why . . . but I have a very bad feeling about this."

Lisa nodded and felt shivers up her back.
3

Rachel, an Aide of the Miccvan Empire, had come to the Arash Empire home world on a routine visit to coordinate activities on behalf of Advisor Milton. When she had received an urgent message from him to go investigate why infiltration teams on the Kaitian home world hadn't made contact, she tried to get a ship from the Arash, as her own yacht didn't have cloaking capability. Her talks had not gone well and she was about lose her temper in the Arash Empire Navy office in the planet's main port's control tower.

"I need that ship," said Rachel, forcing herself to be calm.

"Rachel," said Cameron, Colonel of the Arash Empire Navy, "I can't give you a ship. And even if I could," he continued, "I'd probably not give you a ship in any case."

Rachel showed her frustration.

"It's probably nothing," said Cameron, trying to calm her.

"Nothing!" yelled Rachel. "Yes, nothing to you. Your people aren't there now. Mine are! And you know the threat as well as I do!"

"But it's not a current threat," said Cameron. "You know that. We have all agreed and all our projections indicate that war is many, many standard cycles ahead."

"I know that," said Rachel, "but I got orders from Advisor Milton that I should go and investigate, and I must follow those orders."

Cameron sighed. "I know, I know. I will try to get you a ship," he said, resigned. "Does that satisfy you?"

"Only if you actually get the ship," said Rachel sharply.

Cameron sighed again and started to say something when an alarm interrupted him.

"Colonel!" somebody shouted and Cameron ran out of the office. Rachel followed behind him and noticed how all personnel were rushing toward the tactical center. She didn't like the look of this.

"Colonel!" shouted Major Jillian again. "Unknown ships have entered our system!"

"Who are they?" somebody asked.

"First images coming in now," said Jillian and put up a screen from the first defense barriers. Images showed huge black cruisers coming toward the barrier. Without any warning, they destroyed it, and then advanced toward the second barrier.

"The Kaitians!" whispered Rachel. "The Kaitians have attacked!"

Cameron went pale; he'd recognized them, too.

"We're not prepared!" he whispered from between his teeth.

They had been very wrong in their projections of the Kaitian threat.

***

Captain Kould of the Kaitian Sword Legion was happy. For once, High Priests had done something he could agree with: they had decided to launch an immediate attack after the Sign from the Black Gods. Kould had been first to volunteer to be in the spearhead of the attack.

He had insisted on bringing his own scout fighter, instead of a standard fighter, to battle and he had been allowed to do so. He had made modifications to his fighter and armed it with the maximum possible firepower while keeping maximum maneuverability, at the expense of armor and shields.

Kould had been the very first to enter the home world of Arash, one of the Godless Others. They had destroyed their first defense barrier with ease and then moved toward the second barrier.

The Arash had gotten over their initial shock and scrambled interceptors to hold off the attack. Their capital ships advanced behind the interceptors and Kould smiled.

"Destroy the interceptors," commanded the Black Priest.

Kaitian fighters kept the interceptors tied as the Kaitian capital ships moved toward the second defense barrier and destroyed it. The Arash couldn't do anything but retreat, and they'd already lost over two-thirds of their interceptors.

***

"They stopped!" said Jillian after the Kaitians destroyed the second defense barrier. "The fleet is regrouping!"

"Colonel, I need to speak with you," whispered Rachel.

They went to the office.

"Why?" started Cameron.

"Do you see what's happening?" said Rachel seriously.

Cameron nodded. He knew that they'd already lost. The Kaitians had dozens of cruisers, frigates, and smaller ships, and they couldn't even count how many fighters. The Arash defense could only slow them.

"I need to leave!" said Rachel. "To warn others."

Cameron nodded again, but before he could continue, there was an alarmed cry.

"Colonel! Colonel!" shouted Jillian and they ran again to the tactical center.

"They bypassed the barriers and fleet and are in orbit!" said Jillian.

"How?" demanded Cameron.

"I don't know!" shouted Jillian, nearly panicking. "Some sort of short-range jumpers!"

"Incomiiiing!" somebody shouted, and they felt the first explosions very close. Rachel realized what they were doing.

"They are targeting the ships!" she said. "I need to leave!"

"Go! Go!" shouted Cameron. "Before it's too late!"

Rachel ran from the office, toward the port and to her ship, but she feared she couldn't make it in time.

"Where's our defense?" asked Cameron.

"Orbital cannons did their best," said Jillian in a low voice, "before they were destroyed. But the defense fleet is already in firing range. They are about to engage the enemy."

***

"Destroy the cruisers," ordered the Black Priest, and Kould turned to face the nearest Arash cruiser. He scanned the cruiser; it was heavily armored and it had formidable weapons. But it was no match for Kould and his fighter.

He flew toward the cruiser and told the artificial intelligence to fire a single torpedo once they were inside cruiser's shields. Kould evaded enemy weapons and penetrated their shield without effort.

The fighter fired one torpedo at point-blank range against the Arash cruiser. The torpedo penetrated the armor and dug deep within the cruiser before detonating.

The cruiser was ripped to pieces from within and Kould continued toward the next cruiser.

***

"Colonel!" shouted Jillian desperately. "Our fleet's being decimated!"

Cameron saw it, too. Their ships disappeared one by one from the screens and he hadn't seen a single enemy being destroyed.

So far, the Kaitians had targeted their defenses in space as well as all military installations on the planet. The colonel feared what would happen when the enemy had destroyed their defenses.

"Listen up!" he shouted and all in the tactical center looked at him.

"You all see what's going on!" he said. "Our fleet's almost gone. Other defenses and communications are lost. We don't have much time!"

Some of the people had already stood up, as if they guessed what Cameron was about to say.

"We must leave and go in to hiding," said Cameron. "The enemy will come down soon. We must leave the city and go underground! Go now! Take your families and whoever you can and we'll meet underground!"

There was only a brief pause as people pondered the command to leave, but they already knew that Cameron was right. All rushed out, toward their families and then to underground.

The Arash had built long ago, before the Coalition was formed, underground cities--just in case someone attacked their home world.

It didn't take long before the colonel was alone in the tactical center. Or almost alone--Jillian was still there.

"Jillian," said Cameron, "you must leave."

"No, sir," she said, "I'd rather be here."

The colonel nodded. "Very well. What's the status?"

"The fleet's nearly gone. Our cities are being evacuated and people are moving underground," she said.

"Good," said the colonel, "very good. There is hope for our people if we go underground."

"Depends on the enemy," said Jillian, "what they'll do."

Cameron said nothing.

"Colonel!" somebody shouted and startled them. "Colonel!"

"Rachel!" said Colonel. "What happened?""

"My ship was half-destroyed when I got there," she said, "Communications were jammed. I may have gotten one message through, but I can't be sure. And, Colonel," she said in serious tone, "your fleet's almost gone."

"It's already gone," said Jillian in a sad voice and they looked at the tactical screens. There were no Arash ships visible.

"Then we don't have much time!" said Rachel, alarmed. "My ship's sensors picked up activity in the asteroid belt!"

"What are you saying?" Cameron didn't want to believe it.

"Colonel!" said Jillian. "They are moving asteroids toward us! They are going to bombard us with asteroids!" She stood up.

"We must leave!" Cameron commanded and they all hurried outside.
4

"Feet off my console!" said Nick with a smile when he returned from the restroom to the bridge of a corvette of the Human Empire Navy.

The corvette was unmarked; it didn't have any outside signs about the ship's name or designation and the name of the ship was classified. This unmarked corvette was named Lake of Fairwater and it belonged to Special Intelligence Center. It was one of the ships used to test and prototype various technologies before they were used in normal service.

One of the technologies to test with the Lake of Fairwater was the latest cloaking device and, as part of the testing, William had ordered them to go to the Kaitian home world to find out what had happened to the infiltration teams there.

"Can't a man relax here?" said Louis with a grin.

"Sure you can," said Nick, "but put your feet on your own console."

"I can't do that," said Louis seriously, "I need my console for my work."

"Hah!" laughed Nick, and sat down in front of his console after Louis had, slowly, moved his feet off.

"Gentlemen," said the ship's AI in a female voice. The AI was installed in the corvette during their visit to SD-9--and it was also one of the technologies they were testing.

"What is it, Aileen?" asked Nick. Aileen was their nickname for the AI.

"Communications from the Arash home world has ceased," said Aileen.

"Oh?" said Louis. "What do you mean ceased?"

Aileen showed a frequency chart on the console and said, "There's usually all kinds of communication going in and out from any advanced world. But now there is nothing."

"Nothing? At all?" asked Nick looking at the chart.

"Nothing," confirmed Aileen.

"Should we check it out?" asked Louis.

"It's somewhat aside from our route," said Nick. "I don't want to deviate from the mission."

Louis projected a map between them and pointed, "But this colony is nearly on our route. We could stop there," he continued, "to see if there's anything there. I mean, they must know if something was going on in their home world."

"Good idea," said Nick, and Aileen made a course correction that would take them to the Arash colony.

***

"We have entered the system," Aileen informed them.

"Anything?" asked Louis.

"Everything is perfectly normal," said Aileen.

"Go to the orbit of the colony," said Nick, "but keep us cloaked and make sure nothing collides with us."

It was one of the mission parameters and part of the test of the new cloak technology. They must remain cloaked and undetected at all times. Collision with another ship would create unnecessary complications and William had been quite clear that he would not tolerate that.

Besides, they had another reason to remain cloaked. William had told them that because the device was still a prototype, if they decloaked, they wouldn't be able to cloak again.

"You're right, everything looks normal," said Louis looking at the screens in his console.

"Except . . . that," he said, and zoomed on a colony administration building. Thermal and x-ray clearly showed that there was nearly frantic activity within the administration building, but not anywhere else.

"I wonder what's going on," said Nick.

"Counselors," said Aileen in a loud voice. Because she used Nick and Louis's titles, they knew that something was about to happen.

"All communications have ceased," she said. "I get nothing outside of this system. Unknown ships entering the system," Aileen showed the ships on the screen.

Both Nick and Louis were standing nervously. "Who are they?" asked Nick.

"They are the Kaitians," said Aileen, after she'd gotten enough sensor data.

"And this is an invasion," she added.

"Holy Hell," whispered Louis, "I thought it would take a long time before they attacked."

"I thought so, too," said Nick. "William said that it would be thousands of years from now."

Nick and Louis were immortal, like William. The immortality had been given to them by Susan, the greatest enigma they knew.

"He was wrong," said Louis, "very wrong."

"They were all wrong," Nick corrected. He'd seen the reports how all civilizations in the Coalition had agreed, based on various projections, that the Kaitians would prepare for war for a long time and it would give the Coalition time to prepare as well.

"The invasion force is coming directly here," said Aileen.

"Take us out of the way," Nick ordered. "Make absolutely sure that they don't detect us. We must monitor what happens here."

The ship moved away from the planet and Aileen shut down all unnecessary systems to minimize possibility that the Kaitians would detect them.

Nick and Louis watched as the Kaitian forces advanced without difficulty to the colony. A single Kaitian fighter cleared defense platforms and the capital ships didn't even have to fire a single shot until they were in the orbit of the colony.

But from the orbit, all ships fired their weapons toward the planet.

It was a terrible sight.

"Holy Hell," whispered Nick as the Kaitian ships leveled the planet.

"What are they doing?" said Louis. "Why are they doing this?"

At that moment, the Kaitians ceased firing.

"What are they doing?" repeated Louis, now surprised.

"Analyzing," said Aileen.

"They are launching dropships," said Nick and saw how a large number of dropships descended from the orbiting cruisers and frigates toward the planet.

"The Kaitians destroyed all the cities," said Aileen, "with the exception of cities near the industrial facilities."

"What industrial facilities?" asked Nick.

"Mining and mineral processing," said Louis. He was looking at the system data. "This is one of the Arash Empire's mining colonies."

"That makes sense then," said Nick. "They destroyed cities and population everywhere except near the mining sites. Now they intend to occupy the planet and take the resources for their own use."

"The dropships are on the ground," said Aileen. "We are too far away to get detailed view. Do I go closer?"

"No," said Nick, "we can't risk it. We have no idea about the level of their technology. They might detect us."

"What do we do, Nick?" asked Louis.

Nick thought about it and said, "We go on with our mission. We go to the Kaitian home world and try to find out what happened to the infiltration teams."

Louis nodded in agreement. "We are in a good position to go behind the enemy lines. As long as we don't get caught," he added.

"Arash cruiser entering the system," said Aileen as the cruiser entered the system.

"Show us!" Louis commanded.

The Arash cruiser was at the edge of the system, beyond the orbit of the farthest planet. Five Kaitian ships started to move toward it, led by a single Kaitian fighter.

"What are they doing?" wondered Nick; as a response, the Arash cruiser disappeared to hyperspace.

"They fled," commented Louis.

"Good," said Nick. "They wouldn't have had a chance against the Kaitians. And they can report what they saw to others. Although . . . I'm sure the Coalition already knows about the Kaitian attack."

"Perhaps not," said Aileen. "The Kaitians very effectively blocked all communications to and from the system. It may take a while before others realize that communications blackout means a Kaitian attack."

"That's a good point," said Nick, "but they will know soon enough. Now it's our time to leave. Go directly toward the Kaitian home world. Monitor everything you can without risking that they detect us."

"Yes, Nick," said Aileen. "You should know that I've already started monitoring and several worlds have gone silent in the Arash Empire. And also the Mehar Empire home world."

Nick and Louis silently looked at each other and Nick shook his head and sighed.

"As careful as you can, Aileen," said Nick, "toward the Kaitian home world."
5

"Commander!" called Udo. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Several Coalition worlds have ceased all communications," said Udo. "We also intercepted a report by an Arash cruiser that said something about an invasion."

"Show me," said William, and scanned the report.

"They didn't recognize them? Any images?"

"No, sir," said Udo. "At least, not in this report."

"Try to find out," William ordered.

"Yes, sir." Udo saluted, and left to carry out his orders.

William had a suspicion about the enemy and hurried to the office.

"Yes?" answered William to an incoming call, and a hologram of Milton appeared in the office.

"Have you heard?" asked Milton.

"We intercepted a report from Arash," said William, "about an invasion."

"So did we," said Milton.

There was a pause. Both men knew what the other was thinking.

"The Kaitians have attacked," William stated.

"Yes," confirmed Milton, "the Kaitians have attacked. I've called a group meeting. We need to coordinate our actions. And we need to move fast. The meeting is in one hour but I called now to ask a favor."

"What is it?" William asked.

"Rachel is on the Arash home world," said Milton. "She was there when we heard that contact was lost to infiltration teams. And I ordered her to investigate the matter.

But we've lost contact to Arash home world and I fear the Kaitians have attacked there," Milton continued. "I know you have ships close and you could order them to investigate--and, if needed, rescue Rachel."

William wondered if Milton meant the Lake of Fairwater; if he did, William didn't like it.

"I do have a ship in the Arash space," said William. "I ordered it to investigate the infiltration teams as well. But I can't order it to Arash home world."

Milton showed his disappointment.

"They are under orders not to use any communications. But I can order another ship there. The Sea of Boston

was ordered to patrol the Kaitian border and they should be near the Arash space now."

Milton sighed in relief.

"Thank you," he said.

"You welcome, Milton," said William. "It's been a long time since I saw Rachel. If she's alive, we'll rescue her."

"Thank you," said Milton again.

"I have to prepare for the meeting. We'll talk later."

After Milton disconnected the call, William went to his desk and wrote the mission briefing for the Sea of Boston. He had missed Rachel from time to time and he wondered whether or not Milton noticed his reaction when William had heard her name.

William had good memories of Rachel and he regretted not to have found time to visit her again after humans joined the Coalition.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. Even for an immortal, time was very limited resource.

***

"Ladies and gentlemen." Milton started the meeting of the group of influential individuals. "By now you all have heard."

They all had heard. And they were also very discomfited to see that neither their peers from the Arash Empire nor the Mehar Empire were at the meeting.

"Analysis?" asked Milton.

"There was no warning," said Juno, Minister of Agriculture and Mining of the Gemono Empire, "but this is what we have gathered."

Juno presented a map of the galaxy that showed in bright white lights all the Coalition worlds. Animation showed how bright white lights dimmed one by one from the Arash and Mehar worlds until third of the worlds in each Empires were dimmed. Then the animation started again.

"These are the worlds we have lost all communications with," said Juno and pointed to the dimmed lights. "This data is current."

"The Kaitian force is formidable," said Milton, "and they had surprise on their side. We must decide our response. Suggestions?"

During the short silence that followed, one light representing a Mehar world dimmed.

"What was the time between that and the previous one?" asked Hans, Admiral of the Mopian Empire Navy. His voice betrayed his worry, as the Kaitians were moving toward the Mopian Empire.

"Three and a half standard rotations," said Juno. After quick look at the data, he continued, "Their pace seems to have slowed. Half of the initial attacks came within one rotation."

"Projections?" asked Milton.

"Based on this limited data," said Laura, Matriarch of the family Pirha of the Saami Empire, "they seem to have a phased strategy. The first phase was to launch surprise attacks against nearest neighbors, quickly eliminate opposition, and seize vital resources. If I remember correctly, nearly all of those worlds that were attacked were mining or agriculture worlds. And, of course, the home worlds of the Arash and Mehar Empires.

"I believe we now see the beginnings of the second phase," she continued. "They've secured the conquered worlds and are moving toward the next targets, namely the Mopian, Ooktian, and Gemono Empires."

"We are also near Kaitian borders," said Mr. Grey, "but they have not attacked us yet."

"They didn't attack Miccvan either," said Laura, "probably because your turn will come later. I believe after they have completed the second phase."

"If so," said William, "they can attack both Rg'Tkeen and Miccvan from two fronts. From their own space and from the conquered Coalition space."

"Exactly," Laura confirmed.

"Based on what Laura said," said Milton, "suggestions?"

"We must stand together," said Juno, "and launch a counter-attack."

"But where do make our stand? Where do we attack?" asked Hans.

"We know they attack home worlds and resources first," said Laura. "I suggest we gather our forces to Ooktian and Mopian home worlds. I also suggest that we do hit-and-run attacks in their supply lines and attack them in already conquered systems."

"What about our home world?" asked Juno. "What if the Kaitians attack our home world?"

"Do we have enough forces to concentrate on three different worlds?" asked Kaldan, Minister of Defense of the Ooktian Empire.

"No," said Laura, "but I think you don't have to worry yet."

"Why not?" asked William. Juno also wanted to know why.

"The Gemono Empire is not as large as the Ooktian or Mopian. If they attack you, both flanks are vulnerable against attack from Rg'Tkeen and also from Ooktian," said Laura.

Juno had to acknowledge the logic in Laura's words and if he were commanding Kaitian forces, he wouldn't attack Gemono yet.

"I agree," he said, "but nevertheless, I will reinforce our home world defenses."

"Do so," said Milton and then changed the subject: "We must accelerate the construction of the combined Coalition fleet. William, you received the first ship of the combined fleet, the super-cruiser. I think it's the most suitable for hit-and-run attacks that Laura suggested."

"More than suitable," agreed William. "We call the super-cruiser The Village of War; officially it's our 7th Fleet and it's the home base of our elite forces. They've already seen many battles and we just reinforced it with new ships and latest technology."

"Excellent," said Laura, "I will provide you a list of targets that we think would hurt them most."

"I will inform the 7th Fleet after this meeting," said William.

"Very good," said Milton, as the meeting had nearly reached its goals. "We gather our forces to Ooktian and Mopian home worlds. William sends the 7th Fleet to attack targets provided by Laura. Anything else before one final item?"

No one answered.

"If not, there's one question that we must get an answer to," said Milton and all knew what that question was.

"Why have the Kaitians attacked now? We all projected their attack would be hundreds, or even thousands, of standard cycles in the future as they readied their forces," said Milton. "So why now? What do we know?"

"I don't know if all you've already heard," said William, "but there have been two events that cannot be coincidences. At least, not anymore, not after the Kaitian attack."

"What two events?" asked Laura. She'd heard rumors but wanted confirmation.

"The first one, or first known to me," answered William, "happened on Earth . . . Susan had an accident and appeared to die."

From the looks of others, William knew that this was news to some of them.

"The second one was that we lost contact with infiltration teams in the Kaitian home world," said William. This was known to all.

"You are quite right," said Hans, "These two can't be coincidences. Not after the Kaitian attack."

"There's more," said William. "Grand Admiral Z'eenkoo has informed that Lea has also disappeared. And I wouldn't be surprised to find out that others have disappeared, too."

"Hrmph." Laura frowned. "That's correct. We lost Harry while he was in our space. He simply disappeared from our agents."

"That, at least, seals it," said Milton, "Susan, Lea, and Harry have disappeared. Michael's whereabouts were already unknown. But where have they gone? We don't know yet, but it must be related to the Kaitian attack. And also to the loss of contact of infiltration teams."

"We must find out," said Hans, and others nodded agreement.

"I agree," said William, "and I've already sent a team to the Kaitian home world. I can't tell what's their current status is--they were in Arash space, en route to the Kaitian home world, when the Kaitians attacked. Unless they were caught in the middle of an invasion, they will avoid the Kaitians and proceed to their home world as ordered. I have full confidence in Counselors Nick and Louis, and we'll hear from them when the mission has been accomplished."

"Nick and Louis," said Kaldan, frowning, but with a hint of respect in his voice. "The notorious spies. I've heard of them."

"So have I," said Juno. "Their reputation precedes them. I'm sure we will know much more when they come back, William. Very wise to assign them to the mission."

Others seemed to agree with Juno, and William was somewhat surprised by their comments. He'd known Nick and Louis were very competent and he'd read numerous reports of their missions, but he had no idea they were so widely known.

"Thank you," said William. "As soon as I hear from them, I'll call a meeting."

"Great," said Milton. "We all know what to do. And since we are now at war, we are now the Coalition Command."

With that, the meeting was over and one by one, the participants of the meeting disconnected. Just before William did, too, Laura said to him, "A moment, if you please, William."

"Yes, Laura," said William. "What is it?"

"Your people," said Laura, "Nick and Louis, are good. But it may not be enough. Are you certain they can get to the Kaitian home world without being detected?"

The way Laura said it made William wonder . . . did she knew about his cloak technology?

"I'm certain," said William reassuringly. "They have one of our best ships and our latest technology."

William paused and didn't continue although it was clear that Laura wanted to hear more about that.

"Very well," said Laura, just before the pause became too long. "I'll look forward to their report. And I'll send you the list of targets as soon as I can."

"Until then," said William and disconnected the call.

He sighed and walked to the window. War was upon them.
6

"Commander Bainbridge." The intercom interrupted Jeffery's run in the exercise room. "Please report to the bridge immediately."

"On my way," said Jeffery and ran to the bridge in his running gear.

"Lisa," he said when he walked up to his first officer. "What is it?"

Lisa didn't say anything, but waved Jeffery to her console and displayed the received message.

Jeffery's eyes widened. He sighed and glanced at Lisa; they both knew what they must do.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" said Jeffery, and his voice was heard all around the ship.

"We have just received an Alpha Protocol message from the Command." He paused for effect. "As of now, we are at war. More information to follow as needed. Bainbridge out."

Any Alpha Protocol message meant automatically that the receiver must consider itself engaged in a war and that he must communicate that immediately to all under his command. Or, in the case of a ship, all who served on the ship.

"Okay, Lisa," said Jeffery, "let's see the message."

Lisa and Jeffery opened the message together and read it quickly at first.

And then they read it again.

"Sandy," said Jeffery to Lieutenant Sandy Colon, the navigation officer, "change course to the Arash Empire home world. Maximum speed."

"Aye, sir," Sandy replied.

Jeffery nodded to Lisa and walked to the briefing room.

"Bridge officers," said Lisa, "to the briefing room immediately."

The bridge emptied as the officers went in to the briefing room and settled around a large table. Jeffery stood near the window and looked out to the space.

"You know what Alpha Protocol means," he said. "We received a situation briefing and new orders."

The bridge officers held their breath, waiting to hear more.

"The Kaitians have launched an all-out attack against the Coalition," said Jeffery. "They have already conquered a third of Arash and Mehar Empires. Including their home worlds."

All the officers went pale. They'd heard about the Kaitians and rumors said they were preparing for war but no one had seriously expected it.

"The Coalition is mobilizing defenses as we speak," said Jeffery, "but the message didn't give any details. All I know that we are not part of the mobilization."

"Why are we going to the Arash home world if it's already conquered?" asked Tricia.

"Two reasons," said Jeffery. "First, we are the closest ship to the Arash home world and we need find out what happened, do reconnaissance, and send any findings to the Coalition Command. The second reason is that there is a Miccvan VIP that we must rescue," he continued, "or verify that she's dead."

"Miccvan VIP?" wondered Darnell. "Who is this VIP? And why don't Miccvan rescue her themselves?"

"I don't know the answer to the second question," said Jeffery, "but I know the first one. At least, I know her name. She is Aide Rachel. Orders don't specify why she's so important that we need to rescue her."

Darnell nodded acknowledgment. He was curious to ask more, but understood that the commander didn't know the answers.

Jeffery had also wondered the same question and he didn't like what he suspected. The discussion between himself and Jiao after the battle of Fexsol against the Miccvan frigates came to his mind, and he was certain that Rachel was part of something related to humans and Miccvans.

"Sandy," said Jeffery, "when we approach the Arash system, exit hyperspace outside the system. We'll move in normal space toward their home world."

"Yes, sir," said Sandy.

"Dismissed," said Jeffery. The officers went back to the bridge and Jeffery hurried to his quarters to have a quick shower and to change from the running gear into his uniform.

***

"What do you think was in that Alpha Protocol message?" wondered Ellen.

"We're at war now," said Karl. "Whatever it was, it's real bad."

"War against who?" asked Private Henry Smith.

"Miccvans?" guessed Private Kyle Hamilton.

"We did have a war with them before," said Ellen, "and we beat them. At Fexsol."

"That was no war," said Caleb, "just a minor skirmish. They happen all the time. Remember those reinforcements for The Village of War? I'm sure they've had lots of skirmishes and that's why they needed the reinforcements.

"No," Caleb continued in serious tone, "I don't think this is any skirmish. This is real thing. This is real war." Caleb sighed, and the others knew that he knew something.

"What is it, Sarge?" asked Karl. "Who's the enemy?"

"The Kaitians," said Caleb. "We are at war against the Kaitians."

"You know something," said Kyle. "What is it?" Caleb looked around as if he feared someone might hear what he was about to say.

"Not long ago," said Caleb, "shortly before I joined with 2 Delta 3, I applied for a special assignment. I passed the first phase of the selection process, among maybe fifty or so others. We were transported to an unknown location and led to a large empty room, the size of a tennis court.

"I was in good company, there were many Rangers in that lot," he continued. "Even three Jaegers. We waited for a long time. Many, many hours, I don't know how long. Until a man came inside. A Jaeger Sergeant.

"He said his name was Michael. And that he needed a squad of good men for infiltration mission in the home world of the enemy."

"The Kaitians?" asked Karl.

"Correct," said Caleb, "but he didn't say it there. The sergeant walked across the room several times and picked his squad one by one. I have no idea why he chose those particular men and women; there was no pattern to it. He walked past all of us; it seemed random to me.

"He passed me twice," said Caleb, "and on the second pass, he stopped and looked into my eyes." Caleb paused for a moment and the others held their breath.

"Then the man, Michael, said to me: You fight the Kaitians elsewhere, Caleb. You have no place in my squad.

"You can guess I was surprised, but before I could say anything, he just shook his head and walked away. Nobody else heard what he said and I told no one. Until now." Caleb took a breath and said, "That's it. That's how I know we are at war against the Kaitians. I don't know who they are but I'm sure we will fight for our lives soon. Much sooner than I'd care to."

"I think you're right, Sarge," said Ellen quietly.

"That sounds almost unbelievable, Sergeant," said Karl. "How did he know your name? Or that you would fight Kaitians elsewhere?"

"I don't know," said Caleb, "I haven't met him before and neither had anyone else."

"Did you know the troopers he chose?" asked Kyle.

"No," answered Caleb. "He chose three Jaegers to his squad, four Rangers, and two Marines. But I didn't know any of them. And, if I'm right, we're now headed right in to the war zone. So prepare yourselves, troopers."

He left the Marines and walked to the observation deck to look out at hyperspace. He sighed.

Caleb hadn't said it, and he didn't know how, but he was certain that Michael, his squad, and all others in the infiltration mission were now dead and that's why they were at war. He was also certain that things would go very, very badly before they would get better.

***

Jeffery walked aimlessly around the frigate. He would order maximum stealth before they arrived to the Arash home world, and after that life on the ship would be quite ascetic, as they couldn't risk any extra emissions or communications or anything that could reveal them to the enemy.

The Alpha Protocol message briefed how the Kaitian attack had been an utter and complete surprise to the Coalition. They had very limited intelligence and it was of the utmost importance to find out anything they could about the enemy and their mode of operation.

As Jeffery walked around the frigate, he found himself on the observation deck. He was not surprised to see someone else there, but he was surprised to see that it was one of the Marines.

"Sergeant Simmons," said Jeffery, "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Commander!" said Caleb and saluted.

"At ease, Sergeant," said Jeffery. "Something on your mind?"

"Sir," said Caleb and for a brief moment he hesitated but continued, "Actually, yes. Sir."

And he told Jeffery what he'd told to his Marines, including his suspicion that infiltration team was now dead.

Jeffery was surprised to hear that Simmons had almost been on the infiltration team, but even more surprised to hear his suspicions.

"You are absolutely correct, Sergeant," said Jeffery, and decided that now was not time for secrets. At least, not in this matter.

"The Alpha Protocol message we received mentioned that we'd lost contact with the infiltration team prior we learned of the Kaitian attack. This bit of information might be valuable to the Coalition Command. Mind if I add this to my report?"

Caleb was surprised by the question; the commander didn't really need his permission to do anything, "No, of course not, sir."

Jeffery nodded with a hint of a smile, and said, "Before we arrive at the Arash system, I will order maximum stealth. I'd suggest that you go to your men and do something fun in the exercise room while you can."

"Yes, sir." Caleb saluted and left Jeffery to observation deck with his thoughts.

***

"Commander," called Sandy and woke Jeffery.

"Yes, Sandy," he answered, still half-asleep. "Have we arrived already?"

"Yes, sir," said Sandy, "we're standing still in hyperspace. Just outside the Arash system."

"Initiate maximum stealth now, Sandy," ordered Jeffery. The lights immediately turned red and the ever-present background noise of the ship decreased noticeably. Or it was noticeable now that it had decreased--otherwise, no one really noticed it.

"Get everyone on the bridge," said Jeffery, "I'm on my way."

He had a quick bite before going up to the bridge, where all the bridge officers already waited for him.

"Commander," greeted Lisa, "we are ready."

Jeffery nodded acknowledgement. "Very well, Lisa. Ladies and Gentlemen!" said Jeffery to the crew. "We are about enter the Arash system. It's now occupied by the enemy. Be alert!" Jeffery closed the intercom.

"Sandy," he said, "exit hyperspace and move toward the Arash home world."

"Yes, sir," said Sandy and the frigate exited hyperspace far beyond the farthest planet.

The frigate's maximum stealth limited the speed substantially and it would be a while before they were close to the Arash home world. It was a slow time for the crew, who rediscovered old games like poker and arm wrestling as they waited for arrival.

Jeffery sat in the captain's chair and relaxed as much as he could. The bridge officers seemed to relax, too, acting as though nothing had happened. Or perhaps they were just bored.

Only Tricia and Lance looked like they were paying attention to their consoles. Jeffery watched them work and after a while he noticed that they became more tense and talked with each other more often. He decided not to go and ask what they'd discovered, but wait until they came to him.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Commander," said Tricia, and Jeffery straightened in his chair.

"What is it?"

"Lance and I have monitored the system," she said, "and we haven't detected any ships in the system."

"No Kaitian ships? At all?" asked Jeffery, a little surprised. Tricia shook her head.

"That's odd," he said, "I expected they would have secured the system and left occupation force here.

You had something more?"

"Yes, sir," said Tricia. "We haven't detected anything from the Arash home world. No signals of any kind. We haven't detected even any lights from the planet. Normally you'd see something, even from this distance."

"Perhaps we see when we're closer?" said Jeffery.

"Perhaps, sir. We are close enough already. And we should see something, even though we're at maximum stealth. I have a bad feeling about this," said Tricia.

Jeffery nodded and dismissed Tricia. He went to talk to Darnell.

"How are our weapons?" asked Jeffery.

"They are ready," answered Darnell. "As ready as they can be in maximum stealth."

"Good," said Jeffery, "I hope we don't need them."

Jeffery went on to see Sandy. "How are we doing?"

"Steady on course," she said. "We could go a little faster and it wouldn't compromise our stealth."

"No," said Jeffery immediately, "this is good enough. Can we make a quick escape if needed?"

"Define quick, sir?" said Sandy and looked at Jeffery.

"Seconds," he said.

"No, sir," said Sandy, and shook her head. "While we are in maximum stealth, we are talking minutes here. Three to five, I would guess."

Jeffery silently thought about that. Three to five minutes was a long time if they were detected.

"Very well, Sandy," he said, "we'll have to keep that in mind."

"Yes, sir," said Sandy, trying to sound calm.

She became a little worried and tried to find ways to make a quick escape if needed.

Jeffery decided to wander the ship a little, to see how the crew reacted being in enemy-controlled space.
7

"The scouts have returned," said Commander Matt Green, the first officer, to the commander of the 7th Fleet, Admiral Jiao Bai. Jiao had come to the observation deck with Matt, who communicated with the bridge.

"Excellent," she said. They had been waiting outside the Arash Empire System 262, abbreviated as AE-262, while the scouts made a recon run on the system. The AE-262 was a mining colony, one of the first targets of the Kaitian invasion.

"What are we up against?" she asked.

"Two orbital stations around AE-262-6 and AE-262-9," said Matt, "lightly armed. And five cruisers altogether. No frigates nor smaller ships. Three cruisers near the AE-262-9 and two near the AE-262-6."

"Suggestions?" asked Jiao.

"Yes, ma'am," said Matt, and projected a battle plan between him and Jiao. "Let's send the cruisers to AE-262-6 to destroy the two enemy cruisers there and the orbital station. When the remaining three cruisers come to attack our cruisers, we'll exit hyperspace behind them and destroy them in a single strike. And we can destroy the second station, and any bases on the planet surface."

"Very good, Commander," approved Jiao. "Proceed when ready."

"Yes, ma'am," said Matt, and relayed the order to the bridge. In a matter of minutes the cruisers left The Village for AE-262-6.

The Village itself moved in the position to spring the trap and to strike the enemy from behind.

"The cruisers are ready, ma'am," said Matt.

"Initiate the attack," ordered Jiao.

***

Three cruisers--Ocean of Reliance, Ocean of Whitworth, and Ocean of Triberg--exited hyperspace simultaneously. Each had their own targets. Ocean of Reliance exited right near the orbital station high above the AE-262-6 and hammered it to pieces with heavy shell cannons. Ocean of Whitworth destroyed the enemy cruiser near the orbital station. Ocean of Triberg appeared on the far side of the planet where the second enemy cruiser was and destroyed it with ease.

It was a complete surprise; all the enemies were destroyed in an instant. But the Kaitians reacted quickly. Three cruisers moved at very high speed toward the Human Empire cruisers.

"They are fast," commented Matt from aboard The Village of War. "Much faster than typical cruisers of that size."

Matt projected a counter above them that counted seconds until they'd attack the enemy. Two seconds before the countdown ended, they exited hyperspace, and when the countdown hit zero, three plasma rays cut the enemy cruisers in half and cannons finished the destruction by obliterating the remaining pieces.

"Turn around to destroy the second orbital station," ordered Jiao. The Village of War turned toward AE262-9 moved at high speed toward it.

"They're scrambling fighters," said Matt.

The fighters were no match for their weapons and The Village of War destroyed them one by one without effort.

"Where's their command center?" asked Jiao as they approached the orbital station.

"A moment, ma'am," said Matt, checking his console.

"There it is." He pinpointed the command center of the station.

"Good," said Jiao, "make a note of that. When we attack the next station, I want the command center intact for further study.

"But now," she continued and her voice became ice cold, "obliterate the thing."

Matt fired the plasma rays and the station was cut in three pieces that were destroyed by the cannons.

"Mission accomplished," he said. "The enemy has been destroyed."

"Scan for salvage," ordered Jiao, "and recall the cruisers. We leave before enemy reinforcements arrive."

Matt relayed the orders to the bridge.

"Nothing to be salvaged," said Matt, "We--

ma'am! Five enemy cruisers entering the system! Do we engage?"

"No," said Jiao. "Our orders are hit-and-run attacks. We don't need to keep this system; let's leave as soon as our cruisers are back."

"Yes, ma'am," said Matt.

The cruisers were almost on board; when they saw the enemy approaching, they hastily docked.

Matt noticed that the enemy cruisers were even faster than they'd seen earlier; they made it to hyperspace just before the Kaitian cruisers were within weapons range.

***

"Come on in," said Jiao and science officer Lieutenant Arnold Flores came in with his report of their battle in AE-262.

"What did we learn?" asked Jiao.

"Well, ma'am, very good news," said Arnold. "The armor in their cruisers was not as good as we thought. Our heavy shell cannons penetrated them easily. And our plasma rays cut through their shields and armor with equal ease."

"Why I have a feeling that there's a 'but'?" asked Jiao.

Arnold cleared his throat. "Very observant, ma'am. The reason why our weapons were so effective is that because we have the latest technology. Our ships were fitted with new weapons during the visit to SD-9."

"Wait a second," said Jiao. "Are you saying the rest of our fleet has ineffective weapons against the Kaitians?"

"Well, the short answer is yes," said Arnold. "But it depends. Several shots from the older weapons will no doubt destroy the enemy, but I doubt if there's time to fire several shots . . ."

"Especially since we saw how fast their cruisers were," said Jiao, "and smaller ships must be much faster."

"Exactly, ma'am," said Arnold.

"We need to get this information to the Navy Command immediately," said Jiao.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." She dismissed Arnold.

Her orders forbade any communication, so Jiao called the commander of the frigate Sea of Sheffield and ordered her to leave immediately and to deliver the information back to the Navy Command.

"As fast as you can," said Jiao to Commander Catherine Clark of the Sea of Sheffield.

"Of course, ma'am," Catherine said. "We'll leave immediately."

Jiao watched from the monitors as the cruiser left The Village of War and went on its way.
8

"We are approaching the Kaitian home world," said Aileen.

Nick was dozing on the couch and Louis was reading about what they knew about the Kaitians and the infiltration teams there. There had been three infiltration teams for years in the Kaitian home world, new batches of teams sent every two or so years. For the first time, one of the current teams was a human squad of elite soldiers, Jaegers and Rangers.

"Mm-hm," mumbled Nick, half-asleep.

"Exit hyperspace outside the system," said Louis. "Let's not make any noise when we enter the system."

Aileen already knew that and it exited hyperspace far outside the system.

"Nick," said Louis and Nick opened his eyes, "I've read the previous reports from the infiltration teams. I find it odd that not one of them ever suspected that they would start the attack so soon."

"Also no one ever suspected that they were building a massive attack force."

"That's not odd," said Aileen. "There are no shipyards in the system."

"Why hasn't anybody sent any scouts to the other systems? To find the shipyards?" asked Nick.

"They have," said Louis. "Several. None have ever returned."

"Oh," said Nick. "Perhaps we should go and investigate after we leave here?"

"I think we should get back as soon as possible," said Louis.

"I agree with Louis," said Aileen, "We were en route to here when the Kaitian invasion started. I am certain that the Coalition Command is eagerly waiting for our return."

"Yes, of course," said Nick. "You're right, when you put it like that."

They silently approached the Kaitian home world. Aileen used gravitational slingshots as much as possible to minimize any energy traces from their engines. Not that there should be any, since they used the latest cloaking technology that was very, very effective.

To their surprise, the system was void of any ships or stations. It was very odd, since typically colony worlds--not to mention home worlds--of any civilization were bursting with activity.

"Counselors!" hissed Aileen when they were halfway to the Kaitian home world, "I've detected cloaked ships. Many of them.

We are on a collision course."

Both Nick and Louis stood up. They were already tense and now even more so.

Aileen projected a system map, their course, and the cloaked ships. If they continued their present course, they'd collide in half an hour with a large cloaked ship orbiting one of the moons of the Kaitian home world.

"Adjusting course," said Aileen, and their course changed so that they'd pass the ship safely.

"Huh." Nick exhaled. "I'm very, very glad we got the cloak detection prototype."

"Very, very glad," repeated Louis and smiled. "We can report a successful test to the commander."

"We can indeed," said Nick, smiling. "We can indeed."

They were silent for a moment as they were thinking the same thing. "You know what this means to us? To Commander? And to the Human Empire?" asked Nick.

"The thought is staggering," said Louis. "We could conquer the galaxy."

"You are right," said Aileen. "This technology gives humans a great advantage. But it must remain secret."

"I know," said Nick. "The biggest secret ever. I have no doubt that our allies in Coalition would not wait to attack us if they'd find out what we have."

"By the way," said Aileen as they moved closer to the planet, "that large ship is not a ship. It's a cloaked space station."

"So this isn't as void of activity as we thought," said Louis.

"No, it's not," said Aileen. She has calibrated the cloak detector and the map of the system showed many ships traveling across, in and out of the system.

They detected six large space stations protecting the Kaitian home world. Based on the size and their sensor reading, the stations were heavily armed.

"I have to adjust course and limit our speed," said Aileen. "It will take two days before we reach the Kaitian home world."

***

As Aileen had said, it took two days before the Lake of Fairwater reached the Kaitian home world.

Aileen put the corvette in high orbit above the planet.

"Anything?" whispered Louis. He knew he didn't need to whisper but he did it anyway.

"Starting passive sensors," said Aileen in normal voice that sounded loud to both Nick and Louis.

"Okay," said Nick in normal voice after clearing his throat.

Louis looked at the screen as the images slowly started to come in from the sensors. The images were of exceptional quality--yet another prototype they were testing. They were three-dimensional passive imaging with such high quality that one could detect individual leaves on trees.

A payoff for the quality was speed; it would take long time before they could actually see those leaves on trees.

"Do we know the locations of the teams?" asked Nick.

"Yes," said Louis. "Our team was near the capital. The first Miccvan team was near the military headquarters and the second was located in the western mountains with orders to scout the entire planet."

"Who were on the team?" asked Nick.

"That's not included here," said Louis. "Aileen, do we have that information?"

"No," said Aileen, "that's need-to-know basis. We don't need to know."

Nick shrugged; he didn't need that information, but had asked out of curiosity.

As the sensors gathered images, they started to see that something was not right where the infiltration teams should have been.

"A ship approaching!" said Aileen after a few hours. "A cloaked frigate."

"Status?" asked Louis nervously. He looked at the screen showing their location in orbit and the approaching frigate.

"Are we on a collision course?" asked Nick as the frigate came closer.

"No," said Aileen, "but they come so close that they may detect us."

"How close?" asked Louis.

"You don't want to know," said Aileen.

Nick stood up nervously and looked at the screen. They'd know soon enough if they were detected.

Seconds crawled and the Kaitian frigate approached. Both men looked at the ceiling as expecting the collision.

"It's practically on top of us," whispered Louis and held his breath.

But nothing happened. The Kaitian frigate went right past them and descended to the military headquarters on the planet.

Louis exhaled loudly. "How close that was?"

"I'll put that in my report," said Aileen. "You can read it when we get back."

The men glanced each other.

"That must've been close then," said Nick. "When can we leave?"

"Two hours, twenty-three minutes," said Aileen, "then we have what came for."

The two hours crawled, but finally Aileen said, "We have it. I've already plotted a course out of the system."

"Excellent!" said Nick, relieved. "Take us away."

The corvette left the orbit and started a slow journey to the outer edge of the system where they could enter hyperspace and go back to friendly territory.

"Counselors," said Aileen, as they passed the cloaked space stations, "I have done preliminary analysis."

"Yes?" said Louis when Aileen paused.

"I am ninety-nine percent certain that the infiltration teams were killed by the Strangers," she said.

Nick and Louis felt a cold grip on their throats.

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Nick.

They hadn't expected that Strangers were involved. They'd known about their base in the Kaitian star, but so far they continued their own--unknown--business. But now that they had acted, it might indicate they were up to something.

Something that bode bad tidings to the Coalition.
9

"What happened here?" asked Jeffery as the Sea of Boston approached the Arash home world. It was obvious, even from a distance, that something was very wrong.

"Sir," said Tricia shocked, "I think . . . I think that the planet has been bombarded by asteroids."

"Asteroids!" exclaimed Lisa.

"No signs of enemy ships, sir," said Lance.

"Keep monitoring," said Jeffery. "I want to know if there are enemies here."

"Yes, sir," said Lance.

"Tricia," said Jeffery.

"We need to get closer," said Tricia. "I can't get any useful readings from this distance."

"Can we go faster?" asked Jeffery.

"We could," said Sandy, "but it might reveal us. Increased heat and radiation might be detected by enemies."

"Let's not risk it, then," said Jeffery.

The Sea of Boston arrived at the Arash home world and Sandy placed the frigate in high orbit. While in orbit, the engines were not needed and Jeffery could order all possible power to sensors and keeping them as stealthy as possible.

"Tricia," said Jeffery again.

"Very few readings through the dust, sir," she said. "Some heat sources, radiation as well. It's not possible to detect any life signs."

"Is it even possible that there are someone alive down there?" asked Lisa. "After that kind of devastation . . ."

"It's possible," said Tricia, "but we need to go down there and look for them."

"That's what we do, then," said Jeffery, and then, to Lisa, "Order the Marines to go down and investigate."

"Yes, sir," said Lisa and left the bridge to give the order to the Marines.

"Sir," said Tricia, "I recommend that Marines use only one shuttle to go on the surface. The shuttles' stealth capabilities are limited and I wouldn't want to take any unnecessary risks."

"Good point, Tricia," said Jeffery. "Let's do that. Get the shuttle ready."

***

"Questions?" asked Lisa, after briefing the Marines about the mission. She'd chosen the 2-Delta-3 platoon to go down to the planet and ordered the first squad to go to the main port, the second squad to the main industrial district, and the third squad to the administration district.

"Are there hostiles?" asked Ellen.

"Good question, Private," said Lisa. "We don't know. But given the fact that we've not detected any enemy ships in the system and that the planet has been bombarded by asteroids, I doubt there are enemies. But be very careful. There may be enemies. Or locals might mistake you for enemies."

"Yes, ma'am," said Ellen.

"Other questions?" asked Lisa, but no one had any further questions. She concluded the briefing and went back to the bridge.

"Ten minutes!" said Captain Ross Morton, commander of the 2-Delta-3.

They were already armed and ready, so the sergeants ordered the Marines to the shuttle.

"Listen up!" said Ross, as the shuttle took off from the frigate and started the descent to the planet. "First squad! We drop you off first. Third squad goes next, along with me, and finally second squad. The shuttle lands with the second squad and hides in the industrial district, so keep it safe."

"Yes, sir!" the Marines acknowledged.

The descent to the surface was a bumpy ride and visibility was zero. The sensors of the shuttle were almost useless because of all the dust in the atmosphere--they detected only large heat signatures, no doubt fires resulting from the bombardment.

"First squad!" commanded Ross after a signal from the pilot. "Get ready!"

The shuttle touched down near the main control tower, which was surprisingly mostly intact. The Marines hurried out from the shuttle and toward the tower entrance.

"Do you read?" shouted Caleb to the intercom. "Captain! Captain! Hell," he cursed, "No comms. We're on our own.

But it doesn't change our mission," Caleb continued as the men near him exchanged worried looks, "We go in!"

The squad entered the lobby of the tower. It was empty.

"Cortez," said Caleb to Private Silvio Cortez, "guard the door." Silvio nodded and took guard. The others went farther in.

The control tower was five stories tall; the operations room was at the top floor. At the center of the lobby was a reception desk and behind it, doors to offices on the ground floor. Two staircases ascended to upper floors, one on the left of the reception desk and the other far right of the lobby.

"Chapman. Daniels. Chandler," ordered Caleb, "Secure the ground floor."

Privates Raquel Chapman, Hannah Daniels, and Tommy Chandler moved to the offices behind the reception desk.

"Thornton. Girard. Smith. To the right and secure the upper floors," ordered Caleb. "Hamilton. Townsend. With me. To the left stairs."

"Ellen," said Karl, "take point."

The second floor was an open space office. Empty. The team searched the offices, but found nothing.

"Henry. Check the rooms," said Karl, and Henry hurried toward the three offices across the room.

"Clear!" said Henry after he searched the rooms.

When he exited the room, he suddenly stopped and looked around as he realized something.

"Karl," he said, after joining with Karl and Ellen who were ready to go the third floor, "Do you see anything odd here?"

"Well . . ." said Karl and looked around.

"It's empty." He shrugged.

"Exactly," said Henry. "This is the main port of the planet, and regardless of time, this should be filled with people. There must've been people during the attack. But there's no one here. And not even clothes. And no bodies here or the outside. They must've left before the bombardment," he concluded.

"Very good observation," said Ellen, "but where did they go?"

"We have to find out," said Karl. "But now to the third floor. Ellen. Take point."

They went up again. The third floor was also open space office. And it was empty. The fourth floor had lots of spacy office rooms, but they were also empty.

"The next floor," ordered Karl, and the team went up the stairs to the main control room. It was large, empty room, except for a very big table at the center and screens in the walls.

"Karl." Ellen tapped his arm. "The sergeant is there."

They saw Caleb in the door on the other side of the room. Caleb signaled them and they went to the big table and took cover beside it.

"Anything?" asked Caleb.

"Nothing," said Karl. "This building is empty. No one's here, dead or alive. Not even any clothes or anything. As if all had just left."

"Same here," said Caleb. "Good point about the clothes, by the way. Confirms that they left before the bombardment."

"This floor is also empty," said Private Kate Townsend.

"Okay," said Caleb and stood up. The others followed and they looked at the table. It was the main console of the control tower and it was turned off, showing only a black screen.

"Check if you can get it on," said Caleb to Kate.

"Any word from the other teams?" asked Karl.

"No," said Caleb. "Comms are down."

"Check if you can find anything and then let's get back downstairs," Caleb ordered. The Marines scattered and tried to find clues about where were everybody was.

"Sir," said Kate after she'd tried to access the console, "I can't get it powered. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said Caleb. "Anything? Anyone?"

"No, sir," said Karl.

"Well, then," said Caleb, "let's get downstairs."

They were on the fourth floor, ready to get down to the third, when Kate, who was at point, suddenly raised her hand in alarm.

"Noises!" she hissed. "Someone's coming!"

The Marines scrambled to hide in the offices as the noises came toward them.

Karl tightened his grip on his rifle and almost shot the runner who came up the stairs and ran past him.

"Chandler!" shouted Caleb, relieved, as Tommy passed him.

"Sir!" said Tommy catching breath. "Someone's outside. Coming toward us."

"Hurry!" ordered Caleb and now all of them ran to downstairs.

"Cortez," said Caleb, as he crouched beside Silvio behind the reception desk and the rest went cover as best they could. "What you got?"

"Movement outside," said Silvio. "At least three contacts. Look." Silvio showed Caleb the motion detector and three contacts appeared and disappeared on its screen. "It's dust, sir. Interfering with the detector. But definitely three contacts."

"They are coming this way," said Caleb. "They're soldiers. Don't fire until ordered!"

The three contacts came closer and were soon right outside the control tower. The door opened and the first thing they saw was a barrel of a weapon.

At the end of the barrel was a uniformed arm. Caleb was relieved. He recognized the uniform of the Arash Empire Navy. He ordered his men to stand down and shouted, "Hail, Arash Empire Navy! Human Empire Marines offering assistance!"

The arm quickly withdrew from the door.

"Hail, Human Empire Marines!" shouted someone from outside, "Come outside!"

"Sergeant Caleb Simmons! Coming out unarmed!" Caleb shouted and walked slowly, hands up high, to the door and outside.

The Arash soldier, a colonel, waited; his two companions were ready to shoot Caleb if he made any threatening moves. But the colonel recognized that Caleb was not the enemy and he ordered his men to stand down.

"Sergeant Caleb Simmons of the Human Empire Marines," said the colonel. "This is quite a surprise. What brings you here?"

"Who am I addressing?" asked Caleb, although he was not in his own territory.

The colonel smiled. "I am Colonel Cameron of the Arash Empire Navy, commander of the 1st Operations Group."

"Colonel!" Caleb saluted. "We were ordered here by the Coalition Command."

"To do what?" asked Colonel, "I doubt this is a counter-attack."

"No, sir, it's not," said Caleb. "Our orders were to do recon of the system to find out what happened." He paused.

"And to search and rescue a VIP."

"VIP? What VIP?" asked Cameron, surprised.

"Aide Rachel of the Miccvan Empire, sir," said Caleb.

"Rachel?" said Cameron, even more surprised. "Yes. She's here and alive. Come with me." Caleb signaled the Marines to follow him.

"Where are we going?" asked Caleb.

"Underground," said Cameron. "To shelters where many of our people reached safety there before the asteroids fell."

***

"They should be back in ten minutes," said Lisa.

"Still no contact?" asked Jeffery.

"No, sir, the dust from the bombardment interferes with all sensors and communication," said Lisa. "We can only hope they accomplished the mission."

"If they didn't, we send them down again," said Jeffery.

Lisa nodded and went to her console to look for any signs of the enemy. She really hoped that the Marines would accomplish their mission; she didn't want to stay here any longer than necessary.

Ten minutes passed and the shuttle should have been on their radar. But it wasn't.

All the eyes were fixed on the radar, but it showed nothing. Minutes passed and Lisa was getting nervous.

"Patience, Lisa," said Jeffery. He knew that anything might have happened on the planet. It could be just normal delay. But he knew that the Marines did all they could to be on schedule.

"Prepare the third platoon and get the shuttle ready," said Jeffery. "If

they are not back in ten minutes, send a search party."

"Sir!" shouted Lance before Lisa could respond. "Shuttle approaching from the planet!"

"It's the Marines," confirmed Tricia, and there were relieved sighs on the bridge.

"Sandy," said Jeffery, "get ready to leave. If they accomplished the mission, we must get out as quickly as possible. Lisa, let's meet the Marines."

Jeffery and Lisa went to the shuttle bay. Sandy prepared the ship to leave and she really hoped they could leave this system.

The shuttle docked the frigate and as soon as it was on the deck, the door opened and Captain Morton hurried to see Jeffery.

"Mission accomplished, sir," he said. "We found the VIP."

"Excellent!" said Jeffery pleased. "Lisa. Get us out of here."

"Gladly, sir." Lisa smiled and ordered Sandy to leave this system.

A woman who could only be the VIP, Aide Rachel, came toward Jeffery. To Jeffery's surprise, an unknown man was accompanying her; his uniform told Jeffery that he was a colonel of the Arash Empire Navy.

"Aide Rachel," introduced Ross, "and Colonel Cameron of the Arash Empire Navy."

"Commander Jeffery Bainbridge. Welcome to the Sea of Boston," greeted Jeffery.

"Thank you, Commander," said Cameron and Rachel.

"Let's go to my office," said Jeffery. "We have much to discuss."
10

"Commander!" shouted navigation officer Lieutenant Rickey Norman. "Something's ahead!"

"Full stop!" ordered Catherine, and the frigate stopped in the middle of hyperspace. They were en route to Coalition space.

"What is it?" asked Catherine, annoyed. She wanted to reach Coalition space as soon as possible; she needed to report what they'd found out.

"Something odd," said Rickey.

"Odd?" said Catherine. "Define odd."

"Ma'am," answered science officer Lieutenant Andrea Tyler, "a large concentration of mass. Something that shouldn't be in hyperspace. We are too far to see any specifics."

"Should we go closer?" asked Rickey.

"No," said Catherine and decided not to risk their mission. "Engage cloak. Prepare a cloaked probe and launch when ready."

"Yes, ma'am," said Rickey.

Catherine looked at the galaxy map and their course; they were going toward the Gemono Empire space. Farther away than Mopian or Ooktian space--but it should be safer, too.

"Probe ready," said Rickey. "Launching it now."

The probe accelerated toward the concentration of mass and sent images back to the frigate.

"Getting closer," said Andrea. "Receiving images."

The eyes of the bridge officers widened as the images started to show ships all sizes, from small cutters to large cruisers.

"The Kaitian fleet . . ." whispered Andrea.

"Deactivate probe immediately!" commanded Catherine and cursed. The probe might have given them away.

"We need to get out," she continued, "fast."

"Yes, ma'am!" said Rickey and turned the frigate back where they'd come from, to move away from the Kaitian fleet.

***

"Are you ready, Captain?" asked the High Priest.

"Always," said Kould, who was preparing for the recon mission on the flight deck. They had reports about Godless Others massing their forces at one of their worlds. Kould's mission was to estimate the opposition force. His mission would decide whether or not they would attack them now or later.

"Excellent," said the High Priest, "but before you go, I want to you to examine an anomaly that we detected. We don't know what it was. Could've been a ship. Or just random disturbance in hyperspace."

"I'll check it out, sir," said Kould. "I will leave immediately."

Before finishing the sentence, Kould was already walking to his fighter and was on his way.

***

"I don't dare to go faster," said Rickey. "They might detect us."

"As fast as possible," said Catherine.

The seconds crawled and the frigate slowly moved away from the Kaitian fleet. Catherine started to breathe more easily and she was relieved. They remained hidden.

"Ma'am!" said Andrea, alarmed. "A ship approaching!"

"Damn!" said Catherine. "Has it seen us?"

"I don't think so," said Andrea, "and it's a small ship. Smaller than a cutter. Probably a heavy fighter-bomber."

"It's getting closer," said Rickey, and looked questioningly to Catherine about what to do. But options were limited and none were good.

"All stop! All power to cloak," she said.

Catherine and the bridge officers held their breath as the Kaitians came slowly closer. Seconds passed and it began to look like the enemy wouldn't notice them.

"It's turning!" whispered Andrea.

"It didn't detect us," said Rickey relieved.

But the relief was short-lived.

"Wait!" said Andrea, alarmed. "It stopped!"

***

"Why did you stop?" Kould asked his fighter's AI. They hadn't detected any disturbances here and Kould was eager to go back to his mission to recon the enemy forces.

"Something is not right, Captain," the AI answered.

"Everything looks right," said Kould as he checked the sensors.

"It is very subtle," said the AI. "Look."

The AI showed a display and filled it with moving vectors of all hyperspace currents around them.

"Everything still looks right," repeated Kould. AI sped up the display.

"A-ha!" said Kould. There was a small patch in hyperspace that some of the currents avoided. It was clearly visible if looking at the currents at high speed.

"What do you think?" asked Kould. "Is it a ship?"

"It's possible," said AI. "It's definitely not natural phenomena."

"And it's not moving," said Kould. "I'm sure they are monitoring us. Wondering what we'll do."

"And what do we do?" asked the AI.

Kould answered with a smile.

***

"Ma'am!" shouted Andrea. The Kaitian ship turned directly toward them. "It's firing!"

"Get us out of here!" commanded Catherine. "Return fire!"

But it was too late.

Kould fired a small projectile to confirm that the disturbance was indeed a ship and then he fired a single torpedo.

Catherine saw the torpedo in slow motion, and she knew they would die here and now. The torpedo penetrated the cloak and she felt the impact.

She wondered why it didn't detonate and almost sighed in relief.

But then Catherine saw alarms of hull breach and realized what had happened.

The last thought she had was that she had failed her mission to deliver vital information to the Coalition Command. She closed her eyes and died in the explosion that ripped the frigate to pieces from within.

***

"So it was a Godless enemy?" said the High Priest.

"It was," said Kould. "It was cloaked, but my AI detected them."

"Ah!" said the High Priest, delighted. "Send the information to the scientists."

"Already done, sir," said Kould.

"Excellent!" said the High Priest. "Let's postpone your recon mission until we get results from the scientists."

"Yes, sir," said Kould, and smiled. "Perhaps we can detect their cloaked ships with this new information."

"Exactly my point, Captain Kould," said the High Priest, smiling. "Exactly my point."
11

"What's the situation?" asked William. William was aboard his corvette, Lake of Nevada, somewhere between Gemono and Ooktian space.

"Calm before the storm," answered Milton, from his office aboard the Thoughtful Flame, the flagship of the Miccvan Empire. He was located near the Mopian Empire home world, where the Coalition was massing their forces to counter the Kaitian attack. "The Kaitians have nearly ceased their attacks after conquering most of the Arash and Mehar worlds. I guess they are building defense lines near the border and getting ready for the assault.

"We've sent several recon missions but only few have returned. Those who returned reported only light Kaitian presence. Or no presence at all. Although they've conquered most of the worlds, they don't bother to occupy all of them."

"That's what we've gathered as well," said William, "and I fear their attack."

Milton sighed. "So do I. I hope we hear from Nick and Louis before the next attack."

"And also from The Village of War," said William. Laura had selected targets for the super-cruiser and if everything had gone smoothly, they should be returning to Coalition space in the near future. The Village of War had their most advanced weapons; they had high hopes for it and for others like it still in construction. The Coalition had managed to accelerate their production, but it was not enough.

"Excuse me, Milton," said William abruptly, and his hologram disappeared from Milton's office.

"What is it, Udo?" asked William.

"Sir," Udo said, "a message from the Sea of Boston. They have just crossed the Ooktian border and are going full speed to SD-9. They report mission accomplished."

"Great news!" said William delightedly, and dismissed Udo.

"Milton!" he said, as he appeared back to Milton's office. "Good news! The Sea of Boston has returned to Coalition space and reports mission accomplished."

Milton was overjoyed. "Good news indeed!"

"They are going to SD-9 and I'm going to debrief them there," said William. "Would you like to come there?"

"No," said Milton after a brief pause, "I stay here. In case the Kaitians come."

William wondered why Milton wanted to be at the front lines.

"Suit yourself," said William, and his tone betrayed his thoughts about Milton's presence on the Miccvan flagship.

"Ha ha," laughed Milton. "You're worried about me, aren't you, my friend?"

"That goes without saying," said William seriously.

"No need," said Milton. "I'll survive. Besides, I long to see the battle first-hand. The last time I was in the front lines was in the War of Borders."

William nodded. Although he didn't like it, he understood well what Milton meant.

He disconnected the call and told Udo to increase speed. He wanted to be at SD-9 before the Sea of Boston.

***

En route to SD-9, William read the preliminary report from Jeffery.

He didn't dwell on the report and just scanned it quickly, as he wanted to hear the report directly from Jeffery. He took a sip of coffee and put his feet on the table. He yawned as he failed to concentrate and wondered why even the scanning of reports has always been so boring.

As he scanned the report, he noticed what Jeffery mentioned about a Marine sergeant. He had to read it again; his eyes widened and he dropped the coffee cup on his lap.

"Udo!" he called. Udo came immediately to the office.

"Sir?" he asked, surprised to see William standing with wet trousers.

"Order the Sea of Boston directly to the Mopian home world at maximum speed," said William. "And take us there, too. Maximum speed!"

"Yes, sir!" said Udo, although wondered why the course change.

***

"William!" called Milton as the Lake of Nevada exited from hyperspace near the Thoughtful Flame, "This is a surprise."

At the same moment, the Sea of Boston exited from hyperspace not far from the flagship.

"An even bigger surprise!" said Milton and didn't bother to conceal his pleasure since he knew Rachel was with them.

"Milton," said William, "I'm coming aboard. With Commander Jeffery Bainbridge of the Sea of Boston and Sergeant Caleb Simmons of 2-Delta-3 of the 9th Brigade."

"Oh," said Milton curiously.

"You're cleared to come aboard."

William went to his shuttle and flew alone to the Miccvan cruiser. A shuttle from the Sea of Boston landed at the same time.

"Commander Johnson." Jeffery saluted.

"Commander!" Caleb saluted as well, and William could tell he was perplexed.

"Gentlemen," said William, "let's go to see Advisor Milton."

A Miccvan Marine escorted them to the Milton's office.

"Commander Jeffery Bainbridge," introduced William, "and Sergeant Caleb Simmons."

"A pleasure," Milton said, looking curiously at William. "Looking forward to hear what you have to say."

"Sergeant," said William, "tell us about how you applied to the special assignment before joining 2-Delta-3 of the 9th Brigade."

Both Jeffery and Caleb were surprised and wondered whether that was really the reason why they were here. Caleb cleared his throat.

"Yes, sir," he said and told about how he applied to the special assignment.

"Hold!" interrupted Milton as Caleb said Michael's name.

"Did you say 'Michael'?" he asked. Caleb nodded, unsure what was going on.

"William?" Milton looked questioning at William.

"Jaeger Sergeant Michael Angelos, commander of the human infiltration team on the Kaitian home world. Before that, assigned to the Jaeger Brigade in the 7th Fleet," said William. "Lots of special missions all around the galaxy."

"Do you think what I think you think?" asked Milton.

"I do," answered William. Caleb and Jeffery exchanged looks and Jeffery shrugged. There was definitely something here but neither Caleb nor Jeffery had a clue.

"Thank you, gentlemen," said Milton to Caleb and Jeffery. "You're dismissed."

"Thank you," said William and confirmed Milton's order. "Go back to your ship. I'll contact you."

Jeffery and Caleb saluted and left the office.

"I had no idea Michael was in your military," said Milton.

"No one did," said William. "If he indeed is our Michael."

"If he is, yes," said Milton. "I think he is. When Nick and Louis return, order them directly here, so they can give their report in front of the group. And we can drop this piece of information to the group, see what others think."

"Agreed," said William. "I'll contact you soon."

With that, William left Milton's office and flew back to his ship.

"Udo," he called immediately after exiting the shuttle, "meet me in my office."

"Yes, sir," answered Udo. He went to see William, who told him what they'd discussed with Milton.

"But I don't want anyone to see the Lake of Fairwater," said William, "Make sure they transfer to a regular corvette as soon as they are in Coalition space . . . in a safe place, of course," he added.

"Will do, sir," said Udo. "I know just the place."
12

"Another mining colony, ma'am?" asked Matt.

"Agriculture this time," said Jiao, looking at the colony information. The colony was the Mehar Empire System 18, ME-18, and it was their last target before returning to Coalition space.

The colony was one of the largest agriculture colonies in the Mehar Empire and also one of the largest of the entire Coalition. The system and three planets were fully dedicated to agriculture; if the war was going to be prolonged, loss of agriculture colonies would be felt throughout the Coalition as the food reserves started to diminish.

No doubt, that was part of the overall Kaitian strategy.

"Send the scouts," ordered Jiao.

"Yes, ma'am," said Matt.

Soon, three scouts left the ship and entered the ME-18 system, far from the farthest planet.

The scouts relayed sensor data to The Village of War. Arnold ran analysis as the data streamed in from the scouts.

"Looks like the colonies before," he said to Jiao. "Orbital stations around the three planets. But no cruisers, nor any other ships. We must make a more thorough analysis after the scouts return."

"Hmm," said Jiao thoughtfully. She had an odd feeling that something was not right here.

"Are the orbital stations similar as before?" she asked.

"Looks like they are," said Arnold.

"Hmm," said Jiao, "and no sign of ships?"

"No, ma'am," he said.

"I have bad feeling about this," said Jiao. "Recall the scouts. Make a thorough analysis and I'll decide what to do."

"Yes, ma'am," said Arnold.

After the scouts returned, he started to analyze the data; because Jiao had sounded worried, he analyzed the data very, very carefully.

He found, almost accidentally, the reason why Jiao was so worried.

***

"Come on in," said Jiao to someone at her office door.

Arnold had called her first thing in the morning and insisted to see her as soon possible.

"I assume you found something?" she asked.

"I did, ma'am," said Arnold, "and I must commend your intuition."

Jiao smiled. "Thank you, Arnold."

"Ma'am, the three planets each have an orbital station. Just like the systems before. Take a look."

He projected a system map with graphical orbits of stations around the planets.

"Do you see anything odd?" asked Arnold.

"No," said Jiao, "Planets and stations."

"Exactly," he said, "but look at the orbits."

"Just orbits." She shrugged and wondered what he was getting at.

"Right, they are just orbits," said Arnold, "but these orbits are physically impossible for these stations."

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"The orbits you see are impossible for stations with that mass," said Arnold.

"There are cloaked stations or ships that affect the orbits, then?" said Jiao.

"Right on, ma'am," he said. "Here are their estimated locations."

The projected map now showed additional stations, or ships, around the planets. In the orbit of each planet there was the station, as well as three other stations--or ships.

"These are approximate locations," said Arnold, "but their masses are near the actual masses."

Jiao looked at the masses. "They are three times bigger than the stations. Are you certain of this?"

"Seventy-five percent certain," said Arnold immediately. He knew Jiao would ask about certainty.

"What do you need to get it to hundred percent?" asked Jiao.

"Hundred percent certainty is impossible, ma'am," said Arnold. "I'd need another scouting run to be ninety, or perhaps ninety-five percent certain."

"You'll get it," said Jiao and ordered Matt to launch the scouts again.

***

"I'm now ninety-two percent certain," said Arnold, after he'd analyzed the sensor data from the second scout mission.

"The masses are accurate, error margin is less than one percent."

"Excellent work, Arnold," commended Jiao. "Are those stations or ships?"

"My guess is that they are ships," he said, "Heavy cruisers. Or even super-cruisers, given their mass."

Jiao sighed in relief in her mind. If she'd attacked, they'd be dead now.

She dismissed Arnold and looked closely at the projected map of the system with stations and super-cruisers. It would more difficult to clear this target than previous ones, but it that was no surprise. The Kaitians had surely felt their strikes and had probably reinforced all the systems they considered potential targets.

This was not good for The Village of War, but it also meant that the ships here, protecting the conquered worlds against The Village of War, were not fighting on the front lines. Jiao called Matt to her office to discuss the attack with him.

"Nine super-cruisers," said Matt, "and the stations. This is going to be difficult."

"Yes, it is," said Jiao. "They know we might attack them, so they are prepared. They also know how we've attacked the previous targets, so they must anticipate that. I have an idea, though."

"Yes?" asked Matt.

"We exit hyperspace near one of the planets and strike the super-cruisers with everything we've got, and enter again hyperspace before they can react," she said. "Then the same for the second and third planets."

"And after that we mop up the stations and remaining ships," said Matt.

"That's my idea," said Jiao.

Matt smiled. "That's a good idea. Simple and efficient."

"Of course it is!" Jiao laughed.

"Get it done."

Matt went to realize the plan.

***

The preparation of the attack required nearly two days and it involved a program for the ship's computer to execute the attack as quickly as possible.

The development of the program itself was not difficult, but it required thorough testing that took bulk of the time.

"Too bad we can't do field testing," said Arnold, "We've had to rely on simulations."

"I have full confidence in you," said Matt. "Are we ready?"

"As ready as we can be," responded Arnold.

Matt nodded and called Jiao to come to the bridge.

"On your order, ma'am," said Arnold, ready to execute the program.

Jiao nodded and didn't waste time. "Start the attack."

The Village of War exited hyperspace on top of the first super-cruiser orbiting the colony farthest from the star; Jiao would have been happy to see the Kaitians' complete surprise.

The surprise was even more complete when The Village fired a single plasma ray with maximum power directly to the center super-cruiser and cut it in half.

The Village then moved at maximum speed to the second super-cruiser and before they could do anything, The Village fired heavy cannons followed by plasma rays and destroyed the second Kaitian super-cruiser.

By now, the third cruiser had reacted and decloaked. It had weapons ready, but before it managed to fire, The Village had already fired upon it and the cannons battered the enemy ship until the plasma ray cut it in half.

Jiao was overwhelmed at the speed of the attack. The first attack was over in a blink of an eye and The Village returned to hyperspace only to exit a moment later above the super-cruisers orbiting another colony planet.

The Kaitians still didn't understand how the enemy had been able to destroy their cloaked cruiser, and all three super-cruisers were destroyed in a similar manner. The Village again returned to hyperspace and again it exited above the final three super-cruisers, who were now ready to face the attack.

But it didn't do any good. The Village destroyed the first of the three in a heartbeat, but the second managed to fire its own plasma ray, before it, too, was destroyed.

"Damage report!" commanded Jiao, even as the final super-cruiser was destroyed. She'd felt the enemy fire and feared the worst.

Her fear was founded; she'd seen what the enemy's plasma rays could do, and there was not much armor or shields that could stand against them.

The Village returned to hyperspace as programmed and Jiao stopped the program from her console. They would not go back until she knew the damage.

"Ma'am!" said Matt. "The starboard dock gate is damaged; we can't open it. And we sustained heavy casualties and lost six ships."

"What?" asked Jiao in disbelief. "How?"

"One of the enemy plasma rays cut through the hull and hit Ocean of Triberg, damaging it badly. It exploded shortly after," explained Matt. "The explosion and the debris from it damaged nearly all ships in the starboard dock. Three corvettes and two frigates are damaged beyond repair."

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Jiao.

"Ma'am?" interrupted Arnold, "Do we continue the attack?"

"What's the enemy status?" asked Jiao.

"The orbital stations have raised shields and based on their power level, I'd say that their weapons are similar to those of super-cruisers," said Arnold. "Also, there are nearly twenty frigates that must've been hiding away from the planets so we couldn't detect them before."

Jiao cursed again, silently, and evaluated the situation for a moment.

"No," she said. "Cancel the attack. We did destroy nine of their super-cruisers." Jiao allowed a thin smile on her face. "That counts for something."

"Yes, ma'am," said Arnold, relieved.

"Our mission is accomplished," said Jiao. "Let's go to the rendezvous point in Coalition space at maximum speed. We are already behind schedule."
13

"Approaching the Rg'Tkeen border," said Aileen.

"Finally!" said Louis, relieved. With information they got from the Kaitian home world, it was imperative that they reach Coalition space safely.

They'd also gotten new information, as they traveled toward Coalition space. They'd intercepted messages that ordered reinforcements to conquered worlds in case "the Behemoth" attacked.

Nick and Louis wondered what the Kaitians meant by "the Behemoth" and after a debate they concluded that The Village of War had been sent to attack behind enemy lines.

They had intercepted another message, just before crossing the border, which said how the Behemoth had surprised them in the ME-18 system and destroyed nine of their super-cruisers.

"Ha ha!" laughed Nick and their spirits lifted considerably.

"That'll teach them!" said Louis.

"We've crossed the border," said Aileen. "I suggest we go further into Rg'Tkeen space before contacting Commander Johnson."

"Agreed," said Nick.

***

"Opening communication channel," said Aileen, after they were well inside Rg'Tkeen space.

"Nick!" said Louis, surprised.

"What is it?" said Nick.

"We are receiving a message," said Louis, "from the commander."

"Really?" said Nick. They were supposed to contact William, not the other way around.

"New orders, Counselors," said Aileen formally.

"We are ordered to SD-5 where we--or, rather, you--are to change ships and proceed to the Mopian home world for debriefing."

Nick and Louis glanced each other and shrugged.

"Well, I have no argument," said Nick. "Let's go."

"I thought SD-5 was destroyed?" wondered Louis.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," said Nick.

"You are correct," said Aileen. "It was destroyed. I assume that is precisely why we go there."

"Oh?" said Nick.

"There's no reason for anyone to be there," said Aileen. "The changing of ships can happen without anyone seeing that."

"I'm not surprised," said Louis. "If we go to the Mopian home world, Commander wouldn't want anyone to see this corvette."

They traveled to SD-5 at maximum speed and they then changed to another corvette, Lake of Chicopee.

"I know this ship," said Louis. "It's one of Bruce's corvettes."

"Is he aboard?" asked Nick.

"No," said Aileen, "no one is aboard. No life-signs anywhere in the system."

"A-ha," said Nick and shrugged.

The corvette docked with the other and the men went aboard Lake of Chicopee.

"See you around, Aileen," Louis said after they were onboard.

"Safe journey, Counselors," she said.

***

"Lot of ships," commented Nick when they arrived to the Mopian home world. They were still cloaked and slowly navigated toward the Miccvan flagship, the cruiser Thoughtful Flame.

"There's our ships, too," said Louis. "Look. That's the commander's corvette. Beside that frigate, the Sea of Boston."

"Let's join the crowd," said Nick. They steered their ship by the other two ships and decloaked.

They were immediately targeted by the surrounding ships, the weapons turned on them. Once they were recognized, the weapons went back to standby mode.

"Counselors Nick and Louis," hailed someone from the Miccvan flagship. "Your appearance is in line with your reputation. Please come aboard the Thoughtful Flame immediately."

"The Thoughtful Flame looks smaller than I'd thought," said Louis.

Nick grunted and recalled how they'd infiltrated the Miccvan Navy headquarters and had had a chance to look at the schematics of the new cruiser they were building; based on the weapons and armor that was going in to cruiser, they thought it'd be a bigger ship than it really was.

"Let's go, then, and see who we see," said Nick, and they flew the shuttle to the Miccvan cruiser.

The shuttle docked and it was directed to the very end of the docking bay, where the men saw a Rg'Tkeen officer waiting for them.

"Through that door," said the officer, "and to the end of the corridor. Right side."

"Thanks," muttered Louis, and they went in as instructed.

"I wonder who's there?" said Nick. Louis said nothing. When they approached the door, it opened and they went directly in.

If Nick and Louis were surprised to see the people inside sitting around a large board room table, they didn't show it.

They knew all of them--not personally, but some of them more intimately than they'd like. The most surprising was that why these particular people were here. It was a surprising composition of people.

Both were thinking along the same lines, but dared not do or say anything.

"Welcome, Counselors," said William.

"Thank you, sir," said Nick and Louis.

"What has happened to our infiltration teams?" asked Juno.

Nick cleared his throat.

"Minister," he addressed Juno in a tone that hinted that he knew them all.

"Based on data and analysis, we are certain that infiltration teams were destroyed by the Strangers."

By the looks on their faces, none of them had suspected the Strangers.

"How certain you are?" asked Laura.

"Ninety-nine percent, Matriarch," answered Louis, and put the analysis report on the table. It beamed an image of the strike marks in the Kaitian home world and beside it, strike marks from the old Hwzeenn home world where Strangers had destroyed an entire civilization. Silence fell to the room like a cloak and worried glances were exchanged.

"Thank you," said Milton. "That will be all."

Nick and Louis stood. They were surprised, but turned and left the room.

Outside, Louis nodded toward the room and said, "I wonder what that group is. The commander, Advisor Milton, Gemono Minister of Agriculture and Mining, Rg'Tkeen Grand Admiral . . ."

"I think we should find out," said Nick with a grin.

"It is the Coalition Command and you will not need to know anything else," a familiar but deadly serious voice said from behind them.

"Bruce!" said Louis. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you away," said Bruce.

"Where are we going?" asked Louis, surprised by Bruce's serious tone.

"To SD-9," answered Bruce, "where we'll wait for the commander."
14

Jeffery roamed aboard his frigate with nothing to do, especially at this very late hour when most of the crew were already sleeping. They'd been at the Mopian home world, beside the Miccvan flagship and unmarked corvette, for days now and it was getting boring.

Jeffery hadn't received any orders or even any kind of message since his debriefing with Caleb to Commander Johnson.

They'd seen another unmarked corvette decloaking beside them and saw a shuttle going to the Miccvan cruiser. After a while, the shuttle came back and the corvette left to some unknown destination.

Jeffery wondered about the corvette as his steps lead him to the observation deck, that was, to his surprise, not empty at this time.

"Good evening, Private," he said.

"Sir!" said Ellen, startled. She saluted.

"I didn't expect to see anyone here," said Jeffery casually, and walked beside Ellen, who was standing by the window.

"Sorry, sir," said Ellen and started to leave. "I'm on my way."

"Oh!" exclaimed Jeffery. "I apologize. I didn't mean you to leave. Please stay. If you like, of course," he added.

"Thank you, sir." Ellen smiled and stayed, looking toward the Coalition ships.

Jeffery was glad that Ellen stayed. He'd seen her from time to time aboard the ship and he thought her a competent marine. And the report from the mission in Arash Empire home world just confirmed his view of Ellen.

The real reason, however, why Jeffery was glad that Ellen stayed was that there was something in her that had caught Jeffery's eye when she'd first seen her.

Damn, thought Jeffery, surprised by how his thoughts strayed to Ellen and what he thought of her. He was relieved to see a cruiser coming in the system.

"Look!" Jeffery pointed, a little too avidly.

"That's a Saami Empire cruiser. Very powerful."

"Oh," said Ellen, not noticing Jeffery's avidness, "are there many Saami ships here?"

"Yes," said Jeffery, "they've sent a third of their forces here. And another third to the Ooktian home world."

"Where do you think they'll attack?" asked Ellen. "Here or Ooktian?

"I believe they'll attack here," said Jeffery and took a deep breath.

"Are you prepared?" He looked at Ellen.

"Prepared, sir?" said Ellen a little surprised. "Yes. I think. I mean . . . we are Marines."

"But this is a space battle." Jeffery smiled. "And you wonder do we need you at all."

"Yes, sir," said Ellen and smiled. "Exactly."

"But we can't know when we need you," said Jeffery. "The enemy might try to board us. We might try to board the enemy. Or perhaps we might need you to protect or secure a ground target. I have no doubt that you will see lots of battles in this war, so it pays to be prepared."

Ellen nodded and turned her gaze to space, trying not to think of all things that could happen in the war, and especially trying not to fear that the commander would hear the pounding of her heart.

***

"Commander!" somebody shouted and William swam back to the beach to find out who called him now, as he was having a great time with a girl who looked vaguely familiar.

William stood up from the waves and looked back. The girl had disappeared. But so had the sea.

"Commander!" shouted somebody again--this time from across the street behind the beach chairs. He ran toward the voice, crossed the street, and found himself in the Boston Navy Yard, beside the USS Cassin Young.

"Commander!"

"What!" shouted William angrily, looking around for who shouted at him, "Show yourself!"

"COMMANDER!"

"Aaag!" shouted William and was surprised to find himself sitting in his own bed.

"Yes, Udo," he answered after taking a moment to catch his breath. "What is it?"

"You must come to the bridge, sir," said Udo, "There's something out there."

"I'm on my way," said William. He knew that whatever was out there couldn't be good.

Udo waited anxiously for him on the bridge.

"Look!" he said, and pointed to the screen beside him. It was the cloak detector's screen, and it showed an unknown ship in the outer star system, far away from Coalition ships, moving carefully toward the Mopian home world.

"The enemy!" whispered William and Udo nodded.

"Probably a scout," said Udo.

William thought so too. And it could mean only one thing; the attack was about to start soon.

"Do we warn the others?" asked Udo quietly.

"No," said William immediately. "We can't let the others know what we have."Udo nodded. Whether he agreed or not, William couldn't tell.

"Do we have any patrols scheduled?" asked William.

Udo quickly checked his console. "In half an hour, sir. Two fighters from the Ocean of Europa."

The enemy scout was still moving toward the bulk of Coalition forces and in half an hour it might be already gone. Or more likely it would be doing close scans of the Coalition ships.

"Order them to start the patrol now," said William. "Direct them on the route that would intercept the enemy."

"Yes, sir," said Udo and in couple of minutes they saw two fighters exiting the Ocean of Europa and flying toward the enemy scout.

"If only they knew," said Udo quietly to himself.

The two fighters closed on the enemy, who had stopped and, as it became apparent that their courses would collide, quickly moved out of the way. The fighters noticed nothing and the enemy looked like it was going to continue its course toward the Coalition forces.

But it didn't. The enemy turned around and accelerated before entering hyperspace just behind the patrolling fighters.

Udo exhaled. "We drove it away. I guess it didn't want to push its luck."

"It'll be back," said William, thinking that when it did come back, luck might be the deciding factor of the battle.

***

"Where did they go?" asked Ellen, as the two fighters that launched from the Ocean of Europa disappeared to hyperspace.

"They are on patrol," said Jeffery. "Part of the patrols route is in normal space and another part in hyperspace."

Jeffery thought that there was something odd in it. First of all, the patrol launched at an odd time. Secondly, the patrol entered hyperspace much farther out than normally.

"Ellen," he said after a long moment.

"Sir?" said Ellen.

"Thank you for keeping me company," said Jeffery. "I hope to see you again soon. But go now to sleep. Tomorrow morning, you'll find that ship readiness has been raised to Com-2."

"Sir?" said Ellen and swallowed. Com-2, Combat Condition 2, was the second-highest readiness status in a ship. Com-1 was the highest, meaning that the ship was engaged in battle.

"I have a feeling that the attack will start soon," said Jeffery, looking Ellen in the eyes. Her eyes were even bluer than he'd noticed.

"Good night." He had an impulse to kiss her, but he fought it off by quickly turning to gaze out at space.

After Ellen left, Jeffery hurried to his office and ordered the computer to raise readiness to Com-2 as soon as the morning shift came on duty.

***

"Captain Kould!" called the High Priest immediately after Kould had returned from the recon mission.

"Analysis."

"They are waiting for us," said Kould. "They are massing their forces and sending random patrols in the system and in hyperspace. I saw no signs of the Behemoth," he added.

"Good, very good," said the High Priest. "Perhaps we damaged it more than we thought. And the cloak detector?"

"Unreliable," said Kould, disappointed. "It doesn't seem to work in normal space. There probably are cloaked ships, but there's no way to tell."

"It doesn't matter," said the High Priest, and smiled. "Good work, Captain. Go now and rest until the attack."

Captain Kould smiled and went to his quarters, prayed to the Black Gods, and fell into a peaceful sleep.
15

Milton knew that the attack would come soon, even though the patrols had detected nothing unusual, and long-range scouts hadn't sighted the enemy in anywhere but the conquered worlds.

The Coalition fleet waited and hoped that the battle would start soon--the wait itself was taxing their people. Milton had noticed that some of the human ships had already raised their readiness; he decided to order the entire fleet to raise readiness and double the patrols.

He walked restlessly in his office aboard the Thoughtful Flame and remembered how he'd always hated the wait before the battle.

"Advisor Milton!" called Colonel Nisha, the first officer of the Thoughtful Flame.

"What is it, Nisha?" asked Milton.

"You must come to the bridge," she said. "There's something out there."

Milton hurried to the bridge, but he already knew what was out there. The Kaitians had entered the system.

"Look." Nisha pointed to a screen. "Strange readings from the edge of the system."

Milton nodded and said, "The enemy is here. Send the message to the fleet. Get everybody ready."

***

"Commander!" said Udo. "Look!"

They received a message from Milton to get ready for battle. William and Udo already knew about the enemy; they'd seen how the same scout entered the system not long ago, and then one by one the larger Kaitian ships had entered the system.

"The Miccvans noticed them, too," commented William. "They can detect cloaked ships, too."

"I doubt it, sir," said Udo, "Probably their sensors reacted to sudden concentration of mass there where so many ships exited hyperspace. The fleet's getting ready." Udo sighed. "The battle is about to start."

***

"Captain Kould," called the High Priest calmly, "the enemy has noticed us. Launch the attack."

Kould could not help smiling.

"Yes, sir!" he said.

The first wave of the Kaitian forces decloaked and started the attack against the Godless Others.

***

"They are coming!" shouted Lisa.

"We are ordered to hold still!" said Lance.

Jeffery nodded. The Human Empire forces had been ordered to guard the inner planets in case the enemy tried to strike behind the main forces.

"Twenty-five enemy cruisers approaching," said Lance. And a much greater number of frigates and corvettes, all advancing toward the Mopian home world.

But the Coalition forces did not stand still. Miccvan forces were first to engage the Kaitians and they wrought havoc in the enemy ships.

The power of the Miccvans must have caught the Kaitians by surprise, as they were forced to halt the advance to fight.

***

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Milton aboard the Thoughtful Flame. His ship had already destroyed many enemy cruisers. The other Miccvan ships were doing their part as well.

"Advisor!" said Nisha. "That little fighter destroyed another corvette!"

"Show me!" he ordered, and he saw a small and fast fighter surf within weapon fire surprisingly easily.

The fighter destroyed yet another corvette. Then, suddenly, the Kaitian forces retreated--after they'd lost nearly twenty cruisers.

"They are retreating!" said Nisha and Milton smiled.

"We have the first victory!" said Milton to the entire fleet. "Well done!"

He ordered the fleet to regroup. The Coalition losses of the first battle were not as bad as Milton had thought they would be. But, then again, this was just the first battle and it was far from over.

And sure enough, the Kaitian forces also regrouped and launched another attack.

***

The Kaitians were furious at the unexpected resistance of the Coalition forces. Captain Kould particularly was not used to retreating from a battle.

After Kaitian forces had regrouped and started the second attack, Kould was again the very first to engage the enemy. His first target was a corvette that he destroyed easily with a single torpedo.

The second corvette tried to target Kould's fighter, but he was too fast for them. He was once again glad that he had made his fighter fast and maneuverable. The corvette tried to target him very hard but with no success. Kould disabled the engines of the corvette and it stopped dead in space. It was an easy target for the Kaitian cruisers that came behind Kould.

Milton had already marked the fighter and ordered his own fighters to pursue and destroy it. A squadron of Miccvan interceptors pursued Kould and, although they couldn't destroy it, they managed to keep him busy so he couldn't engage other ships.

The Miccvan capital ships fought against their Kaitian counterparts and losses were heavy on both sides. The Miccvans stood their ground bravely and the Kaitians couldn't advance toward the Mopian home world.

The Miccvan bravery didn't go unnoticed. The Kaitians launched a third wave to attack, this time directly against the Mopian home world that was defended by Mopian, Rg'Tkeen, and Gemono forces.

"Milton!" shouted Nisha, but Milton already saw it.

He couldn't believe his eyes. The third wave of the Kaitian forces outnumbered the Coalition forces at least by three to one.

***

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Jiao. "Can't we go any faster?"

The Village of War was speeding toward the Mopian home world to join the battle. The long-range sensors already showed the Kaitians attacking.

"Not if we want to fight," whispered Matt, unheard by Jiao. Then, in his regular voice:

"Thirty minutes, ma'am."

Jiao said nothing, but she was angry. If only they'd left sooner from the rendezvous point.

After they'd attacked the last target, Jiao had gone to rendezvous point in Coalition space, but there had been no one there and no messages waiting for her. She realized that the Coalition forces were getting ready at the Mopian and Ooktian home worlds, and after waiting for a full day in the rendezvous point, she'd decided to go to the Mopian home world to reinforce the Coalition forces. But the attack had started while they were en route and now they were already too late.

The minutes crawled by as they approached the Mopian home world.

"Matt," said Jiao, "exit hyperspace in the middle of enemy forces and launch our ships and fighters."

"Yes, ma'am," said Matt, and felt his heart pounding even faster. It was difficult to exit hyperspace in the middle of other ships, not to mention in the middle of a battle.

For Matt, minutes flew past as he got the ship ready for battle.

***

A High Priest aboard the Kaitian command ship, still in hyperspace, smiled and monitored the battle. He'd been frustrated with the defeat at first but now everything was going as planned.

The High Priest's smile waned when the screen showed a disturbance in the middle of the Kaitian ships.

"The Behemoth!" somebody shouted behind the High Priest. "The Behemoth has come!"

The High Priest cursed. He'd hoped that his forces in ME-18 had damaged it enough to not be able to fight.

"Captain Kould!" he called.

"Sir?" answered Kould from the middle of a battle, silently cursing the High Priest for interrupting his fight.

"Go and disable the Behemoth," ordered the High Priest. There was no acknowledgement, but he saw Kould accelerate toward the Behemoth.

"Sword Legion!" called the High Priest. "I want that Behemoth captured. Kill all inside and take it to the home world!"

"Yes, sir!" acknowledged the Sword Legion commanders near the Behemoth. The ships moved beside the Behemoth and launched their landing crafts.

***

"Admiral!" said Matt after a huge blast shook the ship. Jiao disregarded the blast and ordered The Village of War to continue firing. All ships and fighters had left The Village after exiting hyperspace and were engaged with Kaitian forces.

Humans fought bravely and inflicted heavy losses to Kaitians, but also sustained heavy losses themselves. Jiao felt bleeding in her heart each time her own soldiers died.

"Admiral!" shouted Matt again. "Engines disabled! We cannot move!"

"What? How?" said Jiao, thoroughly surprised, and turned to look at the ship's status console. The engines were not only disabled, they were not there anymore. The engines were gone and she just couldn't believe it.

Before she had time to react, a klaxon never heard before sounded throughout the ship.

It took a moment before she registered the sound for what it was.

"Intruders!" she shouted.

She turned to Matt, who said, "The Jaegers are ready!"

Jiao nodded and silently thanked whoever had thought to prepare for intruders. She had herself questioned why the Jaegers should be trained to defend The Village of War; she'd expected it to be impossible that someone might actually try to raid the ship.

The Jaegers reacted quickly and rushed to predefined defense positions. One platoon seemed to appear from nowhere to the bridge and the captain set up a defensive perimeter outside the bridge.

"Captain!" called Jiao.

"Captain Howard Cooper, ma'am." The captain saluted. "6-Alpha-1. At your service, ma'am."

"What's the status?" asked Jiao.

"We are ready," said Howard. "We are defending most of the key targets."

"Most targets? Why not all?" asked Jiao, and already knew that she wouldn't like the answer.

"We've had casualties; not enough men to defend all targets," said Howard. "Even with the engines gone, there's not enough of us to fully defend all potential targets. And lower priority targets are already stretched thin. I think they are trying to capture the ship."

"I agree, Captain," said Jiao, "They wouldn't have just disabled the engines if they wanted us destroyed."

"Yes Ma'am," said Howard, "And I also think they don't want to capture any of us, just the ship. They want to kill us."

"I must agree." Jiao sighed. She'd feared that already. Their only chance was to fight until the enemy had been killed.

"We're going to need reinforcements."

Howard nodded in agreement. "I'll send you prioritized list of targets where we need the reinforcements the most. The highest target in the list is the bridge. We need another platoon here."

***

Jeffery was frustrated aboard the bridge and mumbled curses each time a Coalition ship took a hit. He, and all the other Human Empire ships, had been ordered to stand still.

They were supposed to be the reserve force, but, from Jeffery's point of view, it was already past the time to call the reserves.

His frustration was elevated to new levels when the Kaitians started to raid The Village of War. Numerous landing craft attached to the hull of The Village of War and, one by one, the guns that had hammered the Kaitian ships began to cease firing.

"Commander!" called Lance. "Message from The Village of War! They are requesting reinforcements!"

Jeffery quickly read the message and ordered, "Lisa! Send the Marines to help."

"Yes, sir!" said Lisa. She sent an order to the Marines to meet her for briefing in the shuttle bay.

Jeffery recalled the discussion he had with Ellen and how she had wondered whether Marines were needed in a space battle. He sighed and hoped to see Ellen, and the other Marines, return safely from The Village of War.

"They're on their way," said Lance. Jeffery looked at the screen to see three shuttles and three platoons going toward The Village of War and evading the enemy fire on the way.

Jeffery held his breath as the shuttles approached The Village of War and sighed in relief when all three docked with the super-cruiser.

***

"Commander," called Milton, "a word with you."

William nodded and went to his office for a private discussion.

"What is it, Milton?" asked William.

"The battle is not going well," commented Milton.

Miccvans had gone to defend The Village of War after the Kaitians had disabled it. So far, they'd fared well against the superior Kaitian force.

But Milton was right, thought William, the battle was not going well. They were standing their ground, but only barely. Counter-attack seemed to be, at best, very difficult.

"I agree," sighed William.

They were quiet for a moment, but William knew that Milton was thinking the same thing as he was: they were going to have to retreat. And soon. Before it was too late.

"You know what we have to do," said Milton, "but how do we do it? The Mopians won't like it."

"They'll be furious," said William, "I know, I'd be."

"Not to mention the Mopian people on the planet. We'd sacrifice them to the enemy."

"I know," said Milton sadly. "It grieves me--but unless we retreat, the same fate will happen to all worlds and we'll not be there to try to stop the enemy. We could try to push the enemy back with the human fleet."

"That's one thought," said William. "I know my people are already frustrated and they are eager to fight. But we can't win, and we can't drive the Kaitians away. I won't send my people to a fruitless fight."

"No," said Milton, "of course not."

William glanced at the screen and saw how the Kaitians attacked one of the cruisers from The Village of War, the Ocean of Reliance. Milton looked as well as the human cruiser fought bravely. It had already destroyed two of the enemy cruisers when, seemingly out of nowhere, the cruiser exploded and took two enemy cruisers down with the explosion.

"Damn!" said William. "What happened?"

"That annoying little insect!" said Milton angrily, and pointed to a small fighter that barely evaded the blast. "I've seen that before."

"Me, too," said William. "I made a mistake ignoring it for being so small. But it has caused more trouble than the enemy cruisers. But it gives me an idea."

"Let's hear it," said Milton, as he watched the small Kaitian fighter and gave orders to the Miccvan fighters to hunt down the annoying Kaitian insect.

"Let's blow up The Village of War," said William. "The explosion would give us a brief moment of surprise to launch the counter-attack." Milton's eyes widened in shock.

"Of course," added William smiling, "we'd evacuate our people first."

"Of course," said Milton quickly, betraying that he really had thought that William had meant to destroy the ship with the people still on board.

"It might work," he said after a moment of thinking.

After more thinking, he said, "Let's do it. How long to evacuate The Village of War? The timing is essential."

"I'll find out," said William.

"Great," Milton continued, "we need to blow up the ship immediately after the evacuation and at the same time launch the attack. The human fleet can lead the attack."

***

The fighting aboard The Village of War was fierce, but so far the Jaegers had held their ground with only light casualties, and inflicted heavy losses to the intruders.

But the enemy seemed to bring two soldiers for each that died even though the Coalition forces and The Village of War did their best to shoot down enemy landing crafts before they could dock.

"Admiral!" called Matt. "Message from the Coalition Command."

"Mmm," mumbled Jiao and read the message.

"Captain Cooper!" she called and Howard hurried to meet her.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

"How long do you need to evacuate the ship?" asked Jiao.

"Evacuate?" said Howard, surprised. He didn't think they really wanted to evacuate.

"Question from the Coalition Command," said Jiao, seeing that Howard didn't want to think of evacuating.

"Right," said Howard. "Just a moment, ma'am."

"I think Command is planning something," said Jiao to Matt. She hoped so, since it seemed to her they were fighting a losing battle. Other officers probably had come to same conclusion, but had said nothing.

Howard returned and said, "Twenty-five to thirty minutes to evacuate the ship, ma'am."

"Thank you, Captain." She dismissed him and sent the answer to Command: "Thirty-five minutes."

After a couple of minutes, she knew what Command was planning and why they wanted to know how long it would take to evacuate. She took a deep breath and called Matt and Howard.

"Ma'am?" said Howard and Matt.

"Command is planning a counter-attack," said Jiao. "The plan is to blow up The Village of War and then, in the turmoil of the explosion, our fleet will attack the enemy and drive them away."

"Really?" asked Howard, surprised.

"Really," said Jiao. "As soon as I acknowledge the order, we will set the ship to self-destruct in forty-five minutes. We start the evacuation and exactly the moment the ship explodes, our fleet attacks the enemy. Timing is crucial. Anyone not on the escape pods after thirty-five minutes will die from the explosion.

"Any comments?" asked Jiao.

Howard and Matt glanced each other and Jiao knew that they knew that this was a battle they couldn't win. Better to destroy the ship than to leave it to the enemy.

"One more thing," added Jiao, as the men were leaving to carry out their orders. "Radio silence as of now. We can't risk them intercepting our communications."

"Ma'am," said Howard, "may I get five minutes before you acknowledge the order? I may need that to get all evacuated."

"Two minutes, Captain," said Jiao. "I can't delay any longer than that."

Howard saluted and ran to relay the orders to his men and to send the message to others around the ship.

***

"Simmons!" shouted Howard, and Caleb hurried to him.

Ellen looked at Caleb as he talked with Howard, and it was obvious from his behavior that something was about to happen.

"Karl," she called and nodded toward Caleb and Howard. "Something's going on."

Before Karl could say anything, Caleb came to them. Running.

"Get the others!" he ordered Ellen.

"What's going on?" asked Karl.

"We are leaving," said Caleb. "We need to be in the escape pods in thirty minutes. Orders from Command," added Caleb, answering Karl's silent question. "We're blowing up the ship."

Karl's eyes widened in surprise.

Ellen and the others came up to them and Caleb told them that they needed to leave the ship.

"The bridge officers will take two escape pods," said Caleb and showed the pods on the map he'd projected to the floor. "We need to secure passage to that one."

"The enemy holds this corridor," said Hannah, and pointed at a corridor intersecting their passage. "And there may be enemies near the escape pods, too."

"That's why we need to go now," said Caleb, getting ready to move.

"Radio silence, people. Visual signals only. Cortez! Stay here. Wait for our signal and bring the officers to escape pods ASAP," ordered Caleb. "Thornton! Girard! Take point."

Without a word, Karl and Ellen moved to the corridor, rifles ready.

The corridor was empty. There were meeting rooms on both sides.

Karl signaled halt and Ellen moved to his side. He nodded and they stormed the first meeting room on the left side of the corridor. It was empty.

Ellen signaled Caleb that the room was secure and the rest of the team came to the door.

"Chandler," ordered Caleb, "Stay here. Thornton, Girard, move on."

Tommy made himself small in the doorway to wait for the signal to go to the escape pods.

Ellen pointed the wall ahead; there were fire marks. There were even more fire marks as they neared the meeting room on the right.

"Blood," said Karl, and pointed to the doorway. Ellen signaled Caleb that enemies might be in the room.

Karl moved outside the door and tried to hear anything, but there was nothing. Ellen stood ready to dive in to the room and Caleb was behind Karl ready to go in on his signal.

After a second, Karl gave the signal.

Ellen dove in to the room with Caleb behind her, and Karl covered them from the door.

"Hell!" cursed Karl quietly. Ellen stood up and looked around and so did the rest of the team.

There were four bodies in the room: a Jaeger and three enemy soldiers. It looked as the Jaeger had fought against three enemies and killed them all. But the Jaeger had died by the sword thrown through his neck.

It was the first time they had seen the Kaitians up close. Each three of the enemy had full body armor, a sword, and two rifles. They were bigger than humans, but otherwise looked like humans.

As a matter of fact, all the known sentient species in the galaxy looked like humans. The only exception was the Rg'Tkeen, and no one could explain why.

"Sir?" asked Karl. "Do you know if we have any enemy prisoners?"

Caleb didn't answer right away, but he hadn't heard of any. He hadn't even heard that anyone had seen the enemy so close.

"No." He shook his head.

"Hamilton," Caleb called, "take the Jaeger's tag and take it to the captain. Tell him of these enemies and ask do we take them to escape pods. We might learn from the dead enemies as much as from live ones.

"If the answer is yes, hurry back and stay here and when it's time to evacuate, you, Chandler, and Cortez pick up the bodies as you go to escape pods."

"Yes, sir," said Kyle and ran back to the bridge.

"Let's move on," Caleb ordered, "quickly and silently. The enemies may be near."

Karl and Ellen once again took point and hurried ahead. The intersecting corridor between them and the escape pods had living quarters for the officers, but they'd been taken by the enemy.

As they approached the corridor, they heard weapons fire--far enough not to worry them, but close enough to cause them to tread more carefully.

The intersection ahead was surprisingly empty. Ellen and Karl moved side by side and they saw it at the same time.

Ellen signaled halt and Karl crouched and moved silently forward. They saw a body on the corner. And then another body on the other side. Karl risked a glance around the corner and saw even more dead bodies. Most of them were Jaegers; the dead Kaitians were further away.

"They shouldn't be here," said Karl. "Perhaps the Jaegers had to retreat here. But I wonder why the enemy's not here."

"Perhaps they killed each other," wondered Ellen.

"May be so," said Caleb, who'd come by her side.

"Daniels. Chapman. Townsend. Smith," he ordered. "You stay here and guard this intersection."

"Thornton. Girard. Move on," he ordered and they went forward. The escape pods were not far away and they moved on, expecting the enemy at any moment.

The escaped pods were intact, and much to their surprise, there were no enemies in sight.

"Twelve minutes to go," said Caleb. He gave the signal to Henry, who was behind them. Henry acknowledged and signaled Kyle, who in turn signaled Tommy, and he finally signaled Silvio.

***

"Captain!"

"Yes, Private?" said Howard and turned toward Silvio.

"The way is clear, sir," said Silvio.

Howard nodded and hurried to Jiao. "Admiral! We must go!"

"I won't leave until all others have left," she said and Howard frowned in his mind, but before he could say anything, another marine came from the opposite side of the bridge and signaled that the other way was clear, too. Jiao ordered Matt and the others to leave immediately. She watched the others to leave; soon, she and Howard were the only ones on the bridge.

"Admiral," said Howard anxiously, "we must leave. Now."

Jiao nodded. "Of course. Let's go." The captain and admiral hurried to Silvio; Howard ordered him to lead the way. They ran to the meeting room where Tommy was standing guard. He joined them and then they hurried to the room where Kyle was waiting and where the fallen enemies were.

Jiao and Howard stopped to look at their enemies. It was the first time they had seen them up close.

"Bring them," ordered Howard and Silvio, Tommy, and Kyle each struggled to take a dead Kaitian. The Kaitians were heavy and it would slow them down.

"Hurry!" commanded Howard and led the admiral to the intersection.

He was shocked to see so many of his Jaegers dead.

"Take the tags," he ordered Hannah.

"Already taken, sir," she said and Howard nodded.

"Help them," he said to Hannah and nodded toward Silvio, Kyle, and Tommy, who struggled to carry the dead enemies.

"Move on!" said Howard and they ran to the escape pods. Caleb was already waving at them to hurry. They had only a minute left before they had to be away so that they could get far enough to survive the destruction of the ship.

The Marines went in first with the dead enemies, and then Caleb and Howard.

"Admiral!" hissed Howard, when Jiao stopped to take one final look of her ship. "Come on!" Jiao sighed sadly and went inside the escape pod.

"Go!" she ordered and the escape pod launched to the space.

She hoped that all the others had already left safely. She thought about the enemy and wondered if they realized that they were already gone.

"Status?" she asked.

"All escape pods had left," said Arnold. "Thirty-nine seconds to self-destruct."

"And we reach minimum safe distance in thirty-five seconds," he added.

Jiao smiled and said, "Ah! We could have fought a little longer, then."

Arnold smiled and some nervous laughs came from behind her.

"If I'd known that, I would have taken a detour," said Howard, smiling.

"Ha ha!" laughed Jiao.

"Admiral!" shouted Arnold suddenly. Jiao wondered why the odd tone of voice but before saying anything The Village of War exploded.

It was like a miniature nova and it destroyed all who were too close. The explosion caused great losses to the Kaitian fleet and they lost all the soldiers inside The Village of War. It was a great loss for the Kaitians, as they lost the majority of the Sword Legion's soldiers, the best of the best of the Kaitian Divine Forces.

"Admiral!" shouted Arnold again, now clearly panicked. "The fleet's attacking!"

"But that's a good thing, isn't it?" said Howard grinning.

"No no no no!" shouted Arnold and turned toward Jiao, "Our fleet! Our fleet is attacking! The human fleet is attacking the Kaitians!"

Jiao blinked in disbelief as she registered the words.

***

William watched the map of the battle field. The explosion gave them a moment of surprise and now his fleet was advancing toward the enemy, who was in chaos. In less than a minute, the human ships were within firing range and the rest of the Coalition forces were already advancing from the other sides.

"Commander!" called Udo. "A message from the escape pods."

"Oh," said William surprised, "what is it? On speakers."Udo put the message to the speakers, a female voice was shouting, "Stop the attack! Stop the attack! Human fleet weapons are ineffective! Stop the attack!"

"What the hell?" said William angrily. "Who is this woman?"

"Admiral Jiao Bai, sir," said Udo.

"Jiao?" said William incredulously. Why would Jiao say something like that?

But he knew that she wouldn't say it without a very good reason and William felt a grip in his throat.

"The fleet's engaging!" said Udo and the human ships who were in firing range opened fire to enemy frigates and cruisers.

It was a moment of disbelief and shock that seemed to linger forever. Any hope that was in the air as the human ships engaged quickly turned to despair.

William saw it himself. The human weapons did minimal damage to the Kaitian ships. For reasons unknown, human weapons could not penetrate the Kaitian shields.

It was clear that the Kaitians were as surprised as the humans, but they overcame it quickly. William could only imagine how the enemy laughed aboard their ships and started their attack on the human fleet who were practically defenseless.

"Hell and Damnation!" shouted William. "Retreat! Retreat! Milton, we need help!" he shouted, but Milton had already seen the situation and had sent Miccvans to help the human fleet.

But it was no good. The moment of surprise was gone. The Kaitians had organized themselves to counter-attack and they hammered heavy losses to human fleet. Much too heavy. The human fleet was diminishing quickly.

Several human commanders had already fled to hyperspace. William ordered all to follow as soon as the escape pods from The Village of War had been picked up. The Miccvans and the Mopians were helping to retrieve the escape pods.

"Commander!" called Milton.

"We've lost. I ordered a general retreat. I send you rendezvous coordinates."

The order to retreat could not have come too soon.

As if to emphasize the retreat order and to silence any who might have objected, the Kaitians sent their reserves to the battle.

"Commander!" shouted Udo in panic and William nearly fell to his knees.

A massive Kaitian fleet arrived at the edge of the system and dozens of cruisers and super-cruisers exited hyperspace just above the Mopian home world.

"Escape pods?" shouted William. "Status?"

"Nearly all retrieved," said Udo. "The Sea of Boston is getting the last ones."

William looked at the screen; there were five pods still in space and the Sea of Boston raced to get them before the Kaitians came too close.

After the three of the pods were retrieved, a Kaitian cruiser exited from hyperspace between the frigate and the last two escape pods. But, fortunately, one of the Rg'Tkeen cruisers was already coming to aid the Sea of Boston and it destroyed the Kaitian ship, giving the Sea of Boston time to retrieve the last two pods.

William exhaled, relieved, when the Sea of Boston, left the system, then frowned as the Kaitians destroyed the Rg'Tkeen cruiser.

The Coalition forces had nearly all retreated, except for some who were engaged in fight--but they were soon destroyed and the Kaitians moved on to the planet and started the orbital bombardment.

"William," said Milton. They were the last Coalition ships remaining, "We need to go."

"Yes," said William sadly, "I know."

And with that, both William and Milton left the Mopian home world. Defeated.
16

"Admiral on the bridge!" called Tricia. She was surprised to see Admiral Bai coming to the bridge. All the bridge officers stood at attention at once.

"Admiral!" Jeffery saluted. "Admiral Bai. Ma'am. I didn't know you were on board."

"As you were," said Jiao, and the bridge officers resumed their tasks, "I was on the last escape pod you retrieved."

"Barely," said Jeffery. "If not for that Rg'Tkeen cruiser, we'd be dead now."

"Why did you attack when you knew your weapons were ineffective?" asked Jiao. She was angry and frustrated for the defeat that could've been prevented.

"We didn't know," said Jeffery, shaking his head. "We didn't know."

Jiao realized that the frigate, the Sea of Sheffield, which she had sent to warn the humans, had never reached its destination.

"I sent one of my frigates to warn you," said Jiao quietly, "but it's obvious that it never reached you. What's the status? Where are we going?"

"Coalition Command sent us rendezvous coordinates near the border of Miccvan space," answered Jeffery.

"Ma'am? You commanded The Village of War? If I may ask, where have you been?"

"Behind the enemy lines," she said, "causing havoc among the enemy. But you'll hear what you need from the official channels." Jiao didn't want to continue to discussion.

"But let's go down to the escape pods. I have something to show you."

They walked back to the docking bay; people from the escape pods were still there. The officers of The Village of War and several Jaeger platoons were there, and Jeffery was happy to see also that his Marines were there--to his surprise, when he saw Ellen, his heart jumped.

Ellen's heart jumped, too, when she saw Jeffery, and she quickly turned away, as if she didn't want anyone to notice. Jiao noticed how obviously they were attracted to each other and smiled in her mind. She felt her spirits lifting from the thought that there could be love in the middle of war. Or, at least, a chance for love.

"These are your Marines?" asked Jiao.

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"They fought well," she commended. "They all fought well. Without your Marines, I doubt we'd be here. And they caused heavy losses to the enemy, before we exploded it." She smiled. "And I believe that they sent their best soldiers to take over my ship. But come and take a look." She led Jeffery to the escape pod.

"See the face of our enemy," said Jiao and showed Jeffery the three Kaitian soldiers they'd brought with them.

He looked at them silently and didn't know how to feel. He only thought that they were the enemy, and they were dead.

"I haven't seen the enemy before," he said, "and I don't know if anyone had."

"That's why we brought them," said Jiao, "As soon as we're at the rendezvous point, send a message to Command and tell them of these . . . prisoners."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, and waved the Marines nearby to take the bodies to medical bay for preliminary study.

***

When the Sea of Boston reached the rendezvous point, they were surprised to see how few ships there were.

"Is this all?" asked Jiao quietly.

Before Jeffery could answer, they received orders from the Coalition Command to go, with the dead prisoners, to the Thoughtful Flame.

Jeffery flew the shuttle to the cruiser where they were immediately showed to the medical bay and told to wait there until called.

"Aide Rachel," said Jeffery when he entered the medical bay.

"Commander," greeted Rachel. "Good to see you again. I hear you have presents for us."

"Indeed," said Jeffery, and waved to the Miccvans who had carried the dead Kaitians to the medical bay. Rachel instructed them to put the bodies on the tables that were set up for them.

"Admiral," greeted Rachel when Jiao came inside. "I've heard of your mission behind the lines. Well fought."

"Thank you," said Jiao.

"Are these the only Kaitians we have?" She pointed to the dead Kaitians.

"Surprisingly, yes," said Rachel, and turned to look at the bodies. "This is the first time I have even seen a Kaitian this close."

Rachel walked around the bodies, examining them.

"What do you think?"

"These three fought against a single Jaeger, who managed to kill them all but fell to one of their swords," said Jiao and picked up a bloody sword.

"There were no other bodies in the vicinity, and these were in one of the meetings rooms not far from the bridge. If the Jaeger hadn't stopped them, they might have killed us all on the bridge."

Rachel nodded. "You were lucky and the Jaeger was an excellent fighter."

She looked at the Kaitian bodies again. They were all larger and stronger than humans or Miccvans, and the human soldier killed all three of them. "He was an excellent fighter," she repeated.

"The swords are interesting," she said after a moment and took the bloody sword. "They all carry one. It must mean a great deal to them."

"I agree," said Jiao and picked up another sword. "The hilt of this one is different. It seems to be less decorated, but a closer look reveals extraordinary markings and very elegant design. I think it is related to rank--a rank of an officer."

"Hmm," said Rachel and examined the armor of the officer more closely. "You're probably right. Look." She pointed to markings in the armor in the shoulders. "The other two don't have any markings."

"I wonder why they're almost concealed," said Jeffery. "Quite contrary to us. I mean, for example, you, Admiral, your rank is clearly visible." Jiao nodded. "They don't want the enemy to see who their officers are."

"That's what I was thinking, too," said Rachel.

"Admiral Bai," somebody said from the door, "Command wants to see you."

"Of course," said Jiao and left.

Jeffery also decided to leave the medical bay and Rachel started the autopsy of the enemy soldiers.

***

"Thank you, Admiral," said Milton, after debriefing Jiao. Jiao saluted and left. The room became silent.

"Well?" asked Milton, after the silence had gone on long enough. "We lost the battle of the Mopian home world. Did we lose the war?"

And the silence continued.

Milton sighed. "The silence is better answer than I hoped for. So we still have hope?"

"Barely," said Laura, "especially now with the Mopian forces severely diminished."

The Mopian fleet had been nearly destroyed in the battle and its admiral, Hans, had fallen while defending escaping civilians.

"But we may have inflicted heavier loss than we think to the Kaitians," Laura said. "You heard what Admiral Bai said. I think it's safe to assume that the enemies who boarded The Village of War were part of their elite soldiers. Much like human Jaegers."

"That may be so," Milton said, "but I doubt that stops the Kaitians. Their fleet is formidable, a much greater force than we expected."

"But The Village of War proved that we have a fighting chance," said Juno. "It fought well behind enemy lines and it fought well in the battle. What's the latest status of the fleet?"

"Four ships are ready within one hundred standard rotations," said Laura. "Ten ships ready within two hundred rotations. Ten more within four hundred rotation after that and that's it. Twenty-four ships in progress and we haven't started new ones yet."

"And one already destroyed," said William. "I fear twenty-four ships is not enough."

"I agree," said Laura. "Not enough for full scale counter-attack. But we can use them to help the rest of our forces, with tactical precision strikes against their supply lines, command centers, docks and so on."

"For that, we need to get valid information about the enemy," said William.

Laura nodded. "A task for Nick and Louis, perhaps? They did well to gather information about the Kaitian home world."

William nodded, but said nothing. He thought that there was something in Laura's eyes when she looked at him. Something that hinted that she knew more than she revealed about the mission. Or perhaps she knew about the corvette, Lake of Fairwater, which Nick and Louis used in their mission.

"That's good idea," said Milton. "You two work together and gather intelligence so that we have something to go on when we get the next ships. But in the meantime, I think it's best be defensive. Strengthen positions near the Ooktian and Gemono worlds. And also the Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen borders."

"I agree," said Kaldan of the Ooktian Empire. "We are the next target and we need help."

"You'll get it," said Milton, "but do you agree? We play defense for now?"

William didn't like to be defensive; it meant that they only reacted to the enemy when they should be proactive. They should be making the enemy react to them, not the other way around.

But there seemed little choice, at least until the next ships from the combined fleet were ready.

"I don't like it either," said Milton, "but it's only logical in these circumstances."

There were nods around the table and so it was decided.

"Good," said Milton. "William and Laura, you know what to do. The rest of us will define plans to defend our borders."

With that, the meeting ended. William agreed on the next meeting with Laura, and then went to the medical bay to get Jiao and Jeffery.

But before leaving, he wanted to talk with Rachel, who he hadn't seen for a very long time.

***

"Commander!" Jiao saluted as William entered the medical bay.

With haste, Jeffery saluted after Jiao, surprised why an admiral began to salute a commander. But then he realized that Commander Johnson was the same commander Jiao had talked about after the battle at Fexsol.

"Jiao," said William and saluted back. Jeffery was even more surprised to hear the commander to talk to the admiral by her first name. But Jiao acted as it was nothing but normal.

William nodded to Jeffery. "Commander."

Without knowing what to do, Jeffery nodded back.

William's eyes shifted to Rachel, who was a little farther away, examining the dead Kaitians. She hadn't noticed that William had entered the room.

"I want to talk to Rachel before we go," said William, and walked toward Rachel.

Jeffery watched William. When he reached Rachel, he saw how happily surprised Rachel was to see William, and they hugged. Then, to Jeffery and Jiao's great astonishment, Rachel passionately kissed William and he returned the kiss with equal passion.

Jeffery and Jiao exchanged looks. Jiao shrugged, but said nothing.

William and Rachel held each other for long moments, talking and whispering, and it was clear that neither wanted to let the other leave. It was William who finally let Rachel go. He gave her a last kiss and walked back to Jeffery and Jiao.

It seemed to Jeffery that William was sad. Rachel looked longingly after him.

"Let's go," said William, and they went back to the docking bay.

"Jiao," said William, once they'd reached the shuttle, "you can go with the Sea of Boston directly to SD-9. I'll brief you there. And, Jeffery, we'll upgrade all our ships to the latest weapons and technology. You'll be one of the first to get them at SD-9."

Jeffery nodded.

"You did well during the battle," commended William. "And I heard that your Marines fought well beside Jiao's Jaegers. Good work."

"Thank you, sir," said Jeffery. He was a bit reluctant to say "sir" to a fellow commander, but it was already obvious that this man was not any ordinary commander.

"I'll see you both at SD-9," said William, and went back to his own shuttle.

Jiao and Jeffery flew back to Sea of Boston. As soon as they went to the bridge, Jeffery ordered the ship at full speed to SD-9.

***

"I've missed him," said Rachel to Milton, who'd come to the medical bay, "More than I had realized."

"Bad times emphasize feelings we have," said Milton understandingly, "and these times are the worst in our history. Do you realize how close we were to losing everything? How close we are to losing everything?"

"I knew it was bad," said Rachel and turned to look Milton, "but I didn't know it was that bad."

Milton nodded. "If we hadn't destroyed The Village of War, we wouldn't have had a chance. We'd be dead now, and there'd no one to stop the Kaitians. But now they've suffered great losses themselves, and it seems that they'll hold their positions for now. And that brings me here," finished Milton. He nodded toward the dead Kaitians. "Have you learned anything? Anything we can use as a weapon?"

"I can get started with the genetics, but we'd need live Kaitians to test and finish any genetic weapons," said Rachel.

"But, look . . . there's something very interesting here."

"Swords?" guessed Milton.

"Exactly," she said, "and more. Subtle things, like the markings on the armor of the officer. I'm sure they have some higher meaning. Admiral Bai suspected that these were the Kaitian elite soldiers, and I must agree--in which case, the destruction of The Village of War did indeed cause heavy losses to them."

Milton was thoughtful for a moment and looked closer at the Kaitian soldier and his armor.

"I hope you're right. Put all your findings and thoughts in to your report. And ask for whatever help you need," said Milton. "We'll provide it."
17

William stood in his office at SD-9 and looked at the map of the galaxy on the wall.

The map showed the latest known positions of the Coalition forces, as well as the enemy forces. For the umpteenth time, William thought about the calm before the storm.

The Kaitians had ceased their invasion after the battle of the Mopian home world, engaging only in occasional skirmishes that the Coalition forces initiated. The scouts, the ones who weren't caught, reported that the Kaitians had increased their resource harvesting and industrial production in the conquered worlds.

Fortunately, the cease of Kaitian activity meant that the Coalition had had time to prepare; four of their own super-cruisers from the Coalition shipyards were ready.

"Commander?" called somebody in the intercom. "They are here."

"Send them in," said William and turned toward the door. Jiao, Jeffery, Nick, Louis, and Bruce came to the office.

"Please take a seat," said William, and sat behind his own desk.

"Now the time has finally come for your next mission," he said. Since the battle of the Mopian home world, William had kept the humans in the background, not going near the Kaitian forces. He had wanted to wait for the super-cruisers, and for advancements in weapons and technology to be installed in human ships.

"Finally," said Bruce.

"Yes, old friend." William smiled. "Finally. You know the enemy is rebuilding their forces. Even if we were defeated, we caused them greater loss than we thought at the battle of the Mopian home world. But we need to take the initiative, since, frankly, we will lose this war unless we gain the upper hand." Jiao and Jeffery were surprised by this comment they'd been told otherwise through the official channels. William saw the surprise.

"Yes, that's true," he said, "and we must change that."

William stood and walked to the galaxy map.

"As you can see, the Kaitians have nearly cut the Coalition in half, with the Miccvans on one side and the rest on the other. We know that the Kaitians are rebuilding their forces; as soon as they're ready, we are sure that they'll launch simultaneous attacks on the Miccvan, Ooktian, Gemono, and Rg'Tkeen Empires.

"We are outnumbered, and even if we had ten times the forces we have, we'll still probably lose this war," said William. "So it's time to even the odds."

No one said anything. Bruce had a thin smile and Nick and Louis were looking almost bored, which was how they wanted look to others. In reality, they were not bored but curious, even anxious, as they didn't know why they were there.

"Jeffery," said William, "you are here because I'm giving the Sea of Boston to Jiao. The ship is fitted with our latest weapons and technology, the bleeding edge stuff from the research."

This surprised Jeffery but before he could say anything, William continued, "I'm giving you a choice. You can stay on the Sea of Boston as the first officer. Or I can find you a new ship, perhaps a cruiser, for your new command."

Jeffery was even more surprised by the choice--but what really surprised him was the thought that if he went to another ship he might not see Ellen again.

The answer came almost immediately. "I'll stay as the first officer, sir."

"Good," said William and Jiao nodded approvingly. "I'll find a new position for your current first officer. Is she ready for her own command?"

"Lisa?" said Jeffery. "Yes. She is ready."

"Very good, I'll find her a frigate," said William.

"And now we go to evening the odds." He looked at Jiao and Jeffery. "You'll play an important part in it. We are making new weapons as we speak, and the Coalition Command has prioritized the development of genetic weapons against the Kaitians above all else."

"Sir?" interrupted Jiao. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Ah. I knew you'd ask that," said William. "They are illegal in the Coalition, yes. But the enemy is not part of the Coalition and they really don't care about legalities. I'm sure you've heard what they are doing in the conquered worlds."

All nodded.

"The rumors are all true," said William, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But we need living samples to further development. The bodies you brought us, Jiao, have been paramount, and now they are pretty much used."

Jeffery took a breath; he knew what their mission would be and it was not going to be easy.

"Your mission's primary objective," said William to Jiao and Jeffery, "is to infiltrate Kaitian space and bring living and dead samples of the Kaitians back for our research. As many as possible. You'll get the details when you leave. You also have two secondary objectives: reconnaissance and hit-and-run attacks. Very much like what you did with The Village of War, Jiao."

"Yes, sir," said Jiao, "but The Village was far better equipped."

William smiled. "But you don't know yet what we've put in the Sea of Boston. I'm sure you're going to like it. Any questions? You'll get the details when you leave."

"I assume," said Jeffery, "that we'll get Marines for the mission?"

"Of course. A full company. The three Marine platoons already on the Sea of Boston," answered William and wondered why Jeffery looked so relieved at his answer, "and seven platoons from the Jaeger Brigade."

"When do we leave?" asked Jiao.

"Immediately," said William, "Get whatever you need and go to the Sea of Boston; you'll find the ship ready to depart to the first destination."

Jiao stood up and Jeffery followed. "Yes, sir!" they said.

"Dismissed," said William, "and good hunting."

Once Jiao and Jeffery had gone, William continued. "And now to you," he said to Nick and Louis.

"We could have done that," said Nick, nodding toward the door.

"I'm sure, but I have better mission for your talents." William smiled.

"And what might that mission be, I wonder," said Louis.

"The secondary objective is to gather intelligence about the Kaitians--their fleets, bases, and everything--so that we can pinpoint the most effective targets for the Coalition forces," said William.

"And if that's the secondary objective, what is the primary one?" asked Nick, curious to hear the answer.

"You are going to see the Strangers," said William in a flat tone and Nick fell from his chair.

***

"The Strangers, William? Really?" asked Nick after he got over the shock.

"I didn't knew you were a comedian," said Louis twitching in his chair, "But I'm not laughing so you're a poor comedian."

"Ha ha." Bruce laughed. "I knew you'd planned something for us. But I admit, I'm surprised, too."

"Not you, Bruce," said William, "Only Nick and Louis."

Bruce looked disappointed, but as William raised his hand slightly, Bruce knew William had something for him, too.

"The Strangers?" repeated Nick. "Really?"

"Really," answered William, smiling, but then turned serious. "We know that the Kaitians are involved with the Strangers--you brought the evidence yourselves."

Nick and Louis nodded.

"But we don't know why they are involved. Why do the Strangers leave the Kaitians alone?" continued William. "So far, all the reports tell us that the Strangers couldn't care less about our war. They still do whatever they do, so we have started to think that perhaps the Strangers are not involved with the Kaitians, even if the Kaitians have involved themselves with the Strangers. But still it's a mystery why they are left alone."

"So you want us to find out why?" asked Nick.

William didn't answer right away. The thought had occurred to him, but in the end, he doubted they could find out and whether that was even important to know. "No. That might not be so easy. Or even relevant. I want you to go to take a close look at them." He smiled.

Nick and Louis exchanged looks.

"A close look?" asked Louis dubiously.

William nodded. "It's time to find out what our latest cloak is made of. We've made improvements to it and we must know how good it is. You can now decloak and cloak again. You also get cloaked torpedoes, improved AI and much more. The best technology in the galaxy.

"I want you to go to the old Hwzeenn home world, wait for the Strangers there and then," said William, "see what happens."

The men went quiet.

"You realize, William," said Nick after a long silence, "that if the technology doesn't work, we'll die."

"Yes, Nick," said William, and sighed. "But you are the only ones who can do this."

"Why not AI?" asked Louis.

"It's a possibility," said William, "but, frankly, I don't trust an AI enough. Besides, if Strangers detect the ship, what would they do if they find only an AI? Maybe they capture it? And that's something I can't afford. Believe me, I've thought about this. As much as it saddens me, you're the ones that I need to do this."

The men were silent once more.

"The old Hwzeenn home world, eh?" said Nick, after he decided that he wouldn't miss this chance even if it killed him.

"That's where the Strangers were seen for the first time," said Louis. "By one of the scouts, Alex."

"Alex?" said Nick. "Yes, I remember. He was all over the news, became one of the richest men of the SolGov at the time."

"I remember him from KCap-16." Nick smiled. "He was seeing a girl I fancied at the night of the Revelation."

"Heh, heh." Louis laughed. "You never got to look under her uniform, did you?"

"No, I didn't!" Nick laughed. "And that's all your fault!"

He pointed to both Bruce and William and the men laughed together.

"Alex was on that mission with Susan and her people, Lea, Michael, and Harry," said Nick, and William stopped laughing.

"That wasn't public knowledge," commented William, in a normal tone with a hint of warning. "Be careful when you look for information. You might find something that you're not supposed to see."

Nick and Louis made a note of the comment, but neither could determine how serious William was.

"William," said Bruce, "they should know."

"Know what?" asked Louis.

William glanced at Bruce and nodded in agreement. "You know what happened to Susan."

"Yes," said Nick, "she staged her own death and vanished."

"Right. Do you know what happened to the others?"

It didn't happen often, but this time, Nick and Louis didn't know, and shook their heads, much to William and Bruce's surprise.

"The Rg'Tkeen lost track of Lea. And the Saami lost Harry," said William. "And they all happened too close each other to be coincidences."

"And Michael?" asked Nick.

"We lost track of Michael long ago and no one knew where he might be," said William, "until just before you came back from the Kaitian home world and brought yourselves the last piece of the puzzle."

William told them about what Jeffery and Caleb had told them about Jaeger Sergeant Michael Angelos.

"Do you think what I think you think?" said Louis.

"Yes," answered William, "I believe that Michael was at the Kaitian home world when the Strangers killed them. And I believe Susan and others vanished just after that. And I believe that it must be the reason why they vanished in the first place."

"I think you're right," commented Louis. "Difficult to think otherwise."

Nick nodded in agreement, shifted uneasily in his chair, and said, "In the light of this, I fear that the Kaitian war is nothing but a footnote of things to come."

"Exactly," said William, "so it is of utmost importance to see what, if anything, we have against the Strangers."

"And against Susan and others as well," said Louis.

William nodded. "You're right. More than you know."

The group, the Coalition Command, was established just to find out about Susan and her kind as well as the Strangers. Over its long history, they determined that they shared history with the Strangers, and many theories had been formulated what that history might be. Some of the theories were wilder than others; some theories were even plausible.

"When do we leave?" asked Nick, sensing that their part of the briefing had come to an end.

"In a few days," said William. "You can go and relax until the ship is ready."

"Which ship, by the way?" asked Louis.

"The Lake of Fairwater," answered William. "As you already know, the soul of a cruiser in the body of a corvette."

Nick and Louis smiled at the comment. "Right on, Commander."

The men left the office and William turned to Bruce.

"And now to you, old friend."

"Yes. To me," said Bruce, waiting to hear what William had in mind.

"I know you've been itching for battle, even with the risk of dying," said William and Bruce nodded. That was exactly what he'd wanted to do.

"And now you'll get your chance," said William. "I give you the super-cruiser from the combined Coalition shipyards, due to arrive very soon. I unleash you to cause havoc in Kaitian space, based on the intel from others, including Nick and Louis, and to do some recon for yourself too."

"Yes!" said Bruce delighted.

"Unlike The Village of War, the new super-cruiser won't have any smaller ships, but everything is filled with weapons, shields and energy," said William, "I give you also one of our cloak detectors. It must be kept secret, by any means necessary," he added. "You know that."

Bruce nodded, pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected to get any of their top-secret technologies. "I know."

It went without saying that Bruce, and William, would do almost anything to keep their cloak and cloak-detector secret.

"So," said William, "the ship arrives soon and I've chosen preliminary crew for it. Feel free to make any changes."

"Thanks, William," said Bruce and started to smile a very wide smile indeed. "You know, I've been wanting to something like this for a long time."

William nodded, and he understood perfectly what Bruce meant.

"Just be careful," he said. "I'd hate to think a future without you, old friend."

"I'll be careful," said Bruce and stood up. William stood up, too, and they shook hands.

Bruce nodded and left the office without another word.
18

"What do you think?" asked Louis.

The Lake of Fairwater had come to the edge of the star system of the old Hwzeenn home world. The Strangers, if they were still punctual, would arrive in five days.

Aileen had scanned the system and found traces of recent visits by the Kaitians, although they hadn't stayed long.

"No one's there," said Nick. "I say we enter the system and go into orbit of the home world."

Louis shrugged. "Sounds good."

"Aileen," commanded Louis, "make it so."

Aileen said nothing, but acknowledged the order by accelerating the corvette toward the planet--fully cloaked, of course. On their way, they passed a lonely comet, and Aileen informed them that it was the same comet where Alex had hidden when they'd encountered the Strangers.

"He was there for ninety days," said Nick, "in a cold space ship with the most mysterious beings that we know of. Or the second mysterious, right after the Strangers."

"I wonder why, though," said Louis. "Susan and others knew about the Strangers and Alex was . . . well, he was just a man."

"That's a good question," said Nick. "Even William doesn't know."

"If I may," said Aileen. "The most logical conclusion is that Susan was observing human behavior."

"Maybe so," said Nick, "but still the question is why. For what purpose? If any of the rumors about her are true, I doubt the need to do any observation."

"That's also a good question." Louis shrugged. "And I believe we'll find the answer sooner or later. If we survive this." He nodded toward the star and the planet that was getting closer.

"Do we stay in orbit when they come?" asked Nick.

Louis thought about it for a moment.

"Perhaps we shouldn't," he said, "Even if our cloak is perfect, they might detect the changes in the gravity field around us."

"Good point," said Nick. "Aileen?"

"Louis is correct," she said, "we should be away from the orbit."

"Let's do so then," Nick said, "but let's scan the planet first. See if we can find anything."

The corvette established orbit above the planet and started scanning. They had the reports from Alex's mission for comparison.

"Nothing," said Louis, almost disappointed. "The sites of the extinct species are still barren, but the nature around them is intact, as if nothing ever happened. I doubt the Kaitians were ever on the surface."

"No reason to stay on the orbit, then," said Nick. "Let's go and wait for the Strangers."

As he said it, both he and Louis felt the shivers. Now they couldn't hold the thought any longer, this was it. If their cloak wasn't perfect, they would die.

Nick swallowed, "You know, Louis . . ."

"I know," said Louis and nodded.

Thinking of dying brought the shadow of death upon them. Death was closer now than ever before, and the thought of dying was almost overwhelming. They were already accustomed to life as immortals.

***

"It will be here at any moment," said Aileen.

They'd let Aileen choose a random location in the inner star system, away from any gravity fields, to wait for the Strangers.

"I feel them," whispered Louis.

At any moment they would either live or die, depending solely on their cloak technology. They knew that if they survived, the undetectable cloak would give an enormous advantage to humans.

Or, to be more accurate, to William and his inner circle, Nick and Louis included.

"They are here!" hissed Aileen, and displayed a black flash in one of the screens as the Stranger ship entered the system.

It was huge, bigger than Nick had expected, although he'd seen the reports. Just looking at the Strangers' ship brought dark thoughts of despair and panic. Nick had to turn away from it.

"They are scanning," said Aileen. "The beam hits us in ten seconds."

Both Nick and Louis stood up and held their breath, silently counting the seconds.

Five.

Four.

Three.

The men closed their eyes and saw the shadow of death coming over them.

One.

Zero.

Nothing happened. The men waited. But still nothing happened.

"It's disappeared within the star," said Aileen after moment of silence, and Nick was certain there was joy in her voice.

"And we are alive," said Louis, almost dubiously.

Nick said nothing and looked blankly at the screens. He knew that the Strangers wouldn't be inside the star long.

The ship did whatever it did within the star and reappeared.

"The Stranger ship is leaving the system," said Aileen.

The screens followed the ship as it accelerated and disappeared to hyperspace with a black flash in its wake.

"We are still alive," said Louis, still dubious. Nick still stared blankly at the screens, but then started to smile.

"Welcome to the new age of mankind," said Nick dramatically. "With this technology, the galaxy is ours."

"If we want it in the first place." Louis smiled. "I doubt William wants to conquer the galaxy."

"Perhaps not," said Nick, "but we don't have to conquer with arms. We can be subtle. We have time and technology so that nothing stands in our way."

Louis laughed. "So you want to be the conqueror."

"Me," said Nick, "no. I just want to work in the shadows. And with our cloak, we can really work in the shadows."

Louis smiled. "I hear you. This is a good day for mankind. Let's go and surprise William."

"Right on," said Nick. "Aileen. Take us back to SD-9."

"Yes, Counselor," said Aileen.
19

"Ma'am?" said Jeffery.

"Yes?" said Jiao, and continued to look outside from the observation deck window.

The Sea of Boston was in a small star system deep within Arash Empire space. The system had nothing remarkable, little to no strategic value, and the Arash had already mined it for resources. The only interesting detail was that it was midpoint system from the Arash home world to the Mehar home world. Jiao had come in the hope of finding a remote Kaitian outpost where they would try to fulfill their mission to capture Kaitians. So far, they'd had no such luck.

"We've completed the survey of the system," said Jeffery, looking at the report in his hand. "Plenty of heavy elements in the gas planets. All notable resources have been strip-mined from the rock planets and the resources in asteroids fields are too few for any large-scale mining operation."

Jiao nodded. "Notable resources? Are there any other kind of resources?"

"Well," said Jeffery, "one of the moons of one of the planets still has oil and coal, but other resources are mined already."

"Oil and coal? But that means the moon has had organic life in the past," said Jiao.

"That's correct, ma'am," he said.

Jiao looked at Jeffery and smiled. "Let's take a look."

Jeffery hesitated and Jiao noticed that.

"It's not our mission, I know," she said, "but I'm curious. Let's spend one day to explore the moon."

She winked. "You never know what you might find."

***

The Sea of Boston established orbit around the moon while Caleb had his squad run across the hallway. The Marines spent their time exercising as much as they could.

"Halt!" ordered Caleb, and switched the wall of the hallway to a screen looking at the moon below. He knew that the admiral had wanted to explore the moon but he had no idea why; it had been stripped clean by the Arash long before the Kaitian invasion.

"Catch some breath and enjoy the view," said Caleb.

"Wow!" said Kate, "Look at that. You can see the mines from here."

"They really strip-mined the place," said Karl, "that's for sure."

"I hear that there's oil and coal still there?" asked Ellen.

"That's right," said Caleb, "I guess the Arash didn't need it. At least, not anymore."

"Yeah," said Hannah, "I heard that oil and coal are crucial to civilizations that haven't left their own planet yet. Didn't we use them, too, in the past? Before the Revelation?"

"Natural oil was exhausted ages ago. We used mostly synthetic oil and manufactured organic oil. And we still use it, by the way," said Caleb. "Most of the vehicles in the 1st Regiment of the Colonial Guard use oil."

"No kidding!" Karl laughed. "I didn't know that."

Other Marines also laughed. They remembered how they--or, more likely, their parents--had used cumbersome oil-based fuels.

"But that's natural oil down there?" asked Henry. "That moon must have had something living there long ago."

"You're right," said Caleb. "And you raise a good point. I guess that's why we came to orbit it in the first place."

"Perhaps the admiral likes nature," added Karl with a smile.

"Not as much as we like running!" said Caleb and turned off the screen.

Some of the Marines murmured before continued their exercise.

***

"Sir!" called Tricia. They'd been in the orbit of the moon for hours and even though it was late in the evening, she'd found exploring the moon interesting and she wanted to complete her scans before calling it a night.

"What is it?" asked Jeffery. He'd stayed also on the bridge, but only because he had nothing better to do.

Tricia pointed to a screen and asked, "Do you see anything odd there?"

Jeffery looked closely. And then he looked again. But he saw nothing odd. "Just strip-mined landscape. Some vegetation has started to grow."

"Exactly," she smiled glancing at Jeffery. She saw that he didn't have a clue what he was supposed to be looking at.

"Look, sir." She made adjustments to the colors of the image. "Do you see it?"

He leaned closer to the screen when he did see something, "Maybe. Is it my imagination or do those look like tracks?" he said and pointed to the screen.

"That's what I thought, too," said Tricia, and pointed to a location at the edge of the mine. "They seem to lead there and then disappear. Perhaps to a base within, or beneath, the oilfield."

"Hmm," wondered Jeffery thoughtfully.

"Compile a report. In half an hour, I'll talk to the admiral."

"Yes, sir!" she said.

***

Jeffery showed the report to Jiao.

"You never know what you might find," she said, smiling. "This requires a closer look, don't you agree?"

Jeffery nodded.

"Send a Marine platoon to investigate. One squad to investigate the tracks and to secure the perimeter, one to secure the entrance and one squad to go inside," said Jiao. "The Jaegers on stand-by if there's need for reinforcements."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery and sent the order to the Marines. He sighed in his mind; he knew that the 2nd Platoon was on duty now and that meant that Ellen was to go to the surface.

He'd passed Ellen last night and had wanted to ask her out. But he had been late for a meeting and couldn't stop. And now she was going to a mission to face the unknown.

"Have Tricia to analyze everything possible about the moon," said Jiao. "See if we can find any clues what might be down there."

Jeffery nodded again and Jiao noticed again that he was distracted. She made a mental note to keep eye on him; she couldn't afford to lose her first officer. But she also wondered why he was distracted. The situation was hardly stressful to an experienced officer, even though they were behind enemy lines, facing the unknown.

"See the Marines and brief them on the situation yourself," she said, and noticed again something slightly out of character for Jeffery.

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

***

"You heard the commander, Marines," said Ross. "We face the unknown once again. First squad, you go inside and see what's there. The second squad secures the perimeter, and I stay with the third squad to secure the entrance. Clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the Marines yelled together and Jeffery again sighed in his mind. Ellen was with the first squad and she was to go inside.

He found himself looking Ellen in the eyes; after several moments, he was surprised to realize that Ellen was looking at him, too.

He quickly turned to Ross and started to leave. "Keep us informed, Captain."

"Of course, sir." He saluted.

"And be careful." Jeffery returned the salute and walked away.

Ellen found herself looking at Jeffery until he was out of sight, the image of his black beard and blue eyes lingering in her thoughts. Her longing look did not go unnoticed.

"Well, well, well, Ellen," said Karl. "You may not be so far out of your league after all."

"What do you mean?" she snapped and turned to Karl.

"Hey, hey!" He smiled. "Didn't you see him watching you?"

"Yeah," interrupted Caleb; he'd seen the looks, too. As did, to the great surprise of Ellen--and also to Jeffery, if he'd known about it--almost all the other Marines, too. "When we come back, go and talk to him."

"Sarge is right, Ellen," said Karl. "You know that."

Ellen started to object, but said nothing. She knew he was right and just nodded.

"When we come back," repeated Caleb. "He often goes to the observation deck and you can probably find him there."

Ellen nodded again, now more firmly, and she started to smile. "You are right, I'll go see him after we come back."

***

The Marines set up a command post at the edge of the mine, near the entrance to the suspected base. The second squad was already securing the perimeter, but had found nothing out of the ordinary. The first squad was ready to go inside the suspected base.

"Caleb," said Ross, "proceed inside. And be careful."

"Yes, Captain," said Caleb, and led his squad to the entrance.

"Okay, people, we go in. Smith, Chapman, take point. Townsend, Chandler, rear. Go!"

Henry and Raquel sprinted just inside the entrance and crouched. It took a moment to get used to the darkness.

"Clear!" said Raquel, and as they moved forward, the rest of the team came inside.

Raquel and Henry moved forward, stopping many times to check the surroundings. They were in a passage, like a cave, sloping steadily downward.

"Look!" whispered Raquel.

"I see it," said Henry. It was a door.

Henry went back to inform Caleb and the squad moved near the door.

"Hear anything?" asked Caleb.

Raquel shook her head.

"Cortez," said Caleb, "send in the bug."

The bug was literally a bug, an artificial cockroach, a very useful device to do covert surveillance.

There were no openings in the door or near it; Silvio had to drill a hole in the bottom of the door.

The door was much thicker than it seemed and it took several minutes to drill the hole with the silent laser drill.

"The bug's in," said Silvio at last.

"Damn!" he cursed after the bug disappeared inside.

"What is it?" asked Caleb.

"The door blocks the signal," answered Silvio.

"Damn," cursed Caleb.

The bug was programmed to continue and record surveillance autonomously for five minutes in case of signal loss.

"Well, then," said Caleb, smiling, "take a five minute break."

"Yeah, right." Karl grinned.

The minutes crawled by until the bug appeared from the hole. Silvio took it and downloaded the surveillance data.

"Show us," ordered Caleb, and Silvio streamed the data to everyone.

Behind the door was a room, like a lobby perhaps, but empty. The bug had scanned the entire room and then continued to corridor that seemed to lead further inside the base. Just before it turned back, they saw two doors on the sides. The corridor continued farther in.

"Seems quiet," commented Ellen.

"We're lucky," said Karl.

"Let's see if the luck holds," said Caleb. "Hamilton. Cortez. Cut the door."

Kyle and Silvio started to cut the door with laser torches and quickly bored a hole in it.

"Go!" ordered Caleb.

Henry and Raquel sprinted first toward the corridor on the other side of the lobby and crouched in the corners. They gave a clear signal and the rest of the squad went beside them. Kate and Tommy stayed at back.

"The bug," said Caleb, and Silvio sent the bug ahead of them.

The signal was clear this time and the bug continued ahead. There were two more doors farther in, and at the end of the corridor, a door that looked like an elevator door.

"Still quiet," said Silvio, "and there are not any kind of markings or anything. Just empty walls."

"We need to secure the rooms," said Caleb, "We breach each room at the same time."

"Sarge?" said Hannah. "Rules of engagement?"

"We don't know who is inside, if anyone . . . or anything. Fire only if fired upon," said Caleb. "If you need to fire, try to shoot to wound or stun."

"Yes, sir," said Hannah and others nodded confirmation.

"Thornton, Girard," ordered Caleb, "first door on the left. Smith, Hamilton, first door on the right. Townsend, Chandler, second door on the left. Cortez, Chapman, second door on the right. Daniels, you stay with me."

The Marines moved into position and were ready to breach.

"Go!" he ordered.

All four doors were kicked in and the Marines rushed inside.

"Clear!" shouted Karl.

"Clear!" yelled Kyle.

The first rooms were secured.

"Clear!" said Tommy.

"Clear!" called Silvio.

All the rooms were secured in a flash and Caleb went to the first room where Ellen and Karl were.

"Empty?" wondered Caleb.

Henry came from the other room across the corridor. "The other one is empty, too."

"So are the rest of the rooms," said Silvio. "They are all empty."

Caleb visited each room and wondered at their emptiness.

"Let's go to the elevator," he said. But the elevator car was not up.

"It's not here," said Ellen.

"Well," commented Kate, "there's somebody here after all."

"Get the door open," ordered Caleb. "Let's see how far down it is." Silvio carefully opened the door and sent the bug. It crawled in the wall downward until it found the elevator.

"Fifty meters," said Silvio.

"A long drop," commented Karl.

Caleb was thoughtful. He was concerned about going down, but it had to be done.

"Before we go down," he said, "I want to make sure that we haven't missed anything here. Cortez, find anything you can from the elevator; see if you can get the bug inside. All the rest: search the rooms, lobby, and corridor."

"Yes, sir," said Karl and went with other Marines to search the rooms for anything they might have missed.

***

"What's the status?" asked Jiao.

"The entrance and the surroundings are secured," said Jeffery. "So far they've found nothing. The tracks that seemed to be clear from here are not so clear on the surface. They have difficulty following them but it seems they lead to nowhere. The squad inside reports that the lobby area is empty and they're preparing to go down."

"Hmm." Jiao nodded. "What do you think is there?"

"I doubt it's the enemy," said Jeffery.

"I doubt it, too," said Jiao. "They wouldn't have bothered with anything that's down there. I checked our data on the system, but we have nothing that gives a clue. But since we are in Arash space, we might find Arash there. But tell the Marines to be very careful; even if it is the Arash, they might mistake us for the enemy."

"Yes, ma'am" said Jeffery.

***

"Nothing," said Karl, after they'd searched the lobby twice. "Absolutely nothing. The place is cleaner than our barracks."

"Hah." Caleb laughed. "Then I know what your task is when we get back."

"Ha ha." Karl smiled, but he wasn't sure if Caleb was joking or not.

Smiles waned as Caleb turned serious. Silvio hadn't managed to get the bug in to the elevator car downstairs, so they had to go down blind and he didn't like it at all.

"Thornton, Girard," he ordered, "you go down there and cut the elevator roof. Send the bug to survey the car and try to get it survey the surroundings."

"Yes, sir," Karl said without hesitation, and started the descent with Ellen.

When they landed on the elevator car roof, Ellen cut a small hole in the roof and sent the bug inside. After confirming it was empty, she cut a larger hole and they went in.

"Let's pry open the door," said Karl, "just enough to get the bug in."

Ellen nodded and together they started to open the door. It opened half a centimeter, but not yet enough for bug to get in.

"A little more!" hissed Ellen.

"Hey!" said Ellen when the door started to open, "don't open it!"

"I'm not!" said Karl.

The door opened and revealed only darkness. They realized they were expected and tried to retreat back to elevator roof, but stopped dead when several green dots marked their chests. Somebody was targeting them.

"Uh-oh," whispered Ellen and froze.

Karl tried to move arms toward his weapon, but was greeted with half a dozen more green dots; he quickly withdrew his arm from the weapon.

It was silent for moment and Ellen imagined she saw movement there in the dark.

Suddenly came a surprised yell, "Humans!" and the green dots disappeared. The darkness was lifted as the corridor outside the elevator was lit and revealed a dozen Arash soldiers. One of them approached Karl and Ellen.

"Humans," he repeated. "This is an unexpected visit. But a welcome one. Colonel Horacio of the Auxiliary Support Regiment."

Karl cleared his throat and saluted a superior officer. "Private Karl Thornton of the 9th Marine Brigade."

"Private Ellen Girard of the 9th Marine Brigade." Ellen saluted.

"Is your commanding officer there?" asked Horacio, nodding upward.

"Yes, sir," said Karl. "Sergeant Caleb Simmons commands the squad sent here to investigate. We have a frigate in orbit, commanded by Admiral Jiao Bai."

Horacio nodded. "Please ask your sergeant to come here. We want to come with you to your frigate," he said, and turned to say something to his people, who all left immediately.

"We've been here ever since the attack," said Horacio. "We were coming back from a mission when we were attacked and many of my men were killed. A few managed to come back here and we've been hiding since. We know nothing about what's happened."

"Well, sir," started Karl, "you were attacked by the Kaitians. They've invaded the Arash, Mehar, and Mopian Empires."

Horacio's eyes widened; he hadn't expected anything like that.

Ellen saw the surprise and said, "I'm certain the admiral will give you a full briefing of the situation."

"Yes," said Horacio, understanding that these two soldiers couldn't know all he needed to know. "She can do that."

They heard noise from the elevator roof as Caleb came down and saluted Horacio, "Sergeant Caleb Simmons of the 9th Marine Brigade." Horacio saluted back and introduced himself.

"How many of you are here?" asked Caleb.

"Thirty-four," said Horacio and added, "out of five hundred."

Caleb nodded and contacted Silvio. "We have thirty-four Arash soldiers of the Auxiliary Support Regiment coming up and aboard. Inform the captain."

"Yes, sir," acknowledged Silvio.

"We can leave as soon as you're ready, sir," said Caleb. Horacio nodded and turned away to gather his own belongings before leaving the facility where he'd spent much of his career. The facility was the main base of operations and training facility of the Auxiliary Support Regiment, the elite soldiers of the Arash Empire.

***

"Really?" said Jiao, after Jeffery had briefed her about what the Marines had found from the surface and that thirty-four Arash soldiers were on their way to the frigate.

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery, wondering why Jiao smiled.

"Have you not heard of the Arash Auxiliary Support Regiment?" she asked.

Jeffery thought hard; he knew the Arash military organization, but he didn't recall anything named Auxiliary Support Regiment, a name that he was sure would've remembered.

"No, ma'am." He shook his head. "Should I've heard?"

"No, Jeffery," she said, "we've never even been sure if it existed before now. We've only heard rumors about it from other Coalition officers and from our own intelligence network; the Arash themselves have always been careful not to mention anything one way or another about them.

"They are the elite of the elite, much like our Jaegers, operating in secret, doing all kinds of covert operations within their own space, in Coalition space, and beyond. Rumors say that they've been involved in more than one seemingly natural disaster in many Coalition worlds. Nothing proven, of course, but careful--and time-consuming, I might add--analysis has shown that the so-called natural disasters all had an unusually beneficial effect on Arash economy or politics, internal or external.

"And now they're coming here." She smiled. "And did you say thirty-four out of five hundred?"

"Yes, ma'am," answered Jeffery, "They said they were attacked on their way here. Looks like they were caught by surprise."

"Or even ambushed by the Kaitians," she wondered.

"But they are our allies and fighting against the common enemy, regardless of any rumors what they might've done. Arrange a barracks for them. Divide their soldiers to stay with Marines and Jaegers, but give the colonel private quarters."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"Lead the colonel here after you've shown him his quarters," she ordered. "Dismissed."

***

"And here are your quarters, sir," said Jeffery, as he lead Colonel Horacio to one of the few free quarters in the ship.

To Jeffery's surprise, the Arash had not complained at all when he showed them to barracks with the Marines and Jaegers. They had seemed almost delighted to be among the human soldiers.

"Thank you, Commander," said Horacio, but since Jeffery didn't leave him, he asked, "Something else, Commander?"

"Yes, sir," he said. "The Admiral wants to see you now."

"Ah, of course," said Horacio.

"Lead the way."

Jeffery led him directly to Jiao's office.

"Admiral." Horacio saluted when he entered her office.

"Colonel." Jiao returned his salute. "Please, have a seat."

Jeffery had hoped to hear what the colonel had to say, but Jiao dismissed him. Disappointed, he sighed.

But then he shrugged. It was late already. He got himself a hot chocolate and walked around the ship for a while, passing several Marines and Jaegers who were showing the ship to their colleagues from the Arash Auxiliary Support Regiment.

It was interesting name for a unit. From what Jiao had said, the soldiers there must be even more interesting. Jeffery made a note to interview some of them himself and ask the Marines and Jaegers for their comments as well. For some reason, he was certain that Jiao wouldn't tell him all that he wanted to hear.

He had just finished his hot chocolate as he stopped outside the observation deck. He realized that it has become his habit to visit the deck in the evenings, before going to sleep. There was something relaxing about watching the dark, empty space.

Jeffery went in and his heart leaped. Ellen was there, too. Alone.

She'd heard the door and turned. Her heart leaped, too.

"Sir!" Ellen saluted.

"At ease," said Jeffery and added without thinking, "d--Ellen"

He coughed; he'd almost said "Dear."

"At ease, Private," he said again, as if to compensate an error.

The door closed behind him, but he didn't move. He looked directly at Ellen's blue eyes, drowning in them.

Both thought that now was the time to say something, but still neither moved. Until both took a small step simultaneously, and then stopped, as if to assess the reaction of the opponent--but since the reaction appeared to be good they took further steps. After a few steps, they felt as their feet had come alive and firmly led them to their destinies.

Jeffery and Ellen stopped at arm's reach and, without words, he kissed her. He took her hand. They went at the window to watch the dark and empty space, hand in hand.
20

William was standing in front of a wall in his office. The wall showed the galaxy map and the current status of the war.

There was something happening at every moment and many unread reports blinked on the map, trying to get William's attention.

One of the reports said that the Kaitians had pulled three of their cruisers from one of the Arash agriculture worlds and sent them in the direction of Mopian space.

The Behemoths, the name given by the Kaitians to the Coalition super-cruisers and now adopted by the Coalition Command, had done successful raids within the Kaitian-occupied space and had slowed the Kaitian preparation of the next attack.

"Show the major supply centers," said William to the computer, and bright dots appeared on the galaxy map.

"Are those manufacturing worlds?" he asked.

"Yes, Commander," said the computer. "The Kaitians have established their supply centers in the occupied manufacturing worlds."

"Because they have the infrastructure in place already," commented William. "Which of those centers we have raided?"

Nearly all bright dots started to blink.

"Results?" asked William.

"Several Kaitian ships destroyed, minor damage to manufacturing facilities," said the computer.

"Show the nearest resource worlds to those facilities," said William, and new set of bright dots appeared on the map.

"Draw a line between each manufacturing center and the nearest resource world. Assume that Kaitians have not built new facilities requiring new resources."

Lines appeared on the map and William noticed that several of the resource worlds supplied more than one manufacturing world.

"Interesting," said William. "Have we raided those resource worlds?"

Only a few dots started to blink.

"All right," said William, "send a note to Milton that we should increase the raids against the resource worlds. Attach this map to the message."

"Yes, Commander," obeyed the computer.

William stared at the map. He thought he began to see some kind of pattern on the map. "Show the borders of Kaitian-occupied space."

"Hmm," thought William aloud. "Assume that Kaitian primary targets are manufacturing worlds, resource worlds, and home worlds. Draw a line from each potential target to nearest supply center."

The targets within Coalition space and the lines appeared on the map. "They are too far away." William shook his head. "They are not going to launch attack from the supply centers."

"As you say, Commander," said the computer.

"Indeed." William smiled. "As I say. Show the most optimal systems where the Kaitians could muster before launching attacks to the shown targets."

A number of star systems were highlighted on the map and William rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Several potential mustering systems were within Kaitian-occupied space, but one was within Miccvan space and it was the mustering point to attack nearly all the targets in the Miccvan Empire.

"Show the most optimal mustering systems that are within Kaitian-occupied space," said William and some new systems became highlighted on the map.

William shook his head at the new systems. "That doesn't look right. Would they really muster in the enemy-controlled space?"

"Why not?" said a voice behind William. "That's something that you might do as well."

William turned, startled, and yelled, "Nick! Louis! You're back!"

Then, after a moment of disbelief, his eyes widened and started to shine. "And you're alive! You're alive!" he repeated and his eyes widened as he realized what it meant that Nick and Louis were standing in front of him.

"We are very much alive," said Louis grinning.

"The cloak works, William," said Nick. "It works like a dream."

***

William was overwhelmed with joy. He had feared that he'd doomed Nick and Louis to their deaths, but the cloaking device had worked as expected.

William asked about the encounter with the Strangers. As he listened Nick and Louis talking about the encounter, he was surprised to realize he himself never thought that the cloaking device would work against the Strangers. It was an uncomfortable thought, that he had willingly sent Nick and Louis to their deaths; he wondered why he had done so.

He sighed, and shook away the thought. The undetectable cloaking device together with the cloak detector meant that William had something in his hands that no one else had. The potential was staggering and he had to keep a cool head with it.

When Nick and Louis finished their tale, the men were silent for a long while. William mostly looked at the galaxy map on the wall showing the potential targets, potential mustering systems, and the Kaitian supply worlds. Nick and Louis also looked at the map.

"You said," started William, "that they could do that? Use a Miccvan world as muster point?"

"Yes," said Nick, "why not? It would be a bold move and we're watching the other potential muster points, aren't we?"

"That's correct," answered the computer.

"What about that one within Miccvan space? What's there?" asked Nick.

"It's an old mining world," said the computer. "Mining was stopped 5,643 years ago. Currently, there's no known activity."

"Send a message to Milton," ordered William. "Tell him of our suspicions that the Kaitians might use that world as a mustering point."

"Yes, Commander," obeyed the computer.

"Any other ideas?" asked William, and waved toward the map. "What do you see here?"

"Probably nothing that's not already known," said Louis, "But still, to me it looks like the Kaitians are preparing for a major assault. Or, more likely, multiple major assaults. They've already conquered much of the Coalition space and they're using our resources to fuel their war engine." He walked to the map. "Look. With their attack against the Mopians, they've nearly cut the Coalition space in half. Without our battle at the Mopian home world, they might have succeeded and then the Coalition would've been cut in two with our major forces divided."

"I wonder why they didn't attack the Ooktian Empire at the same time?" said Louis.

"Good question," said William. "We've wondered that, too, and we think that they wanted to attack the Mopians first and use the same forces to attack the Ooktians immediately after they'd conquered the Mopians. But we surprised them at the Mopian home world, and so delayed their plans."

"What about the Kaitian borders with Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen? Over here," said Nick, and pointed on the map.

"Very little activity," said William. "There's only some frontier colonies there. Neither empire has expanded much there. We haven't heard of any attacks there."

"But the colonies are still there?" asked Louis.

"Yes," answered the computer. "The latest reports indicate no unusual activity."

"What if the Kaitians attacked there?" Louis thought aloud. "They could advance deep inside both Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen space before any opposition."

"And, at the same time, they could launch attacks to all the targets shown here on map," said Nick.

"That would meant that we'd have to fight on at least four widely separated fronts," said William, "dividing our forces so that we can't sustain them. Computer, assume that it is the Kaitian plan. Assume that manufacturing is as efficient as ours and that the Kaitians are building forces to sustain attacks on four fronts. When would they be ready to launch the attacks?"

"There are too many unknown variables to estimate," answered the computer.

"Damn," said William. "Make a best guess and then give a report of the unknown variables. We must find out and solve the unknowns." The computer was silent for a surprisingly long while.

"I guess the computer doesn't like to do best guesses." Louis smiled.

"Correct," answered the computer, but gave the best guess nevertheless.

"From weeks to years," said William and shook his head. It wasn't what he'd hoped, but the list of unknown variables was exactly what he needed.

"Take a look at this." He showed the list to Nick and Louis.

"That's quite a list," said Nick.

"It is," said William, "but we must find the answers. Quickly. The more I think about it, the more I fear that this is exactly the Kaitian plan. I have a new mission for you. Find out what kind of Kaitian force is still within their own space. I'll share this list and our suspicions with the Coalition Command, but I won't tell them I sent you to Kaitian space. I will only say that I've sent scouts so they won't suspect anything when you bring me the information we need. Find out what you can but make sure you aren't seen."

Nick and Louis nodded and went back to their corvette to start the journey back to Kaitian space. Again.

***

"This sounds both unlikely and probable," said Milton when William told him his suspicions in a conference call with the Coalition Command.

"There are too many unknowns to make any conclusions," said Laura.

"That's why I've already have my people finding values for unknowns--I've sent scouts to find out what we can," said William.

"We'll send them, too," said Milton. "The more we find out, the better."

"And sooner the better," said Laura. "If this is what they're planning, we may be already too late. But perhaps we can still slow them a little. Regarding your observation about the resources . . ." She nodded toward William. "I've ordered resources as priority targets for raids. We should soon see how the Kaitians react to it."

"William? Any news from the Sea of Boston?" asked Milton. "Our genetic weapons research has nearly stopped. We need live samples."

"No news." William shook his head.

"I'm not surprised," said Laura. "We rarely engage them in close combat and they fight fiercely and die rather than be captured."

"But I'm sure Jiao will get us captives," said William. "It's just a matter of time."

"Hopefully they won't be too late," said Milton.

"Anything else?"

Everyone shook their heads; even Mr. Grey, the Grand Admiral of the Rg'Tkeen, had nothing to say. William thought that he'd been very quiet during the call. When he thought more about it, he realized Mr. Grey had been quiet ever since the war began.

"All right, then," said Milton as he ended the conference call. "Until the next time."
21

"Sir?" said Commander Marya Wade.

"Yes, Commander?" said Bruce.

"We detected enemy ships at the edge of the system," she said. "Should we circle them?"

Bruce knew that the enemy might see through their cloak and it would be a risk to try to go near them. Their target, a Mopian mining colony, was located on the second planet of the system, and the orders from Coalition Command made it clear that their new primary mission was to interrupt the enemy mining and other resource operations and to avoid engagements with the enemy as much as possible.

"Circle them," said Bruce. "They'll come after us when we attack the mining colony, but we'll be gone before they can engage."

"Yes, sir," said Marya and went to relay the order to navigation officer, Lieutenant Julie Hall.

Circling the enemy meant that they had a few extra hours before the attack.

"Marya," called Bruce after she'd relayed the order.

"Sir?" she said.

"Since the circling the enemy takes a few hours, tell the bridge officers to relax," said Bruce. "We need sharp people when the attack starts."

"Excellent idea, sir." Marya smiled. "And you should relax, too, sir."

Bruce smiled. "That's also an excellent idea."Marya went again to relay the order to officers and Bruce saw that they were relieved to hear it. All of them called the junior officers to take over and they went on to do whatever they did to relax. Bruce was mildly curious to know what they did, but he'd made a decision long ago not to get too involved with the people he commanded. In fact, he didn't get too involved with any other people either.

He was immortal and he'd seen enough death in his time--nearly the death of the entire human civilization during the Extinction Plague, as the historians called it now.

Bruce sighed and shook his head; he didn't want to think about it. He left the bridge to follow his own orders and relax before the attack.

***

"What do you see?" Bruce asked his science officer, Lieutenant Gordon Ball.

"Large mining facilities," he said. "The Kaitians have expanded the facilities at least threefold compared to our records of the system. From the looks of it, they run the facilities at nearly perfect efficiency."

"A-ha," commented Bruce. "Life signs?"

"Only a few Kaitians," said Gordon, "no Mopians."

"Really?" said Bruce, delighted. "That's good news."

It also meant that Bruce didn't have to decide what to do with civilians in the target area. The orders from Command hadn't said anything about civilians; it had said only that their mission was to disrupt enemy operations, and Bruce thought that they wanted to leave the decision about civilians to him and other ship captains.

"How many Kaitians?" asked Marya.

Gordon glanced at Marya, "A moment, ma'am. The structures interfere with our sensors."

"What kind of interference?" asked Bruce. "Could there be Mopians but we just haven't detected them?"

"Good point, sir," said Gordon. "There may be."

"What's on your mind, sir?" asked Marya, who was looking at Bruce and noticed his thoughtful expression.

"I want to be sure there are no Mopians," he said.

"Keep scanning the facilities. Let's keep this position for a full Mopian day," he said to Marya, "and make plans for attack. We'll attack after we've made sure that there are no Mopians there."

"Sir?" asked Marya. "What if there are civilians?"

Bruce didn't answer immediately. He'd thought about it, but was glad he hadn't had to make that decision yet. But now, since Marya asked, he had to make the decision and he had to stand by it in the future. He sensed that Gordon was all ears and that his decision would spread throughout the ship soon after.

He sighed, and realized he'd already made the decision. "Our mission is to disrupt the enemy resource operations. I want to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible, but the mission comes first. The objective is the total destruction of the mining facility," said Bruce. "Plan the attack accordingly."

"Yes, sir," said Marya.

***

"Are we ready?" asked Bruce after they'd waited almost a full Mopian day. They hadn't detected any Mopians and Bruce assumed--correctly--that the Kaitians had had no need for them and killed them.

Bruce's cloak detector--which he'd kept secret--had shown that there was one cloaked Kaitian frigate patrolling near the mining station and the nearby planet.

"As ready as we can be," said Marya.

"Good," said Bruce. "We attack in ten minutes. Tell the crew to prepare."

"Yes, sir," she said.

In ten minutes, hoped Bruce, the frigate would be farther away and wouldn't be able to come to defend the station. Marya relayed the orders and put up a silent countdown to the attack. Her attack plan was flawless, and she had simulated it with the computer countless times. This time the computer would do the attack run for real.

The countdown steadily counted toward zero. Bruce sat in his chair, and Marya thought he looked oddly relaxed, not knowing that Bruce was not relaxed at all and making a great effort to appear to be.

The frigate was farther away, as he'd expected, but the ships that patrolled at the edge of the system were coming their way.

Unfortunately for them, they too were too far away when the countdown reached zero and Bruce's Behemoth decloaked in front of the mining station and started the attack.

***

"Ayieee!" shouted the Kaitian captain who commanded the frigate that was assigned to patrol the area around the mining station.

"It's the Behemoth!" shouted one of the officers.

"Full speed!" ordered the captain. "We must defend the station!"

But they were too far away. The Behemoth was unopposed and it methodically destroyed the entire mining station. The attack was very precise and obliterated the station.

The Behemoth left before the frigate was within firing range, and the captain collapsed in his chair.

"Damage?" he asked, but he knew the answer.

"Total destruction," his first officer said, after getting reports from the scanners. "Nothing is salvageable. Absolutely nothing."

The captain looked at the first officer, and his look showed that he was afraid.

He was the one who had to inform the Divine Command that the mining facility had been destroyed and he knew that it would set back their plans to continue the attack on the Godless Others.
22

The corvette Lake of Nevada stood still in the emptiness of space somewhere between Earth and the Ooktian Empire, far from any star system.

"All right, Udo," said William. "Show me."

"Yes, sir," said Udo, and ten fighters decloaked in front of William.

"Which of them are piloted by AIs?" asked William.

Udo cleared his throat. "I was hoping that I'd let you observe yourself during the exercise, sir."

William smiled. "Fair enough. I'll do that. Let's start."

The ten fighters turned around and went away from view. William opened a map in front of him to follow the exercise. The fighters were divided in two wings; the first wing had been taught Kaitian tactics, as much as they knew about them, while the other wing used new Coalition tactics, combined from all the Coalition Navy's fighter tactics.

This exercise was only the third exercise with the combined tactics. Although the first two exercises had resulted in Coalition loss, they were still better than any one tactic alone. Major improvements had been done for this third exercise. The improvements were clearly effective; the Coalition fighters had already killed two enemy fighters.

When the exercise was over, the fighters using Coalition tactics had won--but not without losses. Two fighters had been killed before they managed to destroy the last enemy.

"Good work," said William. "Very good work."

"Thank you, sir," said Udo. He was, most of all, very relieved that the exercise had worked. He and his team had been the main authors of the new tactics--with help from others, of course.

"Did you guess which ones were AIs, sir?" asked Udo.

"I think it's obvious," said William confidently. "The fighters posing as Kaitians were AIs."

Udo smiled. "Wrong, sir. Mostly wrong."

"Oh?" said William surprised. "Which were they then?"

"All the survivors and the last two Kaitian fighters," said Udo.

William was indeed surprised--all human-controlled fighters had been destroyed in the exercise. "Excellent work, Udo!"

Having AI-controlled fighters would be very good asset against the Kaitians. So good that they could launch counter-attacks and start pushing the Kaitians back to their own space.

"Commander?" interrupted the ship's computer, an AI itself. "Message coming in from Advisor Milton."

"Put him here," said William, and Milton's hologram appeared in the middle of the bridge.

"Hello, William," said Milton and looked around, "and hello everyone."

"Hello, sir," said the bridge officers in unison.

"Milton," said William, "to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I have some good news, William," said Milton, smiling.

"That makes two of us," said William. "The AI-controlled fighter test succeeded."

Milton's smile widened; he had not expected results yet. Especially not good results.

"And, as a bonus, they are equipped with cloaks," said William.

"That's great news!" said Milton. "It opens up new possibilities. And just at the right time. Have you seen the latest reports?"

"No," said William, "not yet."

"Take a look then," said Milton and a map opened between William and Milton's hologram.

"Show all the resource worlds in the occupied space and the Kaitian movement in the last week."

A number of bright dots appeared to the map and they moved toward all resource worlds--except four.

"Our Behemoths raided those four worlds," said Milton. "They report total destruction and no casualties. They were poorly defended. But, as you can see, that has changed. It's obvious that we struck a nerve by targeting the resources."

"Where did those ships come from?" asked William. The number of the ships seemed to be a lot higher than they'd anticipated.

"Most of them are new ships," said Milton. "Their defenses in the manufacturing worlds remain the same. Or they strengthened them, too."

"That means that their manufacturing capabilities are very efficient," said William, "much more efficient than we thought and better than our own."

"Right," said Milton, "not to mention the crews of those ships. They must have a lot of soldiers waiting to be deployed."

"Or," said William, "they also use AIs to control their ships."

"Or they use AIs," agreed Milton.

William was thoughtful. The number of enemy ships and the efficiency of the manufacturing was a surprise, and it seemed to enhance the suspicion that the next attack would be on at least four fronts.

"We need to continue our attacks," said William, "against both resource and manufacturing worlds."

"I couldn't agree more," said Milton, "but our resources are limited."

William nodded. "AI-controlled cloaked fighters will help us."

"Yes, they will," said Milton. "Teach them to attack capital ships and facilities. I want first attack to happen within a week."

"Udo?" asked William.

"Sir," said Udo, and paused just long enough for it to be noticed. "Yes, sir. The first squadron will be ready for attack."

"Excellent," said Milton, "I'll send you the targets later."

Suddenly Milton looked somewhere else and his hologram disappeared.

"Udo?" asked William, "can you do it?"

"It will mean that we sleep less in the coming week, but yes," said Udo, "we can do it."

"Then get to it," said William. "First checkpoint is tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir," said Udo and went to work.

"William," said Milton when his hologram came back, "Rachel is here."

William's heart jumped. It had been too long since he heard from her.

"A moment," he said, "I'll go to my office."

***

"Rachel," said William, once he was in his office and the hologram of Rachel had appeared in the middle of the room.

"How are you?" He moved close to the hologram. If she'd been real, he would've kissed her.

"I miss you," said Rachel.

"I miss you, too," said William. Seeing her, he realized just how much he missed her.

"I . . ." started William and then stopped. Something obvious had just occurred to him.

"Rachel," he said with sudden delight.

"What is it?" said Rachel and smiled at William's delight.

"Where are you?" asked William.

"I'm aboard the Thoughtful Flame," she said.

"I just thought . . ." William smiled again. "We could go to the Miccvan home world and to our house. We can work from there. You have facilities there and I can communicate easily with my team from there."

Rachel was surprised. Why hadn't she thought about that? Nothing had ever stopped them from doing just that.

"That's an excellent idea!" she nearly yelled. "Let's do it now!"

Now was William's turn to be surprised. Now was just as good time as later. And why not?

"Udo!" called William.

"Milton!" called Rachel, and they both smiled.

William ordered Udo to change course to the Miccvan home world and Rachel told Milton, who did the same.

They talked about how they couldn't wait to see each other and about many other things before Rachel changed subject back to war.

"Have you heard anything from the Sea of Boston?" she asked. "We can't do much until we get live samples."

"No, I haven't," said William. "I'd hoped they'd be already back but I guess finding suitable targets is more difficult than we thought."

"Maybe so, but I hope they return soon," she said. "Have you read my reports about the Kaitians?"

"I have," said William. "If the swords do indicate their elite soldiers, they lost a great deal of them when we blew up The Village of War. And it may be one reason why they haven't started their next attack yet."

"It may be the main reason," said Rachel.

"If so, they'd probably want to build up their fleet to compensate the loss of elite soldiers."

"That's what I was thinking, too," she said, "but I haven't been able to verify it."

"Perhaps the captives can enlighten us," said William.

"Perhaps," said Rachel, "if we decide to question them."

"Sir?" interrupted Udo, "We need you on the bridge."

"Ah" said William smiling, "I have to go, Rachel. See you soon."

"See you soon." Rachel smiled and blew a kiss to William who delightfully caught it mid-air.
23

"Come on in!" called Jiao from her office to Jeffery. He was behind her door at precisely nine o'clock, waiting to hear what she had to say.

Jiao had wanted to talk to him the previous evening, but he had requested a free night--to spend time with Ellen, Jiao knew. She had granted the free night, and had not wanted to interrupt them.

Jeffery walked into the office and saluted, "Admiral."

"Commander," said Jiao, "did you have a relaxing evening?"

Jeffery couldn't contain his smile, "Yes, ma'am. We did."

"I'm happy to hear it." Jiao smiled. She waved her hand and a map opened above her desk.

"This is our target," she said and pointed to an unremarkable star system deep within Miccvan space, far away from anything. In the middle of nowhere, so to speak.

"Why do you think we'll find the Kaitians there?" he asked.

"The Arash colonel thinks they're there," she said. "He told me something very interesting about that star system. And, coincidentally, about our own history as well."

"Ma'am?" asked Jeffery curiously.

"What I'm about to say cannot leave this room," she said. "You must not say anything to anyone. Including Private Girard."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"Horacio told me that if Kaitians are as good as they seem to be, they would've found about that system when they invaded the Arash home world. He said that the information is, or was, deeply hidden, but it wouldn't be a problem to those who conquered the planet.

I'll start from the beginning. Just as Horacio did.

"He said, in these exact words: 'As you know, this all started a thousand of your years ago on Earth,'" said Jiao.

"He said that?" asked Jeffery incredulously. "Really?"

"It gets even better," said Jiao.

I can't wait, thought Jeffery skeptically. Jiao noticed that Jeffery didn't believe it, just as she hadn't believed at first.

"I didn't believe it either," she said, "but I couldn't show Horacio that it was new information to me.

He said that the first encounter with Kaitians happened on Earth, about a thousand years ago. The Rg'Tkeen who'd been in contact with us found a Kaitian scout in our star system and they followed it to Earth, where it self-destructed. But they, of course, didn't know it was the Kaitians at the time, and the Coalition sent their own scouts all across the galaxy to find out more--and they did. Eventually they traced the scouts deep into old Hwzeenn space, where they found the Kaitians. It was a great surprise then; no one ever knew that the Kaitians even existed."

"Why?" asked Jeffery.

"Apparently the Kaitians were a servant species of the Hwzeenn and they were left alone when the Strangers destroyed the Hwzeenn Empire," said Jiao.

Jeffery looked at Jiao. Everything was new information to him and he didn't know what to think.

"And no one ever bothered to go look, since all thought--wrongly--that the space where Kaitians lived was already stripped of its resources by the Hwzeenn. A costly mistake, as we've seen. Anyway, Horacio was one of the Coalition scouts that went looking for the Kaitian scouts back then. And what happened to him would make a great movie." She smiled.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Jeffery, "Horacio? Who's aboard now?" Jiao nodded.

"But," said Jeffery, "but that was thousand years ago?"

"Yes, it was," said Jiao. "He looks young for his age, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does," said Jeffery quietly.

"So, Horacio decided to go beyond Arash borders and then beyond the Mehar Empire to deep inside Miccvan space. Eventually, after visiting dozens of empty star systems, he entered yet another system--one in the middle of nowhere. He scanned the planets one by one but he saw nothing, just like the previous systems. He couldn't tell why he stayed there after scanning the planets, but he did. He left the computer do the scanning and, out of plain boredom, he fell asleep. He must've been very tired, he told me, to be sleeping a full Arash day there, all the while the computer was scanning the system. When he woke up, the computer informed him that it had found something odd in the second planet of the system. Horacio asked it to define odd, but computer couldn't say anything specific, so he went on to look."

Jeffery nearly held his breath as Jiao told him what Horacio had told her. Everything sounded unbelievable, starting from the fact that Rg'Tkeen had had contact with Earth a thousand years ago.

"Again, Horacio found nothing--at first," said Jiao. "After a while, he found it. An entrance to vast underground complex in a base of a mountain. Or something made to look like a mountain. Guess what he found?"

Jeffery shook his head.

"I didn't guess either," she said, "but it was a factory. A fully automated factory still operating. Horacio couldn't believe his eyes, but it was there, deep inside the planet. He had no way to analyze what the factory was doing, but he did manage to estimate its age." Jiao paused and Jeffery knew what to expect--it must've been very old.

"The factory had been there, and operating, at least five million years," she said.

"I don't believe it," said Jeffery, in denial.

"Five million years? And Rg'Tkeen? On Earth? Thousand years ago? What is going on, Admiral? What is the factory? I mean . . . really?"

"That's what he said," said Jiao, "and the way he said it makes it clear that it is pretty much common knowledge in the Coalition, at least to senior officers."

She sighed. "I did ask about who was the contact on Earth. Horacio seemed surprised by the question, but answered it anyway. Can you guess who it was?"

Jeffery shook his head again.

"The contact was Commander William Johnson, member of the Coalition Command," said Jiao.

A silence filled the air and Jeffery's jaw dropped.

"You can't seriously mean . . ." said Jeffery quietly.

Jiao nodded. "The one and the same. And he looks young for his age, too," she added.

Jeffery said nothing and shook his head disbelievingly. He just couldn't believe what she said.

"It took me a while before I understood what this information implies," said Jiao, "and I strongly recommend you keep this to yourself."

"You can count on it, ma'am," he said firmly.

"But what about the Arash? The factory? Why would there be Kaitians there?"

"Ah, yes," she said. "Horacio couldn't determine what the factory was, but he understood not to mention it to outsiders; only the Arash Command knew about it. He went back to his home world and when he told what he'd found, the Arash decided to send a team to find out what the factory was. The team went there and after they found what it was doing, they decided to call it a fusion factory, because the factory makes elements from other elements--for example, oxygen by fusing eight hydrogen atoms and so on. Unfortunately, the Arash never found out how to operate it, so its usefulness has been rather limited. They have let it be, monitoring it remotely, and hoping that someday they might learn to operate it. Just because it's there is reason enough for the Kaitians to go there."

"No doubt," said Jeffery, "but I wonder why Horacio told you about it? And who built the factory in the first place?"

"I asked the same," said Jiao, "and the answer to the first question is that he honestly believes our mission is extremely important. He added that the Kaitians have overrun the Arash and the entire Arash civilization is crumbling. Not very much point to keep any secrets, after all. The answer to the second question is more interesting. At first, they didn't know it either, and the age of it was incomprehensible. It was not until a few decades ago when they learned new information." Jiao took a breath, "And the story gets bigger and bigger. You will realize that we are a very, very small part of the universe. The Arash managed to infiltrate the Miccvan Empire and they found references to ruins and crashed ships built by an ancient civilization of sentient machines that vanished approximately five million years ago. They are certain that the factory is also built by them."

"Unbelievable!" said Jeffery.

"It really is, Jeffery," said Jiao, "but it's true. And that's why we go to that system and see the factory ourselves."

"And capture some Kaitians." he said.

"Oh, yes." Jiao smiled deviously.
24

"We are now in Kaitian space," said Aileen.

"All right," said Nick, "any ideas where to go?"

They'd traveled through Arash space from SD-9 and had carefully avoided any Kaitian-occupied worlds to minimize detection, although they were sure they wouldn't be detected by anyone. Their mission was to find the Kaitian forces within their own space.

"Well, we know that their forces are not in the home world," said Louis.

"Aileen?" asked Nick. "Any guesses where their forces might be? And their shipyards? Resources?"

"We have limited data on the star systems," said Aileen, "but here are my guesses about their shipyards."

Half a dozen systems started to blink on the map.

Nick and Louis glanced each other and shrugged; they didn't have any better guesses where the Kaitians might be.

"Let's go then," said Nick. "One system at a time."

***

The Lake of Fairwater entered the first potential star system where Kaitian shipyards might be and halted. The system was typical, a small red star with a half-dozen planets, and scanners showed nothing.

"Take us farther into the system," said Louis, "from planet to planet." The corvette changed course to the farthest planet and went by it.

The next planet had nothing noticeable there, but when they approached the third planet on their route, Aileen stopped the corvette.

"What is it?" asked Nick.

"There are cloaked ships surrounding the planet," said Aileen.

"All right," said Louis. "Take us slowly toward them."

"What ships they are?" asked Nick when they approached the planet.

"Five ships," said Aileen. "Possibly frigates."

They moved further closer and Aileen said, "Definitely frigates. And there's something on the planet."

"Interesting," said Nick. "Let's find out what's there. Go closer but keep us clear from the frigates."

Nick and Louis watched on the screen as the frigates slowly orbited the planet.

"I need time," said Aileen after a while. "The planet's atmosphere is interfering with my sensors."

"How long?" asked Louis.

"Fifteen hours," said Aileen. "Or, if I go to the orbit, I need only two hours."

"All right, take your fifteen hours," said Nick, after consulting with Louis. "No need to take unnecessary risks, however slim they might be."

***

The hours went slowly by. Both men stayed on the bridge, dozing and playing cards and other games.

"I'm ready, gentlemen," said Aileen after thirteen and half hours.

"You're ahead of schedule." Louis smiled.

"Yes, I am," said Aileen.

"What is it, then?" asked Nick.

"It's an army training facility," said Aileen. "There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Kaitian soldiers scattered across the planet. They are training in ground combat for all kinds of terrain."

"Excellent," said Louis, "this is very good information. If we attack here, we'd surely disrupt their operations."

"But nothing related to ships or shipyards?" asked Nick.

"No," answered Aileen.

"Then let's go to the next system," said Nick, and the corvette slowly moved away from the planet and beyond the edge of the star system before entering hyperspace and traveling to the next system.

***

"Anything?" asked Louis, when they entered the last of the potential systems where Aileen guessed where Kaitian shipyards might be.

The systems they'd visited had been very much empty, stripped from resources long ago by the Hwzeenn and Kaitians.

"The innermost planet shows life signs," said Aileen.

"Really?" said Nick. "Let's go and take a look."

Aileen changed course toward the planet.

"Extensive flora on the planet," said Aileen, after they were close enough for more detailed scans. "Relatively little water, no oceans nor seas. Just a few large lakes . . . correction. Most of the water is underground, unseen. And there is no ground. Flora actually floats on the ocean. The entire planet is an ocean."

"Interesting," said Louis. "Probably not a place for shipyard then."

"Probably not," said Nick, "but I'm sure Aileen will do a thorough analysis, won't you?"

"That's right," said Aileen.

"While you're at it," said Nick, "why don't we take a day off, Louis?"

"A day off?" said Louis and looked at Nick. Then he smiled.

"That's a good idea. Aileen takes care of the ship while we're at it."

"While you're at it?" asked Aileen and Nick heard surprise in her voice. "What does it mean? What do you mean to take a day off? We are on a space ship?"

"That's right," said Nick. "Taking a day off means that we do something else than be here with you. Besides, we have used the exercise room far too little."

Louis stood up and went to door. "I'll take the exercise room first. See you in six hours."

And Louis was away before Nick could say anything.

"And I'm going to watch some old science fiction movies," said Nick, "so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see who the builders of the Mars catacombs were."

"There are no Mars catacombs," said Aileen as Nick walked toward the door.

"Well . . ." Nick smiled before leaving. "The movie says otherwise and I want to believe."

***

The waves crashed on rocks far beneath Nick and the sun was high up on the sky.

"Are you going or not?" asked a female voice.

Nick looked down to the rocks and shook his head. "Not this time. I would much rather enjoy your company," he said and the woman smiled invitingly.

But before anything could happen, to Nick's great surprise, the scenery disappeared, leaving only the black walls of the exercise room.

"Counselors!" shouted Aileen. "Come to the bridge immediately. Something's happening!"

There was no need to tell them twice. Nick ran to the bridge as fast as he could. Louis was already there, panting.

"What is it?" asked Nick after catching his breath.

"A Kaitian cruiser," said Louis, "exited from hyperspace directly into orbit."

"Another cruiser!" said Aileen.

"And another!" said Louis when the third appeared in orbit, far too close to be comfortable.

"Take us out of orbit," said Nick. "There may be more ships on the way."

True enough, six cruisers appeared in orbit as he said it.

"And fast!" added Louis. They broke away from orbit and moved away from the planet.

"More ships!" said Louis. "A lot more!"

"Thirty-six cruisers," said Aileen, "and counting."

Nick and Louis glanced at each other.

"Something's definitely happening," said Nick.

There were more than a hundred ships in orbit around the planet.

"They are getting ready for an attack," said Louis. Nick nodded; it sure looked that way.

"What do we do?" asked Louis. "Should we wait and see where they are going? Follow them?"

"I recommend we wait," said Aileen. "The Kaitian ships are still coming here; we should wait and see how many of them there are. And then we follow them."

"Sounds good," agreed Louis.

The Kaitian ships steadily appeared in the system and sent shivers through Nick's back when he saw just how many of them there were. Already thousands of ships, of all sizes, were in the system, apparently doing nothing except a lot of communicating.

Several cruisers were clearly command ships, but Aileen hadn't been able to determine the flagship yet.

"We are in trouble" said Louis after a while. "Big, big trouble."

"They do have the forces to attack on four fronts," said Nick.

"Assuming that's correct," said Aileen, "the ships here will attack the Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen Empires. And the ships already in occupied space will attack the Coalition from the opposite direction."

"Any suggestions about what we could do?" asked Nick.

"We should do as Aileen recommended," said Louis. "Wait until they're all here and follow some of them. Then go to back and inform Command what we've seen."

Aileen projected that, based how the arrivals had been changing in the past few hours, all the Kaitian forces should be there within a day. And there were already a lot of Kaitian forces.

Louis had said that they were in big trouble and the trouble got bigger each time a new Kaitian ship appeared.

Aileen analyzed the ships, and the way they appeared, and concluded that they were coming from at least ten shipyards. Assuming that this system was the mustering system, Aileen projected where the shipyards might be. It would be valuable information for the Coalition counter-attack--if they survived the next Kaitian attack.

***

"Most of them are here," said Aileen after a day and a half.

Nick sighed and watched the current count of enemy ships.

"I can't believe this," he said for the umpteenth time.

Louis said nothing; he thought the number of ships was unbelievable too: 11,341.

"Three-fourths are cruisers and frigates," said Louis and shook his head.

At any moment, the Kaitians would start their advance, and the Lake of Fairwater had to move closer to be able to follow them to hyperspace.

"Any ideas of the flagship?" asked Nick.

"No," said Aileen and Nick was certain he could hear disappointment.

"Let's follow one of the command ships, then," said Nick. "Any one will do."

"The comm chatter has increased," said Aileen. "They must be ready to leave."

"Hurry up, then; move the ship closer," said Louis.

Aileen slowly accelerated, but before they reached the cruiser, it disappeared into hyperspace, along with hundreds of other ships.

"Damn!" cursed Nick. "We must follow them!"

Aileen took a risk and increased speed to catch one of the frigates nearby and managed to tail it to hyperspace.
25

"There it is," said Horacio. The Sea of Boston had arrived at the edge of the unnamed star system deep within Miccvan space.

"Slowly toward the second planet," said Jiao.

The ship carefully traveled toward the planet, cloaked and scanning.

"Are you sure the enemy's here?" asked Jeffery.

"Positive," said Horacio.

The frigate approached the planet uneventfully until they were close.

"Ma'am!" said Tricia. "There's a ship in orbit!"

"All halt!" ordered Jiao. "What is it?"

"A moment, ma'am," said Tricia, and tried to scan the ship.

"It's difficult to say. It's not cloaked, but their stealth mode is excellent."

"Somebody's here," commented Jeffery to no one particular. Jiao thought it next to impossible for the ship to be anything other than Kaitian.

"It's them," said Horacio and turned, smiling, to Jiao. "Only one ship."

"Ma'am," said Tricia, "it's a frigate, almost certainly Kaitian."

"Almost?" asked Jiao.

"Yes, ma'am," said Tricia, "It doesn't match anything we know; based on what we have on the Kaitian, it's the closest match. But there's still a small chance it's something else."

"Unlikely," said Horacio dismissively.

"I agree," said Jeffery. "This can't be a coincidence."

Jiao nodded. "Suggestions? It's only a single frigate."

"Yes, Admiral," said Horacio, "I suggest that we capture that frigate and bring it back to the Coalition. You'd fulfill your mission and more."

"Capture it, Colonel?" said Jeffery a little skeptically.

"Exactly." Horacio smiled. "Infiltrating enemy ships is something I and my troopers can be proud of."

"Oh?" said Jiao, surprised. "You didn't mention it before."

"I felt that it information was not needed," said Horacio, "until now. My people, together with your Jaegers . . . we can capture that ship."

"Is that so?" said Jeffery. He wondered how Horacio was so confident about this. He knew that idea of capturing an enemy ship occasionally surfaced among the tacticians and was also practiced countless times, but neither humans nor, to Jeffery's knowledge, other Coalition forces had successfully devised workable tactics in capturing enemy ships in space. All exercises had ended in virtual bloodshed. And a few recorded cases had ended in actual bloodshed.

"It is so." Horacio smiled. "You, Admiral, might be interested to know that several of my troopers infiltrated The Village of War when you resupplied at SD-9 before the Kaitian invasion." Jiao looked amused. Horacio kept smiling; he knew that she didn't believe it. "Perhaps it would convince you if I'd say that one item that was resupplied in your visit to SD-9 was a box of GatoNegro Cabernet Sauvignon, an excellent wine, I must say. I'll be sure to taste it again when I go to your world."

Jeffery looked at Jiao and the way she looked at Horacio, confirming for him that Horacio spoke the truth.

Other officers on the bridge looked at Jiao, too, confused by the obvious insider comment. Seeing Jiao's reaction, the officers realized that she knew perfectly well what Horacio told her was true. Jiao was silent and shocked. She knew that Horacio spoke the truth. It'd been she, who'd requested that box of wine and she'd been angry to find out that box had been one bottle short. She'd filed an official complaint and accused supply officers of incompetence. She had been wrong to blame them and the fact the Arash had infiltrated The Village of War . . . it required some serious thought. Jiao decided not to dwell on the revelation; now was not the time for worry about that.

"Very good, Colonel," she said. "I believe your plan might work. Take all the Jaegers you need and capture that ship. I'll send the Marines to the factory to find out what's there."

Horacio nodded. "Ma'am. I'll get to work immediately. I need two days--Arash days--to plan the attack."

Jiao nodded and Horacio left the bridge.

"Jeffery, go and plan the attack on the surface with the Marines. I want both teams ready at the same time."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

***

As Jeffery walked away from the bridge, he thought about his feelings. He'd known, even feared, this moment when he'd have to send Ellen to face the unknown.

At first, he thought of reassigning her to other duties--but he decided against it. He knew how she'd react to any suggestion like that. After all, he'd react the same way as he knew Ellen would: he'd be furious.

He sighed and went to plan the attack with the Marines.

***

Two Arash days later, the plans for attacking the Kaitian frigate and the factory on the surface were ready. The scans had revealed a Kaitian presence on the surface, but not the exact numbers of them. This meant there was an uncomfortably large unknown variable in the plans to attack the factory.

"Impressive, gentlemen," Jiao commended both Jeffery and Horacio. "Most impressive."

"I agree," said Jeffery, looking at the plans to capture the Kaitian frigate. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were out of your mind."

"Thank you, Commander," said Horacio. "Your own plans are also excellent. Especially since we don't know how many Kaitians there are."

"How much time you need to prepare?" asked Jiao.

"This day," said Horacio, "but I'd like people to rest before the attack. So I suggest we attack in sixteen hours."

Jiao looked questioningly at Jeffery, who nodded.

"Good," said Jiao, "Go on and prepare. The final briefing is just before the attack."

***

"Ready?" asked Caleb once they were all inside the shuttle.

He got only nods as answers. They had just been briefed by the commander and within minutes would start the orbital drop.

They'd drop on the other side of the planet to minimize detection by the Kaitian frigate. Once on the surface, they'd first have a ten-hour flight, then a three-hour march on foot to the factory entrance. Fortunately, the planet was suitable for humans, so they wouldn't need environmental armor.

"Ten seconds!" shouted the pilot.

Marines tightened their grips and made final checks to safety belts before the shuttle started its rough descent to the planet. Caleb noted how quiet everyone was. Typically, there would be shouts going back and forth, but now they were silent. It must be because of the unknown they were facing--not only the Kaitians but a five million-year-old factory, built by sentient machines. Caleb shook his head; he, too, was quiet and thoughtful, but managed to fell asleep.

"Five minutes!" shouted the pilot. Caleb awoke with a start. Most of the squad had been asleep and that surprised and pleased Caleb; they needed strength for the three-hour march.

"Check your gear!" ordered Caleb and the Marines made final checks before landing on the surface.

All three Marine platoons were part of the ground assault, and the Jaegers were to assault the frigate in orbit together with the remaining soldiers of the Arash Auxiliary Support Regiment. Caleb's squad would go inside the factory right after the 3rd platoon and the rest would follow. Two squads from the 5th platoon would guard the entrance. The Arash Colonel had made floor plans of the factory to ease the planning, but it was a huge factory and he didn't know all the details. And they didn't know how many Kaitians there would be.

"One minute!" shouted the pilot.

Caleb straightened his helmet. "Savor this moment, ladies and gentlemen! We are the first humans to set a foot on this planet and we are the first humans to see something far older than the entire human species! I love this job!" he yelled and the Marines smiled, all looking a little more relaxed.

"We hear you, Sarge!" said Karl.

The shuttle landed smoothly and the Marines hurried outside. Caleb glanced around. All the Marines were already on the ground and the shuttle lifted off to hide away from the landing site.

Sergeants from the other squads signaled their readiness, and they started their march toward the factory entrance.

The ground was barren, nearly void of any flora. Gravity was slightly below Earth normal and that made the march easier. The temperature was fair; together with the crisp air, the march seemed like a Sunday jog in the park.

The Arash colonel had warned about indigenous life forms, but the Marines saw nothing and heard nothing.

The forward squad stopped when they had the factory entrance in sight. Caleb ordered his squad to take cover and opened his tactical computer and communications device.

The pad showed the location of all the Marines; as the observers began to see the enemies, they started to appear on the pad, too.

There were five enemy shuttles on the surface, but the scans from the orbit had only detected two. Each was much larger than their own shuttle, and they'd hold easily two or three platoons of Marines, sixty to ninety soldiers, in each.

The Kaitians were larger than humans, so Caleb assumed that one shuttle held two platoons of Kaitian soldiers--meaning three-to-one odds, ten enemy platoons against three Marine platoons.

At least two squads, twenty or so Kaitians, were at the entrance and patrolling the perimeter. The plan was to silently knock out the guards and patrols, but it might be easier said than done. Caleb chatted with other squad leaders using his pad, and they decided to snipe all the guards at the entrance and then knock out the patrols. Caleb waved Karl to him. "When I give the signal, make a run for it and knock out that patrol."

Karl looked at the pad and then toward the enemy. He was standing with his back to the factory entrance, looking at the barren landscape.

"I can crawl closer," said Karl, and moved his finger across the screen and drew a path. Caleb tapped the screen and the screen showed assumed line-of-sights of the enemies.

"Okay, you can go a little closer," said Caleb and pointed on the pad. "Here. The enemy won't see you. Snipers are ready. Get ready!"

Karl crawled silently closer to the enemy and crouched behind the rock.

Any moment now, he thought, and tensed.

"Go!" said Caleb and Karl sprinted toward the enemy.

He knew that the snipers pulled the triggers at the same time Caleb had given the order to him. Karl didn't see it, but the snipers killed twelve guards simultaneously; before even the first enemy had fallen dead to ground, Karl jumped toward a Kaitian and knocked him out.

All the Kaitian patrols were knocked without a fight. They hurried to secure the factory entrance, the shuttles, and the perimeter.

"Girard, Smith! Make sure that perimeter is secure!" ordered Caleb. "Hamilton! Check that shuttle, I want an exact number of how many enemies came with it!"

Ellen and Henry went to check the perimeter and Kyle ran toward the nearest shuttle and carefully entered. It was empty. There were seven rows of seats, each row with seven seats, total of forty-nine. Kyle was turning back to door when he glanced up.

There were another seven rows of seats in the ceiling.

"Oh, hell," said Kyle and called Caleb.

"What is it?" asked Caleb and Kyle pointed toward ceiling.

"Damn," said Caleb. He called to other squad leaders and told what he was seeing. Soon, others confirmed that all shuttles were the same--meaning that there might be nearly five hundred enemies on the surface; not three-to-one odds as he'd estimated earlier, but five-to-one odds.

"Girard, Smith!" called Caleb in his intercom.

"Sir?" asked Ellen.

"Widen the perimeter," said Caleb, "and make sure that there are no enemies within half a kilometer."

"Acknowledged," said Ellen.

"Sarge!" called Karl, who was guarding the Kaitians. He'd taken away the Kaitians' weapons, armor, and any devices he'd found.

"What is it?" said Caleb.

"What do we do this Kaitian?" asked Karl. "Or these Kaitians? We have ten live prisoners now. We could call it off and go home."

"Yeah, we could." Caleb grinned. "But not yet."

He walked to Karl and his unconscious prisoners.

"Let's use their own shuttle as prisons. Take him in and tie him to the seat. Use the wire--around wrists, ankles, and neck. Make sure that he can't get away."

Karl nodded and lifted the Kaitian. "Damn, he's heavy!"

He carried the Kaitian to the nearby shuttle and Caleb crouched beside a large rock. He and other squad leaders coordinated their activities using the tactpad. They decided to enter the factory after the perimeter had been secured.

"Sarge!" called Ellen after a few minutes. "The area is secure. Nothing living within half a kilometer."

"Excellent," said Caleb, and updated that in his tactpad. Other squad leaders acknowledged immediately and confirmed that there were no enemies present within half a kilometer.

"We go in," he informed his squad, "right after the 3rd Platoon. Rendezvous at the entrance in one minute. And remember, as many live prisoners as possible."

***

As the Marines descended toward the planet, the Arash soldiers and three platoons of Jaegers were approached the Kaitian frigate, carefully maneuvering in their space suits. Four Jaeger platoons were held as reserve.

The approaching soldiers were in the same orbit as the enemy frigate. One by one, the troopers landed on the exterior hull of the frigate.

"Unbelievable!" Jeffery exclaimed when the first Arash troopers made contact with the hull. He'd expected the frigate to fire upon the approaching soldiers, but nothing had happened.

From their own scanners, the soldiers were as visible as stars, but only because they knew what to look for. Horacio had commented that it was nearly impossible to detect individual soldiers, unless one knew what to look for.

The first task of the raiding party was to disable sensors and communications. They accomplished the task on schedule, so that the Marines on the ground could engage the Kaitians outside the factory entrance without the frigate knowing about it.

***

"The Marines are moving inside the factory," said Tricia. "The Arash and Jaegers are breaching through the hull. Sensors shows increased, even hectic, activity aboard the Kaitian frigate."

"That's expected," said Horacio, "The loss of sensors and communications is not taken lightly. I don't believe, however, they know why they lost them. We still have the element of surprise. When we breach the hull, we'll make sure that the communications will stay disabled and then we methodically eliminate the opposition. Or disable them." He looked at Jiao. "We'll get the prisoners soon enough."

"And more," said Jeffery, smiling, "A Kaitian frigate. Command will drop their jaws and eyes when they see it."

Horacio laughed. "I'm sure they will."

"Ma'am," said Tricia, "they've breached the hull and are entering inside."

"The fight starts," said Horacio. "They've registered the hull breach and they send troopers to investigate. Now the enemy knows they've been attacked."

"The fight starts," said Jiao quietly to herself, "and blood will flow."

***

"Girard! Thornton!" said Caleb. "Secure that room!"

Ellen and Karl hurried to the door. Karl nodded to Ellen to open the door.

The room was dark and silent. Ellen opened the door slowly and stepped inside. Nothing happened and the room stayed dark.

"Nothing," said Ellen, relieved.

"Ah, here's a switch."

She pressed the switch and the light turned on. The room was totally empty.

"Empty?" wondered Karl. What was the purpose of an empty room?

"Sarge, the room is empty."

"Okay," said Caleb and he, too, wondered why all the rooms they've seen so far had been empty. They were in the fourth underground level. The 3rd platoon were in the upper levels, but no one had yet encountered the enemy. That meant that the Marines were still facing hundreds of enemy soldiers and the bloody fights were yet to come. Caleb sighed. "Move forward. Smith! Hamilton! Take point!"

Henry and Kyle hurried to point and slowly moved forward in a dark corridor.

The corridor was long and straight, and silence surrounded them--except for the quiet footsteps of the Marines and the constant humming of the fusion factory.

Suddenly, Henry raised his hand, and Kyle signaled the rest to halt.

"What is it?" whispered Kyle.

"Listen," whispered Henry.

Footsteps! Many footsteps. "Tell the Sarge," said Henry, and Kyle hurried back to inform Caleb, who came back to Henry to listen the footsteps.

"Find out where they are and come back," said Caleb to Henry. "And be careful!"

"Yes, sir," said Henry and moved ahead, listening to the footsteps. The corridor ended at a wide hall, and that's where the footsteps were coming from.

Unsurprisingly, the hall was empty--except for the faint light at the far side and several humanoid shapes around it. Henry saw at least five Kaitians, but he didn't dare to go closer; there was no cover in the hall.

The Kaitians seemed to be building something--perhaps a command post.

After a few minutes, Henry decided he had seen enough, and went back to tell Caleb.

"At least five?" asked Caleb. "But there could be more?"

"Yes, sir," said Henry.

Caleb thought about what to do. Their mission was to take prisoners, but there were many enemies in the factory, and they didn't have to capture all the enemies.

"Townsend!" called Caleb and Kate hurried to him.

"Sir?" she asked.

"There are at least five enemies in the hall ahead," said Caleb. "Take a team of four and get the enemy in your sights. The rest of us move closer, and we try to capture them. But if you think that they've seen us, take them all out. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Good," said Caleb. "Let's move."

The squad went to the entrance of the hall. Kate, Tommy, Ellen, Silvio, and Raquel stayed behind and were ready to take the Kaitians down if they detected the other Marines. Caleb and the rest moved closer to the Kaitians, very, very carefully.

They were almost upon them when one of the Kaitians stood up and took a step toward the Marines. Caleb's heart pounded. Did he see them? Another Kaitian came beside the first one and said something. Caleb expected Kate to shoot at any second now, but no shot came. The Kaitians relaxed and went on to continue whatever they were doing.

The Marines moved ahead, even more carefully, until they were behind the crates the Kaitians had been carrying to the hall. Caleb signaled to get ready to knock the Kaitians down.

But before they could do anything, the hall was lit. Somebody turned the lights on and in the center of the hall stood half a dozen Kaitians looking directly at Caleb and the other Marines.

There was a second's pause as everyone was greatly surprised--but the Marines recovered first.

Kate's team shot the Kaitians before they could raise their weapons and Caleb's team killed all the Kaitians they could see--fifteen Kaitians altogether.

"Where the hell did they come?" Caleb cursed, and ran to the bodies in the center of the hall.

"Find the switch and turn the lights off!" he ordered. "And find out where these came from!"

"Sir!" called Kate and pointed up. "Look!"

There was a hatch on the ceiling.

"Damn!" said Caleb and used his pad to inform other squads. No one else had encountered any hatches on the ceilings or floors.

The lights went out in the hall.

"Finally," said Caleb and walked to the Kaitian command post.

"Come here!" he ordered the Marines. "We need to cover our backs. Cortez and Chandler, you stay here. If any enemies come from that hatch, kill them. And search the dead Kaitians, take their weapons, and find out if they carry anything interesting."

"Yes, sir," said Tommy and Silvio.

"The rest, we'll move forward," said Caleb. "We need to get some prisoners. Thornton, Girard. Take point."

Karl and Ellen moved ahead to the corridor at the other side of the hall. The corridor was again long and straight, but there were many doors on both sides of the corridor.

"Oh, hell," sighed Ellen. "We need to secure them all."

***

"Fall back! Fall back!" shouted Howard to the Jaegers of the 6-Alpha-1 Platoon of the Jaeger Brigade. They had to retreat. The Kaitians fought fiercely and he'd already lost half a squad.

The 6-Alpha-1 was one of three Jaeger platoons assigned to capture the frigate together with the platoon from the Arash Auxiliary Regiment. The four platoons had breached the hull in different sections of the frigate; two platoons breached the lowest decks both port and starboard and two platoons breached the upmost port and starboard decks.

The plan was to secure the ship deck by deck from bottom up and vice versa, and meet at the middle, or at the bridge. The 6-Alpha-1 Platoon had breached the lowest starboard deck.

"Hold this position!" Howard ordered the Jaegers who'd made a barricade of the dead Kaitians and the debris in the cross-section of a passage way.

"Sergeants!" he called. "Come here!"

Sergeants Pauline Vaughn of the 1st Squad, Kenneth Price of the 2nd Squad, and Richard Evans of the 3rd Squad hurried to Howard.

"Sir?" said Pauline.

"We must get through," said Howard. "Suggestions?"

"Yes, sir," said Kenneth. "We can burn through the walls and flank the enemy."

"Good," said Howard. "Have it done."

Kenneth turned to order his squad to do it.

"Other suggestions?" asked Howard.

Pauline pointed upward. "The ceiling, there should be opening where we can fit. We can strike them from above."

"Do it," ordered Howard. "You have five minutes to verify that the plans work."

The sergeants left and Howard went back to the barricade.

"Sir," said Private Dennis Parker, "looks like they are going to give us a push."

"Can you hold it?" asked Howard.

"Extra weapons wouldn't harm, sir," said Dennis.

"Very well, Private," said Howard. "I'll see if I can spare someone.

Hold this position."

"Sir," said Pauline, running toward Howard, "we can use the ceiling and Sergeant Price reports that they cut through the first floor. They need fifteen minutes to get ready to flank the enemy. I can lead my squad via the ceiling."

"Excellent," said Howard. "We make our push in fifteen minutes. Send two of your troopers back there to reinforce the barricade. The enemy will try hard to come here."

"Yes, sir," said Pauline.

"Sergeant Evans," called Howard through the intercom, "get your squad here. Ready to attack when other squads are in position."

Richard acknowledged the order. Howard stopped to catch a breath for one moment of rest.

"We are ready," said Kenneth. "We are in a room behind the enemy."

"Vaughn?" asked Howard.

"We are ready, too," said Pauline. "Above the enemy."

Richard nodded beside Howard. Everyone was ready.

"On my mark," said Howard. "Ready in three! Two! Go!"

It was a successful attack. The Kaitians were surprised by the Jaegers attacking them from three sides and the fight was brief and overwhelming. The Jaegers suffered only two minor wounds and no casualties. The Kaitians lost the entire platoon defending the deck.

"There were more than we thought," panted Howard after the attack. "Any survivors?"

"Three enemies alive, but wounded," said Pauline, waving Howard to join her nearby.

"Looks grave," commented Howard, looking at the wounded Kaitians, who stared intensely at them.

"Do you understand me?" he asked a Kaitian on the floor.

The answer was an even more intense stare.

"He understands," said Howard. And he was correct.

"What do we do?" asked Pauline.

"Take them to one of the rooms and tie them with the net," said Horacio. "If they survive, they'll be our prisoners."

"Yes, sir," said Pauline, and ordered two Jaegers from her squad to carry out the orders.

"Evans!" called Howard. "Secure the deck."

"Yes, sir," called Richard, and hurried with his squad to secure the corridor and the rooms.

"Sir?" called Kenneth. "The elevator is not functioning. There's a maintenance shaft nearby and we can use that. It seems to be secure."

"Okay." Howard nodded. "Weld the elevator door shut. I don't want any surprises after we move upwards."

Kenneth pointed to one of the Jaegers nearby who'd heard the Captain's order and he hurried to carry out the order.

"Captain!" called Richard in a few minutes. "The deck is secure."

"Excellent!" said Howard. "Price! We are ready to move to the next deck! Take point! We'll follow!"

"Yes, sir!" answered Kenneth and lead his squad to the maintenance shaft and carefully started to ascend to the next deck.

***

"Did you hear that?" whispered Ellen. The humming of the factory was accompanied by an odd sound, like footsteps but unlike any steps she'd heard before.

Ellen and Karl were again point as the squad advanced farther into the factory via a long corridor. They saw no enemies. The factory was huge and they were only in the fourth underground level.

"I heard," said Karl, and signaled the rest of squad to hold position as he and Ellen moved carefully ahead to check the source of the sounds.

They saw a faint light that got bigger as they moved toward it. "Looks like a hall," whispered Karl.

It was indeed a hall.

"Holy Hell!" said Ellen. It was not just any hall. It was huge; the ceiling was nowhere to be seen and the hall stretched to all directions. They could see neither walls nor floor. Only blackness was visible. The size of the hall was big enough to fit several frigates in it.

"Nothing like this in the floor plans," whispered Ellen in awe.

"Where does the sound come from?"

"Maybe down there?" said Karl and pointed toward the blackness below.

"Or there?" He pointed to a bridge in front of them going in to the middle of the hall; it disappeared into the blackness.

"Get the Sarge," said Ellen.

"I'm already here," said Caleb, startling Karl and Ellen.

"Sarge!" said Karl. "I signaled to hold your position."

"I must've missed that." Caleb smiled. "What do you think is there?"

"A hall bigger than, well . . ." said Ellen. "Bigger than anything. Very black, very empty."

"And very, very dangerous," said Karl. "There's no cover whatsoever if we go ahead across that bridge."

"Damn," said Caleb. "The enemy may be right ahead, in the blackness and targeting us. And where does that sound come from? Send a bug to investigate."

"Yes, sir," said Karl. He sent the artificial cockroach to crawl ahead across the bridge.

The signal from the bug was lost even before it reached the blackness in the middle of the hall.

"Damn!" cursed Karl after trying to recall the bug. "It isn't coming back. Something is blocking the signal."

"We must investigate," said Caleb and waved the rest of the squad to him.

"The bug is lost there," he said, pointing to the bridge ahead, "and we need to investigate what's there. In the blackness. I need a volunteer."

There was a moment of silence.

"I'll go," said Hannah after the moment passed.

Caleb nodded. "Be careful."

Karl tapped Hannah's shoulder encouragingly. She went slowly ahead, looking at both sides of the bridge. She went near the edge and looked down, shaking her head before continuing forward. She stopped when she was near the blackness.

"She stopped," said Ellen, and Hannah took the bug from the floor and took a step ahead.

She looked around, but didn't move.

"Go on," said Karl; as if Hannah heard, she raised her arm and seemed to touch the blackness, then jerked her hand away.

"What was that?" wondered Karl, a little tense.

Hannah looked back and she looked almost terrified.

She moved a bit so others could see her and raised her arm again to touch the blackness.

"Look!" said Ellen. "Her hand disappeared in it!"

"What the hell is that?" wondered Caleb. "A wall? Or curtain?"

Hannah looked back before taking a step ahead and disappearing into the blackness.

"Whoa!" said Kyle.

"Quiet!" hissed Caleb.

"Do you hear?" The odd sound like footsteps was louder.

"What the hell is that?" whispered Ellen.

The minutes passed and the odd sound continued. It seemed to come from everywhere.

"Where is she? She should come back," said Caleb.

Another minute passed.

"Look!" said Ellen relieved. "She's coming back."

Hannah appeared from the blackness and dragged something with her.

"It's a body!" said Karl and when she was closer. "A Kaitian body!"

"Hannah!" said Ellen, alarmed once Hannah was near and she could see her face. "Are you all right?"

Ellen and Caleb hurried to Hannah and escorted her back to the corridor. She was shaking and looked horrified.

"What was there?" asked Caleb. "What happened?"

Hannah didn't answer, but she looked at Caleb with wide eyes and pointed at the Kaitian body.

"Holy Hell," whispered Kyle.

"What the hell is this?" said Karl.

It was not a body. It was a skeleton wearing a Kaitian uniform.

"They were all there," whispered Hannah with horror in her eyes. "All the Kaitians, nothing but uniformed skeletons in the mist. All lie there, behind the black veil. And behind the veil--not black but grey mist."

There were tears in her eyes. Ellen and Karl glanced at each other; they'd never seen Hannah so terrified.

"What did you see?" asked Caleb quietly.

"Skeletons in the mist," she said again. "And . . ." She was shaking, eyes wide. "Footsteps. But not footsteps, something else. Something unknown."

She paused and took a breath.

"The footsteps are not so loud anymore, by the way," said Karl, "as they were while you were in there."

"It was following me!" said Hannah, terrified. "I heard it behind me as soon as I passed the veil. Every step I took, I heard it closer. The first Kaitian body was just a couple of meters behind the veil, and when I passed the body I heard it right behind me! I froze, I couldn't move for a long time. It seemed like forever, until I managed to take a step back. I feared I'd bump into it but there was nothing. I took another step back and I heard it move away."

She took a breath, a little more relaxed.

"I backed away, grabbed the closest dead Kaitian, and came back," she said.

"Huh," said Ellen and hugged Hannah. "I'm glad you came back."

"Thanks," said Hannah, and the terror was hugged away.

Caleb sighed in his mind; he'd been uncertain what to do, but now that Hannah was more like herself again, he was relieved.

"Something's very wrong here," he said. "The Arash Colonel said nothing like this. You said they were all there? The Kaitians?"

"It definitely looked like that," said Hannah. "I tried to count, but I lost count before two hundred."

Caleb nodded and thought about the situation. Their mission was to take prisoners, but it looked like there were no more prisoners that could be taken, except the Kaitians outside.

"I must inform the others," said Caleb.

"Hamilton and Townsend, you stay here in case something comes from behind the veil."

"Yes, sir," said Kyle and Kate, somewhat worried.

"The rest of you, we go back to the hall," said Caleb. "Somebody take the skeleton."

When they were back in the hall, they were greeted by Tommy and Silvio's rifles.

"Sorry, sir," said Tommy, "I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

"Me neither," said Caleb. "Thornton can brief you. I need to find the others as soon as possible. Daniels, you come with me."

"Yes, sir," said Hannah and left with Caleb. Caleb was taking her with him because he didn't want to leave Hannah to sit and think about her experience.

"What happened?" asked Tommy.

"You won't believe it," said Karl, and told the story of what had happened.

***

"Damn!" cursed Pauline.

The fight was not going well. The Kaitians were at least as good as the Jaegers, and they had the advantage of being in their own territory.

They fought fiercely for every meter, and Pauline had already lost her entire squad--except Dennis.

"Can you hold it?" she asked him after the Kaitians ceased fire.

"I don't know," said Dennis. "If they get reinforcements, we may have to fall back."

"The captain is trying to get reinforcements for us, but even if he gets them, it'll be some time before they can come to our aid," said Pauline.

"What are they doing? Can you see?"

"Looks like they got their reinforcements," said Dennis.

"Damn!" cursed Pauline. "We can't retreat. We must hold here. Otherwise they can flank the others."

"Yes, ma'am!" said Dennis. "We'll hold!"

As if that was the signal, the Kaitians launched the attack.

Three of them ran toward Pauline and Dennis and fell before they were halfway through. Behind them were five enemy soldiers, and they were also killed before reaching Dennis and Pauline. Right after them were three more enemies; one fell, but two threw themselves toward Dennis and Pauline.

"Agh!" shouted Dennis and hit the Kaitian in the face. But it didn't stop him, and he fell on Dennis with the intent to kill.

Pauline was lucky. She had her rifle ready and she shot the Kaitian, but the shot didn't stop him. He fell on her and she was nearly crushed below the dead weight. She saw Dennis fighting against the other enemy and tried to push the body away.

"Agh!" shouted Dennis again when the Kaitian punched him and broke his nose. The Kaitian punched again to Dennis's chest and Pauline heard something crack.

"Hey!" yelled Pauline, trying to get the Kaitian's attention. And she got it. The Kaitian looked at Dennis and saw no threat, and moved toward Pauline.

"Uh-oh," she said, and realized it hadn't been a good idea to yell at the Kaitian while she was stuck beneath the dead body.

Was there a smile on the Kaitian's face? To see the helpless enemy and go for the kill?

And the kill came, but it was the Kaitian who was killed. Shot by Howard, who'd happened to come over.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes," said Pauline, "I will be when this fellow moves away. But Dennis is not. There. The Kaitian hit him hard."

Howard went beside Dennis and immediately saw that his wounds were serious. His nose was broken bad and half of his ribs must have been broken. Fortunately, he had his armor, which had took the main force of the beating--otherwise he'd be dead.

"Dennis?" asked Howard kneeling to him. "Can you hear me?"

A nod.

"Don't talk and don't move," said Howard. "We'll get you out of here."

"We held our position, Dennis," said Pauline, who'd managed to free herself from the dead Kaitian.

A faint smile appeared on Dennis's lips.

Howard stood up and looked around. "Are you all that's left from your squad?"

"Yes, sir," said Pauline. "We barely managed to hold our position, as you see."

Howard sighed. "There's been fierce fighting all over the ship. We've suffered heavy losses. But so have the Kaitians. The Arash estimate that the enemy had at least a full company-sized force here, maybe more, and we've nearly eliminated them. We think there may be only one or two platoons left on the ship."

"What's next?" said Pauline.

"We wait for reinforcements," said Howard. "They should be boarding any minute now.

Then we eliminate the enemy and capture the ship."

***

"Ma'am," said Tricia. "The Jaegers have boarded the frigate."

"It shouldn't take long now to capture the frigate," said Horacio, his voice clearly sad. He'd lost nearly half of his soldiers.

"They fight fiercely," said Jiao.

"Or desperately," said Horacio. "There's only few prisoners."

"We only need few," said Jiao and he nodded.

"Tricia, anything from the surface?"

"Not since they went inside the factory," said Tricia.

"We should've heard something by now," said Jiao. "Send someone to investigate."

"Yes, ma'am," said Tricia, and wondered who she'd send to investigate.

Darnell overheard Jiao's command.

"Hey," called Darnell to Tricia. "I'll go."

"What?" she said.

"I'll go to surface to investigate," he said.

"No, no," she said. "I can't . . ."

"Ma'am," he interrupted, "I want to go."

Tricia hesitated before answering.

"All right," she said. "Go on, but be careful."

"Yes, ma'am." Darnell smiled.

***

"Daniels!" said Caleb. "Stop!"

Hannah stopped in her tracks and looked questioning to Caleb.

"Do you hear that?" he said once he was beside Hannah.

She listened.

"Yes," she said. "Faint footsteps. Carefully moving ahead in front of us. Probably the ones we're looking for."

"Probably," said Caleb. "But tread carefully."

They walked ahead toward the footsteps, and soon they saw the rear guard of the Marines.

"Hey!" called Caleb.

The Marines ahead stopped and turned their weapons toward Caleb and Hannah, who held their hands up.

"Careful," said Caleb. "Who's in charge?"

"I am, Caleb," said Sergeant Kayla Andrews.

"Kayla," said Caleb. "Good to see you."

"What are you doing here?" asked Kayla.

"I have new information," he said. "Have you encountered enemies?"

"No," said Kayla. "And that actually worries me. I'd expected we'd had to fight our way here, but we haven't even heard anything. Only you seem to have encountered the enemy, Caleb."

Caleb nodded.

"After the fight, we moved forward and came to a great hall. For lack of a better description." Caleb told about the huge hall, the bridge, the black veil, and what Hannah had experienced inside the veil.

"Whoa," said Kayla and looked at Hannah, who nodded confirmation and involuntarily shivered.

"One more thing, Kayla," said Caleb. "We should be by that hall already."

"Show me the map," said Kayla, and Caleb showed the map in his pad. The automapper drew the map of the factory as the Marines moved inside.

"You're right," said Kayla, "but as you can see, there is no hall here."

"And that gives me the shivers," said Caleb quietly.

"Ross, Thompson," called Kayla.

"Yes, ma'am," said Privates Adam Ross and David Thompson.

"Go scout ahead," said Kayla. "I have reason to believe there are no enemies here, so be quick. But if you do encounter enemy or anything out of the ordinary, come right back."

"Yes, ma'am," said Adam and left to scout ahead.

"What about the others?" asked Kayla. "Have you informed them?"

"I've tried," said Caleb. "Something blocks the signals. Communications won't work anymore."

"Really? I haven't noticed," said Kayla.

"Try to reach Ross or Thompson," said Caleb.

Kayla tried to reach them, but had no success.

"You're right," she said, surprised. "I've lost contact."

"We'll wait fifteen minutes for your scouts to come back, then I'll go to find others," said Caleb. "If they encounter the hall, it shouldn't be far ahead."

Kayla nodded.

They didn't have to wait long.

"Sarge!" called Adam.

"What happened? Where's Thompson?" asked Kayla.

"He's back there, watching that . . . that . . ." His voice trailed off.

"Watching what?" asked Kayla.

"I don't know what it is," he said. "Like a wall. Black veil. And behind it . . ."

Again his voice trailed off. Kayla glanced at Caleb.

"Yes?" said Kayla.

"It was not black behind the veil. Like mist, grey mist," said Adam. He continued, just barely keeping his voice normal. "There were bodies there. Skeletons! Kaitian skeletons! Dozens of them."

"It was you who passed beyond the veil?" asked Caleb.

"Yes, sir!" he said, alarmed. "There is something there! Footsteps, but not footsteps! Right behind me!"

Hannah came to Adam and took his hand to hers. "I know. I was there, too," she said quietly.

Adam's eyes widened. He pressed Hannah's hand in his.

"Caleb," said Kayla, looking at Adam and Hannah holding hands, "something's clearly very wrong here. Let's find the others and leave this place as soon as possible."

"I agree," he said. "I'll get my squad. Let's meet at the entrance."

"All right," said Kayla. "Let's hurry."

Caleb turned back to get his squad and Kayla said to Hannah, "We'll leave this place. Caleb went to get the rest of your squad and we'll meet at the entrance.

Somebody go get Thompson!" she ordered. "We'll go back as soon as he's here!"

Somebody heard the order and hurried to get David.

***

"Was that it?" asked Howard after the fight stopped.

"Yes, sir," said Pauline.

"Right," said Howard. "No prisoners?"

"No, sir," said Pauline. "They won't surrender but fight till the end."

"Well," said Howard. "I hope the Marines on the ground have prisoners. Any casualties on our side?"

"Three dead, eleven wounded," said Pauline.

Howard nodded and sighed. They'd lost too many soldiers and they still had one deck to go.

"Have a short rest," he said. "We'll attack once I get the word from others."

The last he heard, the three other platoons and their reinforcements had advanced; they all should have secured their decks by now. They would launch simultaneous attacks on the final deck and they expected a brief fight before storming the bridge to finalize the capture of the frigate.

"Sir," said Kenneth. "A message from the others. They've secured the ship and the attack on the final deck starts in ten minutes."

"Excellent," said Howard. "Inform the others and get ready."

"Right away, sir," said Kenneth.

In ten minutes, they were ready to attack.

Two of the Jaegers used the elevator and the rest used the maintenance shafts to enter the deck.

"Ready!" said Howard, looking at the countdown in his watch. "Three, two, one--go!"

The final deck was cross-shaped. Four corridors. An elevator at the end led to the bridge, located in in the middle of a round hall. Maintenance shaft hatches were near the elevator.

The Jaegers and the remaining Arash rushed the deck and expected heavy resistance. But there was no resistance and all four platoons met each other in the corridor rounding the bridge.

"Where's the enemy?" wondered one of the Arash soldiers.

Howard was equally surprised and went on to have a talk with other captains.

"Two minutes!" he said after a moment. "We breach the doors at the same time! Get ready!"

The charges on the doors caused them to shatter into small pieces and Jaegers stormed the bridge from all four directions.

"Empty!" said Howard. "How can this be empty? Check everything!" he ordered.

"I don't believe this. Price! Contact the Sea of Boston. Tell them what you see here and ask them to scan the ship for life forms. Vaughn and Evans!" he continued. "Take your squads and check the decks again. Make sure we haven't missed anything."

"Yes, sir," said Pauline and Richard.

"Captain!" called Kenneth. "Admiral on the line."

"Admiral," said Howard, taking the call.

"Are you sure there's no one left?" asked Jiao.

"We'll confirm it, but it looks that way," answered Howard.

"It looks that way from here, too," she said. "The only life signs we see are the Jaegers and the Arash soldiers."

"Thank you, ma'am, that's good to know," said Howard. "I'll let you know as soon as we've confirmed the ship is secure."

***

"Very well, Captain," said Jiao. "We'll await your message."

She closed the comm and looked at Horacio.

"What do you think?" she asked. "Why was the bridge empty?"

Horacio shrugged. "They must've been part of the defenders."

"We'd never join the fight if we were attacked," said Jiao.

"Neither would we," said Horacio. "But let's see, they might be hiding."

"Yes, we'll know soon enough," said Jiao and asked Tricia, "Anything from the surface?"

"Still nothing, ma'am," she said. "And it worries me. Darnell should be there already and should've contacted us."

"Hmm," wondered Jiao aloud. "It's probably nothing. We would've seen if anything had happened."

"Perhaps so, ma'am," said Tricia, not entirely convinced.

***

"What's that shuttle doing here?" asked Caleb when he exited the factory.

"Lieutenant Carroll came to find you; they were getting worried in the frigate," said a private who'd stayed to guard the prisoners. "Didn't you see him?"

"No," said Caleb. "Any idea where he went?"

"I'm sorry, sir," said the private, shaking his head.

Caleb nodded. He'd send his Marines to find the other Marine squads and inform them what they'd encountered. One had already come back and reported the same black veil crossing their path and the Kaitian skeletons inside. And the Marine who went behind the veil came back in terror.

Five squads were still inside and now the lieutenant from the ship. Caleb sighed. Somebody had to go find him.

"Contact the ship," ordered Caleb. "Tell them that their lieutenant went inside and is missing."

"I tried, sir," said the private. "I have no contact. As if they're not there."

"Keep trying," said Caleb calmly, not letting the private see that he was getting worried. The black veil inside, no communications anywhere. It didn't bode well.

He hurried back to entrance of the factory.

"Kayla!" he shouted.

"Caleb," she said. "What is it?"

He told her about the lieutenant and the loss of contact to the ship.

"Damn," cursed Kayla. "This is not good."

"No, it's not," said Caleb. "We must get everyone out of the factory. And we must find that damn lieutenant. I already sent someone to find him, but can you spare anyone to help him?"

"Sure," she said, and ordered two of her Marines to search.

"I hope they find him soon," said Caleb. "I--"

"Sarge!" shouted the Marine who'd just gone to search for the lieutenant. "Sarge!"

Caleb and Kayla glanced each other and ran to the Marine.

"What is it?" asked Kayla.

"Look!" the Marine said. "The black veil!"

Caleb and Kayla couldn't believe their eyes. How it was here?

"It's coming closer!" yelled the Marine.

So it was--slowly but surely, the black veil came toward them.

"Out!" shouted Caleb as loud as he could. "Everybody out! Out! Out!"

They ran. Fortunately, the exit was close and they all got outside. Caleb and Kayla were the last ones out and stopped just outside the entrance. The black veil also stopped at the entrance, barely inside, only meters from Caleb and Kayla.

"What the hell is going on?" whispered Kayla.

As if the black veil answered, ripples appeared in the veil.

"What is that?" asked Kayla.

"Holy Hell!" she shouted as an armored Kaitian skeleton was thrown through the veil, nearly hitting Caleb. The skeleton was thrown thirty meters away from the entrance.

"Another!" shouted Caleb and ducked again. He ran away from the entrance and so did Kayla and all the other Marines as skeletons started to fly away from the veil at an increasing rate.

First dozens and then hundreds of Kaitian skeletons were thrown away--or more like they were spat out from factory, flying and landing in grotesque positions all around the area in front of the factory entrance.

"Holy Hell!" cursed Kayla again as the first Marine skeleton was spat out by the black veil. And then another. And another. It was even more grotesque and very disheartening to see their own people flown in such an unnatural way and hitting the ground.

"Now what?" shouted Caleb after the skeletons no longer were thrown and a rumbling like thunder started.

"Damn!" said Kayla when the black veil vanished from the entrance. Except there was no entrance anymore. Just a mountainside, as if it had always been there.

The rumbling stopped and it was quiet for a long time. The Marines outside looked disbelievingly the skeletons of their comrades and the Kaitians lying on the ground.

"Sir?" someone said. "The communications work again. The admiral wants to know what is going on."

"Tell her . . ." said Caleb quietly. "Tell her to wait until we assess the situation." Caleb walked away from the Marine, who was uncomfortable having to tell the admiral to wait.

"Ellen," said Caleb. "Count the Kaitians. Let's verify that they're all . . . dead."

"Yes, sir," said Ellen.

"The rest of you," he said quietly, "honor the fallen and move them over there, near the shuttles, in a graceful position. I don't want our dead to look that way. And if you find that lieutenant, let me know."

***

"Come back ASAP, Sergeant," said Jiao to Caleb after he'd contacted her and told what happened.

"Yes, ma'am," said Caleb. "Will do."

"Horacio?" she asked.

"Unbelievable, Admiral," he said. "Nothing like that when I was there. No reports of any black veil whatsoever."

"Perhaps the Kaitians triggered automated guards or something," said Jiao.

"Maybe so," sighed Horacio. "But whatever it was, I have a very bad feeling about it."

"I know what you mean," said Jiao. "I got goose bumps when the sergeant described the black veil and its effect on the Marines."

Horacio looked oddly at Jiao and asked. "Goose bumps, Admiral?"

Now Jiao looked oddly at Horacio and then laughed. "It's a human expression, Colonel. Just a human expression."

Horacio still looked oddly at Jiao. "I'll take your word for it."

Jiao changed the subject. "We didn't get as many prisoners as we thought."

"But we got a few," said Horacio. "And we got the frigate."

"Oh, yes." Jiao smiled. "The frigate. Command won't believe their eyes when we bring it to them. We'll leave when the Marines are on board. Straight back to Coalition space."
26

"Counselors!" said Aileen once they entered back to normal space, after piggybacking alongside a Kaitian cruiser in hyperspace.

"What is it?" said Nick.

"We must disengage," said Aileen.

"Do it!" said Nick. He didn't know why, but Aileen wouldn't say so in vain.

The corvette moved away from the cruiser.

"Look!" said Louis. "The cruiser has fallen behind the others."

"Because of us?" asked Nick.

"Yes," said Aileen. "I'm analyzing it."

The corvette continued to move away as the cruiser was accompanied by several patrolling Kaitian fighters who circled around it. If they'd been near the cruiser, some of the fighters may have collided with them.

"Aileen?" said Louis. "What happened?"

She didn't answer right away.

"I've analyzed it," she said after a moment. "Our mass affected the position of the cruiser when we exited hyperspace. It must have been affected already when we entered hyperspace, but it was so negligible that they missed it. And I missed it, too."

Nick and Louis glanced at each other.

"Are we safe?" asked Nick.

"They can't detect us," said Aileen, "but I can't tell what they suspect. However, I'm detecting increased communications with the cruiser. And the fighters are going away from it, back to their patrolling. If I had to make a guess, they suspect either technical malfunction or incompetence of the cruiser's captain."

Nick sighed. "That was too close."

"It was," said Louis. "Where are we, by the way?"

Aileen projected a map between Nick and Louis.

"We are in the Rg'Tkeen space," she said. "Near one their mining colonies."

"It seems that William was right," said Louis.

"Looks like half of them are here."

"That's correct, Louis," said Aileen. "Half of their forces are here."

"And the other half must be in the Miccvan space," said Nick.

"We should go back," said Louis.

"Aileen?" said Nick. "Do you agree that Kaitians are attacking both Rg'Tkeen and the Miccvans?"

"That is likely," she said. "But I'd confirm it by first waiting to see what they do here and then go the next Rg'Tkeen world to make sure that our assumption is correct. It is only one day from here to the next target."

"One day won't make a difference," said Nick. "Let's do so."

Almost at that moment, the Kaitians started their attack on the Rg'Tkeen mining colony. The Kaitians didn't even bother to jam communications and the colony got a distress signal away before they were utterly destroyed.

The Kaitians didn't linger around, but entered hyperspace as soon as the colony and all facilities had been destroyed.

"Follow them!" said Nick.

"I can't follow," said Aileen. "But I can take us on the course to the next target."

"Do it," said Nick.

***

"It's already destroyed," said Louis once they exited hyperspace near the Rg'Tkeen colony. There was no sign of the Kaitians, only the destroyed colony they'd left behind.

"They are much faster than we are," said Aileen.

"Let's go back to SD-9 as fast as we can," said Nick. "We have to inform the commander."

"By the time we get there," said Louis quietly, "they'll already know."

Nick said nothing.

"Wait!" said Aileen suddenly.

"Now what?" asked Nick, irritated. He didn't like surprises and they'd had too many surprises lately.

"The Kaitians are still here," she said.

"Where?" asked Louis.

"They're cloaked," said Aileen. "Patrolling. At least five ships, probably cruisers."

"Interesting," said Nick. "Perhaps they suspect something after all."

"Or they just left a rearguard to eliminate anyone who comes here," said Louis.

"Maybe so," said Nick. He was not at all convinced.

"Could we destroy them?"

"What?" said Louis. "Are you serious?"

"Why not?" he said. "They're on the move and it might give them something to think about if they'd lost five cruisers without explanation."

"That's a thought," said Louis. "Aileen? Can we destroy them?"

"Our weapons should be sufficient, but there are five cruisers," she said. "It requires some planning."

Nick was sure he heard a certain thrill in the AI's voice and smiled. "You sound thrilled."

"I'm an AI," said Aileen flatly. "I'm not thrilled."

"Whatever you say." Nick smiled. "Whatever you say."

"How long would your planning take?" asked Louis. They were in no hurry to go back to Command, since they'd soon know anyway that the Kaitians had attacked. And if they destroyed a few of the enemies, it might be good in the long run.

"Not long," she said. "I'll monitor their patrol routes before planning the attack. The actual planning won't take more than an hour."

"All right, then," said Nick. "Take your time and let us know when you've done it."

"Yes, Counselors," said Aileen.

***

"I have a doubt, Nick," said Louis, while they were having drinks in the lobby outside the bridge.

"Why's that?" said Nick. "Don't you trust Aileen's capabilities?"

"It not her capabilities." He sighed. "It's the capabilities of the Coalition. I fear we are on a losing side in this war."

Nick sighed, too. "You have point there."

"They've already conquered much of the Coalition and now with their attack here and Miccvan space, they'll conquer even more," said Nick.

"Right," said Louis. "Remember the commander's thought that the Kaitians would attack on four fronts? He was correct. The Coalition resources are already thin and it will require much of . . . well, much of everything, including luck, to counter these attacks."

"We don't have much of anything," said Nick. "And luck has always been a limited resource."

"We've been lucky." Louis smiled. "Or what do you say of our meeting with beautiful Susan at KCap16?"

"Lucky indeed." Nick smiled. "Let's drink to that!"

"What do you think happened to her?" wondered Louis. "And who the hell was she anyway?"

"Ah," said Nick. "Now, you raise an excellent question. Perhaps we should pursue that when the war is over, don't you think?"

"I don't know, Nick," he said after a moment's pause. "I have an odd feeling that it might not be wise. Don't ask me why. It's something that's been hinted in between the lines, in the background noise of many meetings with William. And also with Bruce. I can't be any clearer, but do you know what I mean?"

"Bruce?" said Nick, thinking aloud. "Remember when we briefed about our findings in the Kaitian home world? Remember who the audience was? The Rg'Tkeen Grand Admiral, William, the Gemono Minister of Agriculture, and the others? Do you remember what Bruce said after I said that we should find out?"

Louis had to think back. "He told us not to. And now that I remember, he was dead serious about it. I wondered that at the time, but he changed the subject and I forgot it."

"Me, too, until now," said Nick. "And now we were talking about Susan. Coincidence, do you think?"

"No way!" said Louis. "William, Bruce, the group, Susan. They are linked somehow."

"Definitely," said Nick. "So, should we pursue it when the war is over?"

Again, Louis didn't answer right away.

"Sorry, Nick," he said. "I still have the odd feeling. And I fear if we pursue it might be . . . well, unfortunate for our immortal presence here. Perhaps even unfortunate for our immortal souls," he added smiling.

Now Nick was quiet for a long moment.

"Old friend," he finally said, "I believe you are right."

They raised their glasses and drank some more.

***

"I'm sorry to wake you, Counselors," said Aileen. "I've planned the attack now."

"You enjoyed waking us," said Nick, tired.

"I'm an AI," she said. "I don't enjoy."

Go to hell, thought Nick, amused.

"Come on, Louis, let's go and see what she's planned," he said and walked to the bridge.

"What have you planned?" asked Nick.

"Here is the optimal attack," said Aileen, and displayed the plan in front of Nick and Louis.

"Do we attack while cloaked?" asked Louis.

"It's one option," said Aileen. "The other one is to exit hyperspace uncloaked and attack. The end result is nearly the same."

"What do you mean nearly?" asked Nick.

"It is very likely that if we attack uncloaked, we'll sustain damage before the enemy is destroyed," said Aileen. "There is a small chance that we will be destroyed.

If we attack cloaked, there is small chance that they won't even manage to fire a single shot against us."

"I sense a 'but' here," said Nick.

"Correct, Counselor," she said. "Two buts, actually. It is not possible to do the attack so that the Kaitians wouldn't know what hit them. If we attack cloaked, there will be speculations and they will no doubt reach a conclusion that a cloaked ship attacked them. On the other hand, if we attack uncloaked, they know exactly who attacked them and they will draw conclusions about our technology. And I mean Human Empire technology that is available only in this ship."

"Hmm," thought Louis aloud. "I see a problem here. Either way, the Kaitians would be alerted to us. And I'm sure William would hate it if we reveal too much. Hell. I hate it, too."

"That's a good point, Louis," said Nick. "Very good point."

"Let's call the attack off," said Louis, "and go to SD-9 as fast as possible."

"I agree," said Nick. "Aileen, set a course and engage."

"Yes, Counselor," she said, and Nick thought he heard gladness in her voice.
27

William examined the galaxy map in his office, looking at the Kaitian home world, and shook his head. He'd just received the first reports of the Kaitian attack against the Rg'Tkeen and Miccvans.

Everybody was already calling for aid. But there was no one to help. The Coalition forces were already limited and stretched too thin.

William sighed. Nick and Louis, along with everybody else, had failed in their mission. No one managed to find out about the Kaitian forces before they'd started their attack.

William wondered where they were and hoped they'd come back soon. He had already a mission in mind for them and their ship.

From the looks of it, William thought, the Kaitians didn't play around. They started their attack in the farthest colonies of the Rg'Tkeen and Miccvan empires, and then continued to the next one and next one, as fast as they could.

"A traveling salesman problem," said William aloud, amused. Then, after a moment, more seriously: "A traveling salesman problem? Could it really be so simple? Computer," he ordered, "assume the Kaitians are indeed using the solution to the traveling salesman problem. Show me the next target and when they attack."

"Do I assume the destination be the same as origin?" asked the computer.

"Show me multiple options," said William. "Destination same as origin. Also when the destinations are the home worlds of Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen."

"A moment, sir," said the computer.

William pulled up the latest reports of the Behemoth activity. At least they were effective and they'd caused much losses to the Kaitians--and so far the Behemoths themselves were without casualties.

"What's the status of Behemoth construction?" asked William. After seeing the efficacy of the Behemoths, the Coalition Command had directed all possible resources to constructing them.

"Fifty ships are ready," said the computer. "The AIs are installed and trained as we speak. Fighters are coming from the assembly lines at a steady pace."

"Excellent." William smiled. "I believe we actually have a fighting chance. What do you think?"

"I cannot think," said the computer.

"Sure you can't," said William. "What's your guess?"

"I cannot guess either," said the computer.

William thought of something better not said aloud, so he said nothing.

"The solutions to your traveling salesman problem," said computer after a moment.

"Show me," ordered William, and the maps showed the first targets and then the others that had already happened.

"Stop," he said. "These are the attacks that already happened?"

"Correct," said the computer. "And the next attack happens tomorrow."

William nodded. "Continue."

One by one, the Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen colonies were attacked and the Kaitians steadily moved toward the home worlds.

"We have still a little time," said William. "We may stop them if we deploy the Behemoths to defend the home worlds."

"I'm sorry, sir," said the computer, "but I estimate that the Behemoths can defend only one location. They are most effective together, and because of the strength of the enemy, they should fight together."

"Damn," said William. "I don't like that."

There was a knock on the door and William smiled.

"Come on in, Rachel," he said, and she came in carrying two pints of beer.

"Ah!" said William, delighted. "Just what I need, thank you, dear."

He kissed her and took the pint. He pointed toward the map.

"Look, Rachel," he said. "The Kaitians have started their attack on Rg'Tkeen and your space."

She examined the map for a long while until she said sadly, "This is it, William. One way or the other, our destiny will be decided before this attack is over."

William hadn't thought about that in such final terms, but he had to admit that she was correct. He sighed. "Then we need to stop them at all costs."

"We don't only need to," she said, looking at William. "We must. Still no word from the Sea of Boston?"

"None," he said. "If they don't come soon they may be too late."

"And the Behemoths?" she asked.

"They are in good shape," said William. "We have a fighting chance with them. Although the computer seems to think that they can only fight on one front and it would be unwise to divide the forces."

"Don't blame the computer." Rachel smiled. "It's probably right."

"Right," said William, unconvinced.

"Oh, by the way," said Rachel. "Command has been called to a conference. You must decide how to counter the Kaitian attack."

"And you didn't say it right away." William smiled.

"No," she said. "I wanted you to have a beer."

He laughed aloud as he opened the conference call.

***

"Ah," said Milton with a hint of smile. "I'm glad you could join us."

"I was delayed," said William, still smiling.

"Right," said Milton. "We were discussing how to proceed. There are two options: the Behemoths defend either the Miccvan Empire or the Rg'Tkeen Empire. The other one must defend themselves using what they've got and what we can spare."

"You can have the Behemoths," said Mr. Grey. "We can handle the enemy ourselves."

"That's good to hear, Admiral," said Milton, relieved but also surprised. He'd expected a long discussion which one would receive the Behemoths and he didn't expect Mr. Grey to voluntarily give the Behemoths to the Miccvan defense.

"To be honest, I expected this discussion last for a while. Does anyone have anything to add?"

None did.

"Very well, then," he said. "The Behemoths will defend the Miccvan Empire. We will meet the enemy before they reach our home world. What about you, Admiral?"

Mr. Grey didn't answer right away. "We'll meet them on our home world. And we'll destroy them."

There was resolve in his voice that no one missed.

"You sound very confident," said Laura. "I have no doubt that you could defeat them, but you would be sacrificing lot of your colonies."

"True," said Mr. Grey, "and it was not an easy decision. We will evacuate as much as we can, of course, but still our losses will be great."

"William," said Milton. "I must ask that your fleet join to defend the Ooktian home world. Have you fitted your ships with new weapons, the black energy rays?"

"Almost," said William. "I will direct our fleet to the Ooktian home world as soon as we're finished. Have you heard from your scouts? No one managed to find out about the enemy before the attack."

"No," said Milton, "and I fear the worst."

"So do I," said William, thinking about Nick and Louis. He knew for certain that they were alive.

"And the Sea of Boston?" asked Laura. "Any news?"

"No news," said William.

"We can only hope they return soon," said Milton.

"Anything else?"

No one had anything, so the conference ended. William returned to his office and was very surprised to find Rachel waiting for him--wearing a very nice black and red corset.

"Rachel." William smiled happily and closed the door behind him.
28

"Admiral," called Marya.

"What is it, Commander?" asked Bruce.

"New orders and new situation brief," said Marya. "It's bad, sir."

"I'll be right there," said Bruce.

On his way to the bridge, he grabbed a cup of coffee--then spilled it all over his shirt when he bumped into Marya as he entered the bridge.

"Oh!" said Marya. "I'm sorry, sir!"

Bruce smiled. "No harm done, it's only coffee. What's the situation?"

"Look, sir," she said, and pointed the map in the middle of the bridge. "Two Kaitian fleets have attacked, one the Miccvan space and the other the Rg'Tkeen."

The maps showed also the likely path the fleets would take.

"I assume our orders are to go and meet them," said Bruce.

"That's right, sir," said Marya. "As soon as we can. The Coalition is gathering the forces as we speak and we must delay the enemy so that the defense can prepare. There are dozens of new Behemoths, sir!"

"Really?" said Bruce, surprised. "I guess they accelerated the building program, that's good news. Can reach the next target before the enemy?"

"We can reach it about the same time," she said. "Right in the middle of their attack."

Bruce nodded. "Lay in the course. Maximum speed."

"Yes, Admiral," said Marya.

***

"There they are!" shouted Marya after they exited hyperspace.

"Holy Hell! Look how many there are!"

"Hit-and-run the closest ship!" ordered Bruce. "Quick! Quick before they can react! Then enter hyperspace and exit at a different location!"

The crew knew what to do and surprised the closest Kaitian cruiser by destroying it and going back to hyperspace. As soon as they entered hyperspace, they exited near another Kaitian cruiser.

The enemy didn't have a chance. The Behemoth's plasma rays cut the cruiser in two and then the parts were battered into pieces by the cannons.

Several Kaitians fired upon them, but they entered back into hyperspace and exited again far from the destroyed target.

But the Kaitians were ready now.

"Direct hit!" said Marya. "We lost a cannon! Direct hit! We lost another cannon!"

"Back to hyperspace!" ordered Bruce, and fired upon the nearest enemy ships to get enough time to enter back into hyperspace.

They took another hit in the hull before entering hyperspace.

"Damn!" shouted Bruce. "What went wrong? Commander!"

"Sir!" responded Marya. "They . . . they seemed to be ready for us. Or, rather," she corrected, while pulling the analysis of the attack from a console nearby, "they reacted incredibly quickly. I think they were controlled by AIs."

"Just what we needed," said Bruce frustrated. "Damn!"

He paced back and forth and thought about what to do. Command had ordered them delay the enemy, but it was now obvious they couldn't do that.

They'd just get themselves killed, so to hell with the orders.

"Commander!" he ordered. "Set a course to the Miccvan home world. Maximum speed. And while on course, try to find out where the Behemoths muster. We must inform them about the Kaitian AIs."

"Yes, sir!" obeyed Marya.

Bruce walked away from the bridge to see the damage what the Kaitians had done. Two heavy cannons destroyed and a bad hit to the hull.

"How bad was it?" he asked one of the engineers.

"If the angle of the hit had been steeper, we would've had a breach right here," she said.

"What kind of weapon was that?" asked Bruce.

"Some kind of pulse weapon. We must send the data to HQ," she answered. "We can't analyze it here."

"All right, thank you," said Bruce, and continued ahead to see the remnants of their destroyed cannons.

"If I'm not mistaken, these took a direct hits," he said to another engineer.

"That's correct, sir," said the engineer. "Very precise hits. The enemy targeting system knew what to look and where to shoot."

Bruce thanked the engineer and went to his office.

He sat behind his desk and called Marya.

"Yes, sir?" she said and Bruce told her the engineer's thoughts about the direct hits to the cannons.

"Analyze all our encounters with the Kaitians and try to find out when they managed to analyze us so thoroughly that they can fire direct hits to our cannons," Bruce ordered. Marya acknowledged and closed the intercom.

Bruce sighed and decided to go to sleep. He had a feeling that now was a good time to rest, so he ordered the entire crew to rest as much as possible before they reached the Miccvan home world or the Behemoth muster point.
29

"Darling?" said Ellen. She woke in the middle of the night to find that Jeffery was not beside her.

"Shh, dear," said Jeffery, standing by the window and looking at the black emptiness. "Go back to sleep."

Ellen stood up and went beside him.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

Jeffery didn't answer right away. When the Marines had returned from the surface of the fusion factory planet and told him what happened, he'd had an uneasy feeling. Even nightmares. He'd had one just now and that's why he was standing by the window.

Ellen guessed what he was thinking, although he hadn't said anything to her. "It's the black veil, isn't it? You're having nightmares."

"How did you know?" asked Jeffery, surprised.

"Everyone is having nightmares," she said quietly. "Some sleep them through, like me; some wake up, like you."

"The black veil," confirmed Jeffery quietly.

"Like space." He nodded toward the window. "I wonder what it is, and why the Arash hadn't seen it before. Perhaps the Kaitians triggered something, so it may be like a guardian.

"But," he continued, "who assigned the guardian? Is it the factory it's guarding? Or something else? Who built the factory? Where are they now? And are they coming back now that the guardian has awoken?"

"You give me the shivers," said Ellen and pressed herself to Jeffery. He hugged her and held her tightly. He had the shivers, too.

"Let's go and try to sleep," said Ellen after a while. Jeffery nodded; he was tired and hoped that he could sleep without nightmares.

***

Jiao, too, woke after having a nightmare about the black veil. She wondered how it was possible that she had nightmare--she'd never seen it. Horacio had been very surprised to hear about the black veil, as well as the large hall or opening where the Marines encountered the veil. He'd concluded that it must be a guardian or something like that.

Jiao agreed and, like Jeffery, she wondered what would happen next now that the guardian had awoken. She shook her head; it was too much to think. The Kaitian war itself was big enough--and now there were many unknowns that, she was certain, would come back to haunt them in the future. If they had a future after the Kaitian war.

"Computer," she said. "What is the time?"

"Three twenty-one in the morning," said the computer.

Jiao smiled. "I know it's morning."

"As you say, ma'am," said the computer, and made Jiao smile even more. She was certain that their computers had a sense of humor.

"Is the crew having nightmares?" she asked. She'd ordered the computer to monitor the crew after she learned about the nightmares. Jiao feared that nightmares might be too much for some of the crew and she wanted to know in advance if anyone couldn't handle them.

"Yes, ma'am," said the computer. "Fifty-five percent of the crew have woken at least once during the night. The rest have slept restlessly, but hadn't awoken."

Jiao sighed. "And the Arash?"

"They, too, are having nightmares," answered the computer.

Jiao sighed again. "I really could live without these nightmares. Any idea why? What is causing them? Is the black veil here? On the ship?"

"Not one of the scans revealed anything," said the computer.

"Well," said Jiao, "scan it again. On all possible frequencies, using all possible scanning methods."

"Yes, ma'am," obeyed the computer. Jiao dressed and went for a walk. She was not surprised to see many of the crew doing the same.

After aimlessly walking for close to an hour, she went to her own observation deck at the bow.

"Computer," she said, "have you completed the scans?"

"Not yet, ma'am," said the computer. "So far, nothing new to report."

Jiao didn't expect anything. She was getting tired, very tired, and decided to lie on the floor for a second--and then fell asleep.

***

"Admiral," called Jeffery through the intercom. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here," said Jiao aloud, and thought, But where is here?

She was disoriented for a moment until she remembered that she was on the observation deck and had decided to rest a bit on the floor; clearly she'd fell asleep to the floor. She laughed; she'd never done that before.

"I'm right here," said Jiao again. "What is it?"

"You should come to the bridge," he said. "We were passing a Miccvan colony when we noticed something odd and . . . well, the colony is gone. Destroyed."

"I'm already coming," she said, and hurried to the bridge.

"What happened here?"

"It's the Kaitians," said Jeffery. "They've attacked here and destroyed everything. The planet itself will be uninhabitable for decades, if not centuries. No survivors--and, apparently, no Kaitian casualties."

"We don't have much time," she said. "We must bring the prisoners to the Coalition as soon as possible. Can we get any faster?"

"I'll do what I can," said Jeffery.

***

Rachel and William had left the Miccvan home world and were aboard the Thoughtful Flame, watching the reports as they came from the Miccvan and Rg'Tkeen fronts. Fortunately, the Kaitians hadn't yet attacked the Ooktian home world.

"This doesn't look good," said Rachel. Earlier, she'd almost cried to find out that the colony of her ancestors had been destroyed.

"No, dear," said William. "It doesn't. But we'll win this war, sooner or later."

Rachel looked at William and wondered at his confidence.

"I believe you," she said, and meant it.

"Rachel!" shouted a Miccvan officer. "A Human ship is exiting hyperspace! It's the Sea of Boston and they are towing a Kaitian frigate!"

William was surprised and overjoyed. "Finally! Call them and guide them directly here. Let them dock with us."

"Yes, Commander," said the officer.

William had feared that the Sea of Boston had been lost.

"Let's go and meet them," he said.

Rachel was also excited--finally they'd get their live samples and her genetic weapons research could continue. She felt her hopes lifting.

They went to the docking area and waited eagerly for Sea of Boston to dock with the Thoughtful Flame.

"Jiao!" William shouted when the admiral came on board. He couldn't restrain himself, but went on to meet her and hugged her.

"Tell me you have good news," he said.

Jiao smiled. "I have very good news, sir. Bring the prisoners!" From behind her a row of prisoners moved forward in chains.

"Ten samples," said Rachel delightedly. "I would've been happy with one. This gives us new possibilities." She grinned devilishly as she waved Miccvan guards to take the prisoners away.

"And the frigate, Jiao?" asked William. "How on earth did you do that?"

Jiao started to answer when Rachel saw the Arash colonel exiting the Sea of Boston. "William. Look."

"An Arash Colonel?" said William, surprised. "Where did he come from?"

"It's long story, Commander," she said.

"I'm sure it is. Colonel," William addressed Horacio.

"Colonel Horacio of the Auxiliary Support Regiment." Horacio saluted. "Good to see you finally in person, Commander William."

"Thank you, Colonel," said William, not knowing what he meant. "I'm sure you have much to tell us. I will assemble the Coalition Command and call you when we're ready."

"And I'll start working with the samples," said Rachel.

William called one of the Miccvan officers to escort Jiao and Horacio to a waiting room.

***

"Sentient machines?" Laura asked Milton after they'd been briefed by Jiao and Horacio, who'd told all they knew about the fusion factory, sentient machines, Kaitians, the black veil, and the nightmares on their journey back.

"You've known this and not told us," commented Laura.

"That's right, Laura," he said, and Laura made a sound.

"Perhaps we should be more open with each other," she said. "We've also found ruins in our space, and we determined they belonged to a species far more advanced than even the Hwzeenn. But we never thought of sentient machines."

"And now a fully operational factory," said William. "With a guardian, the black veil. I don't know about you, but I have very bad feeling about this."

No one said anything, but they all agreed.

"We must finish the Kaitian threat," said Laura, "and then move our focus to the sentient machines."

"Agreed," said Milton. "We finally got our samples and genetic weapons will be soon ready."

"Let's equip the Behemoths with them," said Laura.

"But that would mean delaying the counter-attack," said Milton, "and sacrificing more of our colonies."

"It your decision," said Laura. "But I'm sure you'll agree it'd be more efficient to attack the enemy with genetic weapons in our arsenal."

Milton sighed. "Of course. We'll wait for the new weapons. Admiral?" said Milton to Mr. Grey. "We'll dispatch new weapons as soon as we can."

"Thank you," said Mr. Grey. "We are preparing our defenses and we'll be ready."

"Good to hear, old friend," said Milton.

"And we'll get the new weapons for you, too, William. As soon as possible."

William nodded in thanks. He was thinking about the sentient machines and how he'd found shrapnel of a ship from Fexsol belonging to them. He found the shrapnel with Susan; he remembered that she didn't have a clue about the sentient machines.

Susan, he thought, yet another great mystery. Wherever she'd gone, he was sure they'd hear about her again . . . sooner or later.

Milton finished the meeting after they'd discussed more of the details of the coming attacks.

William was interested in speaking with Jiao and Horacio, and so went to see them.

***

"Commander!" Jeffery and Ellen both saluted.

"Commander." William saluted back and nodded to Ellen. "Private."

"Sir," said Ellen.

William passed them, but then turned around. "Commander? A word?"

"Yes, sir," said Jeffery.

"I apologize in advance for my direct question," said William, "but are you two lovers?"

"Ahem," said Jeffery, surprised by such a direct question.

"Yes, sir. We are"

Ellen smiled, blushed, and nodded.

William smiled happily. "Excellent, just excellent to find love in times like this. Please, feel free to go and stroll around the Thoughtful Flame. If anyone asks, tell them I gave you permission."

"Yes, sir," said Jeffery. "Thank you."

William nodded and walked away smiling, off to meet with Jiao and Horacio.

"Well?" asked Ellen.

"Well, what?" said Jeffery.

"Shall we go to stroll around the Thoughtful Flame?" She smiled.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "We'll do just that."

So they went to Thoughtful Flame and took a walk around it, talking and laughing and enjoying time together.

Suddenly, Jeffery noticed a familiar place.

"I've been here before," he said. "This must be the medical bay."

Just as they were going in, a voice said. "Halt! Where do you think you're going?"

Jeffery and Ellen turned to see a woman in a lab coat.

"Sorry, ma'am," said Jeffery. "Commander Johnson gave us permission to walk around the Thoughtful Flame."

"William?" said Rachel and then looked more closely at Jeffery and Ellen. She smiled. "You must be lovers. No wonder he gave you that permission. William is in love himself, did you know?"

Jeffery and Ellen shook their heads.

"And I'm in love with him," said Rachel happily, but then turned serious. "But I am sure he didn't mean you to go in there."

Her voice gave all the hint Jeffery needed. "Yes, ma'am, we'll go elsewhere then."

Rachel smiled warmly. "I suggest our observation deck."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Ellen. Rachel smiled to them again, and went inside the medical bay.

"The Kaitian prisoners must be there." He nodded toward the medical bay.

"Let's go. I don't want to know what's going on there."

They walked to the observation deck in silence, hand in hand.
30

"We arrive at SD-9 soon," said Aileen.

"Finally," said Louis. "I don't know why, but this journey back has lasted forever."

"I hear you, friend," said Nick, lying, eyes closed, on a couch they'd carried to the bridge.

"Exit hyperspace far away from the base."

"As you say, Counselor," said Aileen, and exited hyperspace.

As soon as they were in normal space, Aileen informed them that the commander was not on the station.

"Where is he, then?" asked Nick.

"He's on the Miccvan home world," said Aileen.

"Really?" said Louis. "We can't go there with this ship."

"We don't need to," said Aileen. "I'm receiving a message from him. He's ordering us to wait here; he'll come here as soon as possible."

"Okay, then let's go to SD-9 for some R&R." Louis grinned.

"I second that motion." Nick smiled.

"Go on and dock with it, will you, Aileen?"

***

Nick and Louis were having a coffee in the cafeteria after a long evening that had turned into a long night.

For one reason or another, some of the officers stationed at SD-9 had thrown a party and, naturally, Nick and Louis had crashed it, and stayed until they were thrown out. It was already morning, so they'd decided to skip sleep and have coffee--very strong coffee--instead. Nick yawned and stretched his hands.

"Late night, I presume," a voice said from behind them. Whoever was speaking was definitely smiling.

"You should've come here a few hours earlier, Commander," said Nick, still stretching. "Your officers threw a hell of a party."

"So I gather," said William. "There's an unusual number of drunken officers on board. They must have sensed that I was coming back."

Louis laughed. "Or more likely because it was yet another day you were not here!"

William laughed. "Probably so. But it's good to see you, old friends. Let's go to the office."

Nick and Louis stretched themselves up and took their coffees with them. As they walked to William's office, they noticed the drunken officers William told about; although most of them tried to look perfectly normal, they were all failing miserably.

After William closed the office door, he said, "The Kaitians have attacked both the Rg'Tkeen and Miccvan Empires. I expected you to warn us."

"So did we," said Nick and he told how they happened to be right in the middle of the mustering system and how they followed them.

William listened carefully as Nick told about their plan to attack the Kaitians left to guard one of the Rg'Tkeen colonies and how they decided to abandon the attack.

"A wise decision," said William. "Very wise. We can't afford to let them know what we have."

William told about the current plans to counter the Kaitian attacks and Nick said immediately, "We want to help. We'll help our fleet to defend the Ooktians."

"No," said William. "You stay here. If need arises, I want you to be ready."

"Ready for what?" asked Louis.

"I don't know yet," said William. "But I'm sure something will come up, so I need you to stay here."

"And you?" asked Louis. "Are you going to stay here? Or do you go back to Rachel?"

Nick almost laughed aloud.

"That's right." William smiled. "I'll go back to Rachel. And you can have some R&R here. I know there are some very nice lady officers here."

"You hired them yourself," whispered Louis to Nick loud enough for William to hear.

"That's right!" said William and laughed.

They talked about the station and the officers for a while. But then William suddenly turned very serious.

"What is it, William?" asked Nick.

William told them about the sentient machines, fusion factory, and the black veil.

"Wow," said Louis. "That's quite a story. Five million years ago, and ten, as you say. Does that mean that machines roamed here for at least five million years before vanishing?"

"Perhaps," said William. "Or perhaps they've been here many times. And when the war is over, and if you want, I'd like to search the galaxy for any traces of them. To find out everything we can."

"William," said Louis after a moment. "If the black veil is indeed a guardian, it must have sent some kind of message to, well . . . whatever its masters are."

William nodded; it was just what he'd been thinking.

"And their masters may respond to it," added Louis.

"That's right," said William. "And I don't like that all. We have the Kaitian war in our hands, the Strangers loom in the background, and now the sentient machines bring another mystery. We live in an interesting universe, don't you think?"

"We do indeed," said Louis.

"Right on," said Nick. "And that is finally something that I'd like to drink to."

"Ah." William smiled. "A little hangover, have you?"

"Just a little," confirmed Nick, smiling back.

"Then what are we waiting for!" said Louis. "Commander! A drink before you go to your love?"

"Sure!" said William without hesitation. "I can go to my love tomorrow!"

"Hear, hear!" said Nick and Louis laughing.

"Let's go!" William said.

The three men started their party and continued to the next morning. Then William wobbled to his ship and flew back to Miccvan home world, feeling miserable all the way.
31

"Sir," said Marya, "we are approaching the Miccvan home world."

"Great," said Bruce. "Exit hyperspace as soon as we're within the system and contact Command. I want to brief them personally."

That's what Command wanted, too; Bruce got an invitation immediately after exiting hyperspace. He was ordered to board the Thoughtful Flame.

"Bruce!" called William as soon as Bruce was out of the shuttle.

"William!" he said and they shook hands. "Good to see you, old friend."

"You, too," said William. "But how come you're here? I thought you were ordered to attack the advancing Kaitians."

"Oh, hell," cursed Bruce. "That's what we tried to do."

He told the commander how the Kaitians used AIs and how they'd beaten them. William took the news much more calmly than Bruce would've thought.

William told about their own AIs and that they were installed in Behemoths and also some fighters.

"That's great news, William," said Bruce, "but there are many Kaitians there."

"I know," said William, "but we have a chance. The Sea of Boston came back a while ago and brought back Kaitian captives. We are making genetic weapons as we speak. They managed to even capture a Kaitian frigate."

"Really? That's great," said Bruce. "I hope they tip the balance to our favor."

"So do I," said William. "So do I."

William told him about Mr. Grey and what he'd said about meeting the enemy at the home world.

"That's very risky thing to do," said Bruce. "All or nothing."

"Maybe so," said William. "But there was something in his voice that made me really believe that they can handle the Kaitians. We'll see that soon enough. But come, Bruce. I want to see the damage your Behemoth sustained. Let's go and take a look."

Bruce nodded; he understood immediately that William wanted to discuss something in private, away from listening ears.

"Well, if you want to," he said dismissively, and they went to the Behemoth with the shuttle.

"Here," said Bruce, after he'd led William to look at the cannons. They were outside of the hull; communication was done via short-range communicator so no one could overhear them.

"Direct hit," commented William. "Their AIs are very good. I hope we can match them."

William crouched to examine the destroyed cannon and touched the debris, as if to get the feeling of the enemy weapon.

"Nick and Louis came back," he said. "They found the enemy, but too late. They happened to be at the mustering system before they launched the attacks."

William told Bruce what Nick and Louis encountered, including that they were almost discovered and how they almost attacked the Kaitians.

He also told Bruce about Sea of Boston, the fusion factory and what they found there.

"Sentient machines?" said Bruce. "That's what Susan thought when the Kaitian scout exploded on Earth--the Vela Incident?"

"That's right," said William. "I don't know about you, but I'm sure we're going to meet the sentient machines sooner or later. Probably sooner than I'd like."

Bruce nodded. "If the black veil is indeed a guardian, then I think you're right. Nothing about Susan?"

"No," answered William. "Absolutely nothing. Command is actively searching for them, but no one has found any leads. They really vanished."

"That worries me," said Bruce. "We know they have their own agenda, but still I wonder why they vanished. The Kaitians should be their enemy, too, especially since they're allied with the Strangers. Defeating Kaitians should be our mutual goal."

William nodded. "I agree and, again, I'm sure we'll hear about her sooner rather than later."

William changed the subject to the war at hand. "Are you ready to join the Behemoths and go in to the fight?"

"As soon as this is repaired," said Bruce, pointing to the cannon damage.

"I'll give you more than repairs." William smiled. "I have new weapons for you, the black energy rays. Straight from the research, based on the Strangers' technology. Or, rather, what Stranger weapons did to the old Hwzeenn home world."

Bruce smiled. "Really? I had no idea."

"Few know," said William. "Command decided to keep it under wrap until it had been proven. Now it has and we're almost done installing the weapons to our ships even as we speak. The Behemoths and rest of Coalition ships will get them as soon as we can deliver."

"Then we really have a fighting chance," said Bruce.

"I sure hope so," said William.

***

"Commander," said Bruce to Marya. "Is everything ready?"

There was excitement in Bruce's voice. Fifty Behemoths around them was a sight to behold. In addition, there were a lot of cruisers, frigates, and corvettes, mostly from the Miccvan Navy.

"Yes, Admiral," said Marya. She, too, was excited. They awaited the Kaitians in one of the Miccvan mining colonies.

"How soon is the enemy here?" asked Bruce.

"Less than one hour, sir," said Marya.

***

Captain Kould of the Kaitian Sword Legion felt the fire as he saw the dozens of Behemoths waiting in the Godless Others colony ahead.

"Arg!" he shouted. "The enemy has Behemoths waiting for us! Kill them all!"

The thousands of Kaitians shouted acknowledgement through the intercom. They had not forgotten how one Behemoth had killed most of the Sword Legion when it was exploded by the cowardly Godless Others. Kould himself had escaped, but only barely and not without injury. He was brought back to home world, where his wounds were tended before he was assigned to train the warriors for the next phase of the attack.

Kould was no longer flying a fighter, but he had been given command of a cruiser. He missed the maneuverability, but the firepower compensated for the loss.

He had AIs to help coordinate the thousands of ships and he ordered them all in a wedge form.

He directed them straight toward the Behemoths.

***

"Holy Hell!" shouted Marya. The wedge of the Kaitians was a terrible sight and all the Behemoths moved away from its path except one unfortunate that was destroyed in seconds as thousands of Kaitian ships concentrated their fire on it.

"Gah!" shouted Bruce. The battle had not started well.

"Hit-and-run attacks!" he ordered. "Use the AI and concentrate all weapons on a single target before moving to the next one!"

The AI responded immediately and it accelerated so fast that Marya fell, while Bruce struggled to stand upright.

"A direct hit to enemy frigate!" shouted Marya after she raised herself to her feet with a red face.

"Destroyed by a single shot!"

Bruce smiled; the AI and the new weapons were proving their worth.

But there were many enemies and only forty-nine Behemoths. Two had been already destroyed.

***

"Captain Kould," called the High Priest. "The Godless Others use AIs."

"I noticed," said Kould, frustrated, and cut off the communication. The last thing he needed was a High Priest commenting on the obvious.

"A hundred ships together!" he ordered the AI. "Destroy the closest Behemoth."

Captain Kould didn't know it, but he used the same tactics as the Hwzeenn had all that time ago in their final battle against the Strangers. A hundred ships moved as one, and destroyed another Behemoth.

The other Kaitians took notice and let the AIs form groups of ships ranging from just a few to hundreds of ships moving as one.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Kould almost maniacally as he watched how several Behemoths were destroyed.

"Continue!" he shouted. "Kill them all!"

***

"Admiral!" shouted Marya, panicking as the Kaitian ships destroyed yet another Behemoth.

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Bruce.

"Fall back! To the edge of the system!"

They had no choice but to retreat and regroup as the Kaitians destroyed the Miccvan mining colony.

Bruce hit his fists against the console and the pain caused him to curse aloud.

He opened the intercom to all the ships. "Suggestions? Our situation is not good. Make it better!"

"The only thing what we can do is to use their own tactics," said one the Miccvan commanders. "We combine our ships and strike them one by one."

"Agreed," said another commander.

"Do it, then," said Bruce. "And fast."

It was fast; Bruce was still nursing his hurt fist when one of the commanders informed they were ready.

"Ready to attack," the commander said. "On your command."

"Make it so," said Bruce.

Nobody had remembered that when the AIs were given full command, they redirected all the possible energy to fight the Kaitians and so several systems that were unnecessary for battle were shut down.

One of the systems that was shut down was the artificial gravity.

"Whoa!" yelled Bruce as he started to float. "Grab on to something! We're on a hell ride!"

And so they were.

All the Behemoths moved as one and the Kaitians scattered before them. Dozens of Kaitians were destroyed before they could regroup.

"Ah!" shouted Marya in pain when the Behemoths made a tight turn and she twisted her arm.

"Marya!" called Bruce. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, sir," said Marya, although she'd hurt her arm badly.

"Sir!" she called, but Bruce already saw it. The Kaitians destroyed Behemoths much faster than Behemoths could destroy them. They'd already lost half of the Behemoths and nearly all the smaller ships.

Bruce had no choice but to retreat.

He yelled in frustration, "Retreat! To hyperspace!"

***

"Don't let them escape!" shouted Kould as the Behemoths turned around and opened an entry point to hyperspace.

But too late: the Behemoths escaped after half of them were destroyed. Kould could consider himself victorious.

"Well done, Captain Kould," called the High Priest.

Kould didn't respond. He ordered the fleet, still in very good shape, to advance to the next target. One by one, they moved toward the Godless Others' home world; there, the fate of the galaxy would be decided.

"Captain," one of his lieutenants called. "The Divine Command has ordered the attack on the home world of Godless Ooktians."

"Finally," grunted Kould. He'd advised them to start the attack simultaneously with the others, but the High Priests had decided otherwise. And only the Black Gods knew why.
32

"Admiral!" called Jeffery. "The scouts report that the enemy is moving. They're coming here!"

The Sea of Boston, along with most of the Human Empire Navy, were at the Ooktian home world and ready to defend it to the last ship.

"We are ready for them," said Jiao confidently--and with good reason. The human ships were equipped with new black energy ray weapons. The rumors said they were based on the Strangers' technology, but Jiao doubted that. In addition, the genetic weapons were ready to be used against the Kaitians.

Jeffery shared Jiao's confidence. "Yes, ma'am. We're ready."

"Open a channel to the fleet," she ordered.

"Ready, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"Warriors!" said Jiao in loud voice. "Human Empire and Coalition warriors! The enemy is coming and we must defend the Ooktian home world at all cost! And I do mean all cost! The Human Empire will defend our Ooktian brothers and sisters to whatever end awaits us! Because if we do not, the Coalition will fall and we will not allow it!Are you ready to fight?"

The loudspeakers relayed roars from the ships.

"Today we will be victorious! Tomorrow we are legends!" said Jiao.

Again roars were heard in all the ships. Jiao smiled and closed the channel.

"Good speech, Admiral," said Jeffery. "Short and to the point."

"Thank you, Jeffery," she said. "How long until the enemy is here?"

"No more than thirty minutes," said Jeffery.

***

"They're here," said Jeffery, as the Kaitian fleet emerged from hyperspace at the edge of the system.

"Looks like they mobilized all their forces for this one attack," said Jiao.

"Confirmed," said Jeffery. "The count is almost exactly the all the known enemy ships in Coalition space."

"Order all ships to hold," said Jiao. "Let's see their move first."

Jeffery acknowledged the order and the human and Coalition ships stood still. But so did the Kaitians.

It felt like an old fashioned stand-off that Jeffery had read about in war history classes back in the Academy. Two armies standing still, just beyond the weapons range, each waiting the other army to move first.

"No reaction," said Jeffery.

"Continue to wait," said Jiao. "They're the attackers; they will move first sooner or later."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery, and sent the same message to rest of the ships. He knew that many captains were eager to attack first.

Seconds and minutes passed. Several minutes became ten minutes, then twenty minutes, an hour. Two hours.

"They're testing us," said Jiao to the fleet. "They're testing whether we can stand the pressure. I can stand the pressure! We all can stand the pressure!"

"Jeffery," she said as the wait continued. "Send a message to fleet to stand down from full alert and let the crews rest while we can. But they must be ready to react in an instant when the enemy attacks. And make no mistake, we will wait them to move first. Their move will reveal much of their tactics and it may well be that we'll win, or lose, this battle based on their tactics."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

After several hours had passed, Jiao had to work to maintain her calm appearance; she, too, was feeling the pressure. She made a mental note to use this kind of tactic herself when attacking someone. It was sure to pressure the defender.

"Ma'am!" called Jeffery after more hours had passed. "We are picking up increased comm traffic."

"Full alert!" said Jiao. "They must attack soon."

She was correct. In ten minutes, the first wave of the Kaitians started the attack.

***

Just as Jiao had hoped, the first attack of the Kaitians revealed something of their tactics.

"They are trying to wear us down using multiple waves," she commented.

Before she could say anything more, she was interrupted by Jeffery.

"Ma'am!" he called. "Message from Command. The Behemoths failed their mission and lost half of their numbers! They are retreating to the Miccvan home world and Command orders us to destroy the enemy here and reinforce the Miccvan home world as soon as possible."

"Command orders us to destroy the enemy?" said Jiao mockingly, angry to receive such a message.

"Well." Fire burned in her eyes. "That's exactly what we're about to do! Commander! Send half of the fleet to hyperspace and order them to attack the enemy from the rear. Spread the other half in one long row." Jiao waved Jeffery to her. "Here. This is what I have in mind."

She drew her plans to the map projection in front of her and Jeffery smiled. "Excellent plan, Admiral."

She nodded. "Make it work."

"Gladly, ma'am," said Jeffery and relayed orders to the fleet.

The first wave of the Kaitians advanced fast, and the humans welcomed them as soon as they were in weapons range.

The black energy rays had a long range and were effective regardless of the distance. The Kaitians were surprised by the weapon and scattered all around after a dozen of their cruisers were cut in half. Jiao's tactic proved to be successful--whichever way the Kaitians turned, there was at least one ship waiting to fire on them.

"Pursue them!" ordered Jiao after the Kaitians started to retreat. But the enemy ships were faster and managed to retreat back to the rest of their fleet; Jiao called the pursuers off.

"Are the others ready in hyperspace?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"Tell them to exit behind the Kaitians and use the same formation as we are, a long, thin wall of ships," she said. "Then we'll advance and crush them between us."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery and relayed the orders.

"Ma'am!" called Tricia. "They are matching our formation and coming in fast!"

The Kaitians had examined Jiao's tactic; they had decided that it was good and they should match it. They sent enough ships to battle one-on-one against the human fleet.

"You have your targets!" called Jiao to the ships. "Destroy them!"

Easier said than done, as now the Kaitians anticipated the humans' long-range rays and evaded them with surprising ease. Soon they were within weapons range and fired their own weapons.

Many human ships met a sad fate, as even the computers couldn't evade the enemy weapons. Those Kaitians who managed to destroy their opponents joined together and there were suddenly many two-to-one fights against the human ships.

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Jiao. "We need reinforcements! Call the fleet in hyperspace. Order them to attack the Kaitians immediately!"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Jeffery; after a second, the other half of fleet emerged from hyperspace behind the Kaitians, who now had to scramble to defend themselves.

"Use the genetic weapons!" ordered Jiao. It was already past the time when they should have been used and now that they were fighting head-to-head against them, the genetic weapons should swing the battle to favor the humans.

As soon as the order was received, several cruisers launched their torpedoes with genetic warheads. The warheads were designed to penetrate the enemy hull using plasma rays to bore a hole to the hull and then release the nanoviruses--viruses combined with nanotechnology--to the ships inside. Nanoviruses would find their way to Kaitians and they would simply cut the signals from the Kaitian brain to rest of the body, including all autonomous functions like breathing. They would literally drop dead where they stood.

Some torpedoes missed, but most hit the enemy ships and penetrated the armor.

The effect was immediate. Most of the enemy ships that were hit simply stopped functioning and were left drifting in space. Others were taken over by ship's computer, but lacking full AI, they were no match for the humans.

Unfortunately, the Kaitians reacted much quicker than Jiao had anticipated and they started to destroy the approaching torpedoes before they could hit their targets.

"Status?" asked Jiao. She'd lost count of losses on both sides.

"We've lost a little over third of our forces," said Jeffery. "The enemy, about half of their forces."

Jiao flinched; a third of the forces was too much. The fighting continued mostly as one-to-one fights that could last for a long time. Both sides learned about the other as the fight continued and it made more difficult to devise a winning tactic. Battle fatigue was also creeping through the human forces. Perhaps the Kaitians felt it, too, but Jiao couldn't know.

"Call the fleet," she ordered. "Tell them to break the fight as soon as possible and regroup in the orbit of the Ooktian home world."

To the surprise of the human fleet, as soon as the Kaitians realized that humans were regrouping, they did the same. Jiao sighed, relieved; at least she got a little time to rest and think through the next move.

***

"Jeffery," said Jiao. "Go on and have a rest. Spend time with Ellen."

"But, ma'am," started Jeffery. They'd regrouped and were ready to attack the Kaitians, but Jiao had ordered a few hours of rest to the fleet.

"No buts, Commander," said Jiao firmly. "The enemy is resting, too, just like us. When we're ready, we'll fight. To the end."

"Very well, ma'am," said Jeffery. "As you wish."

He didn't want to leave, but now that he actually left, he realized he really needed the rest. And he wanted to see Ellen.

With a smile on his face, he hurried to find Ellen.

***

Jiao did not follow her own orders; she stayed on the bridge.

After another hour of inactivity, she sat in the captain's chair and closed her eyes for just a second--and she dozed off immediately and slept like a baby. It was amusing to the bridge crew to see their admiral so tired, but no one dared to wake her. Besides, the admiral needed the rest, too.

After several hours, Jiao woke with a start and her head turned all around as she wondered where she was. The crew respectfully concentrated on their work, barely containing a laugh.

Damn, thought Jiao and smiled; she had needed the rest after all and was glad to have dozed off. She saw from the behavior of the crew that they had had a good time looking at their admiral sleeping in the chair.

She smiled even more; the news had already spread around the ship and the fleet. She was sure it had lifted the spirits and the fleet was now even more ready to fight the next battle. And to win, Jiao was certain.

"Any activity from the Kaitian fleet?" she asked.

"Nothing, ma'am," answered one the officers. "They've even powered down most of their weapons."

"Really?" said Jiao. "I wonder what they are doing there."

At that moment, Tricia came back to the bridge after a much-needed rest. She smiled to see the admiral awake; she'd heard of her dozing in the captain's chair.

"Tricia," said Jiao, ignoring her smile but knowing what it meant. "Can you tell me anything about what the Kaitians are doing?"

"They must be resting, too," said Tricia. "Just like us. And perhaps . . ."

Tricia stopped in mid-sentence with mouth open. Her eyes widened as she got an odd thought out of nowhere.

"Tricia?" said Jiao and felt something turning in her stomach.

"Ma'am," said Tricia, quieter than usual. "What if they are not only resting, but reconfiguring their ships? What if they can alter their ships, their weapons, their armor, while traveling? It could be done easily if their ships were designed for that."

Now Jiao's mouth opened and she turned to look toward the Kaitian fleet far away near the edge of the system.

"Oh, damn," she said. Now that Tricia had said it, it seemed most obvious thing for them to do. The Kaitians wouldn't just rest in the middle of the battle. She should've understood it.

She cursed her blindness.

"Oh, damn," she repeated, and made a decision.

"Find the commander and tell him to meet me immediately," she ordered. "And signal the fleet. I want all in full combat readiness, but make sure the Kaitians don't notice. No powering up, no alarms, no nothing."

"Yes, ma'am!" said Tricia, and carried out the admiral's orders.

***

Jeffery woke up when Tricia called and felt like he hadn't slept at all. He jumped up and left Ellen to sleep.

Tricia had said to hurry, so he ran quickly to the admiral's office.

"Come in," said Jiao, and Jeffery walked in to meet Jiao's smile.

"Admiral?" he asked and wondered why she was smiling.

"After you button your shirt again," she said, "I want us ready to attack the Kaitians."

Jeffery looked down and saw that his buttons were crooked; while he buttoned the shirt again, embarrassed, Jiao told about Tricia's suspicion.

"I agree, ma'am," said Jeffery. "It's too risky to wait any longer if they are indeed reconfiguring their ships. Who knows what they have in mind against us."

Jiao told him what she wanted to do and they finalized her plan together.

"Make us ready, Commander," said Jiao. "I want to start the attack in one hour and want the enemy destroyed within five hours."

"Yes, ma'am." Jeffery saluted and left her office to carry out the orders.

He needed to act fast and so he did; in fifty-five minutes the fleet was ready.

"Admiral," he called, "we're ready."

"Excellent," answered Jiao on the intercom from the observation deck. "I'm on my way."

***

Jiao came to the bridge where Jeffery was waiting for her. She looked around the bridge.

"This is it, Commander," she said so that only Jeffery heard. "We will either be victorious or we will be dead."

"So it is, ma'am," said Jeffery. "And I don't know about you, but I feel . . . I feel free because of the thought. We will not lose, Admiral."

"I understand, Jeffery," said Jiao. "I feel exactly the same."

Their gazes met and they felt as if they were forces of nature, doing only what they were meant to do.

Both smiled.

"We will not lose," said Jiao again.

***

The human fleet disappeared to hyperspace, which didn't go unnoticed by the Kaitians, who immediately understood that they were under attack.

Tricia's suspicion had been entirely correct, but the Kaitians had not yet finished all the configurations, so they were not entirely ready to face the attack.

But they were ready enough. Jiao and Jeffery's plan was simple. The entire fleet exited from hyperspace in the middle of the Kaitian forces and they used combination of black energy rays and genetic weapons against the enemy.

The boldest move was to use Marines to capture enemy ships where crew had been killed by the genetic weapons and use the captured ships to fight the enemy as well

The Sea of Boston was first to emerge from hyperspace and it destroyed the first Kaitian ship, a cruiser, with ease. The second ship, a frigate, was hit by the torpedo, killing the crew and immobilizing the ship.

"Send the Marines!" yelled Jiao and a squad of Marines was launched from the torpedo bay to capture the Kaitian frigate.

***

Ellen's Marine squad was sent to capture the frigate.

"Yeehaw!" yelled Karl as he was launched from the torpedo bay and flew toward the enemy ship. He hit the ship near the bridge and the rest of the squad followed to the same location.

"Cut it! Cut it!" yelled Caleb and looked around to see the battle of countless ships raging over him.

Karl cut through the hull and yelled in surprise as the air from the ship blew a dead Kaitian into space. He pushed himself to the side and let the dead Kaitian float out into space, then yelled, "Ready!"

Karl went inside first and the rest followed.

Ellen came in last and sealed the opening.

"Hurry!" called Caleb. "To the bridge!"

The Marines ran across the hallways and the dead Kaitians to the bridge.

"Ellen!" called Caleb. "Set up the link." Caleb looked at the squad to see all of them smiling. He was smiling, too. He couldn't explain it, but he felt as he was just playing a role written by someone else.

"The link is ready," said Ellen. "The Sea of Boston is taking control."

The Kaitian ship was reprogrammed by the Sea of Boston via the link Ellen had set up. The Coalition AI was downloaded to the Kaitian ship and it started to fight against other Kaitians under direct control of the AI and the Sea of Boston. Caleb smiled to see the plan working. The Kaitian frigate battered the other Kaitians.

"Come on!" said Caleb. "We have to leave!"

They moved back to where they came from to reopen the hull. Oddly relaxed, they went outside and watched the battle like a movie as the shuttle brought them back to the Sea of Boston.

***

"They are back," said Tricia to Jeffery. "All came back alive."

"Thank you, Tricia," said Jeffery. He knew that already; he'd felt it. And it hadn't even worried him to send Ellen to capture the frigate.

The frigate captured by Ellen, and the others, had fought well under the Sea of Boston control.

Capturing enemy ships in the middle of the battle had been a total surprise to the Kaitians and Jeffery suspected they didn't even know what had happened.

It tipped the balance to Coalition favor; the captured Kaitian ships distracted the enemy so that they were easy targets for the genetic torpedoes and conventional weapons of the human ships.

"Admiral!" called Tricia. "Five super-cruisers closing in fast. They are powering their weapons!"

"Where the hell did they came from?" said Jiao.

"Evasive actions!" shouted Jeffery just in time. The enemy cruisers had made full reconfigurations to their ships and were ready to show them. The Kaitians fired a single beam that destroyed everything in its path--including two human cruisers that were in its way after the Sea of Boston evaded the beam.

"Holy hell!" cursed Jiao as the cruisers were destroyed.

"Destroy them!"

Tricia fired a black energy ray that destroyed one of the super-cruisers, and barely evaded again as the remaining four concentrated their fire on the Sea of Boston.

More enemies joined the attack against the Sea of Boston.

"Hell and damnation!" cursed Jiao. "They must know we're commanding. Signal the captured ships. Ram the cruisers!"

Only three captured ships remained and they accelerated toward the enemy super-cruisers. It distracted them enough so that the Sea of Boston could destroy one of them.

Two captured ships were destroyed by the super-cruisers, but the third one rammed and destroyed the third super-cruiser.

Two were still remaining and fought bravely, even desperately, against the Coalition ships. The Sea of Boston moved away from the super-cruisers and concentrated on fighting the other enemy ships.

Suddenly, the cruiser was shaken badly.

"A direct hit!" yelled Tricia. "We lost the starboard engine!"

Jiao's stomach turned. With the engine gone, they lost maneuverability and they were like sitting ducks.

Think fast, Jiao commanded herself.

She looked at her console. They'd lost most of their ships, down to one quarter of the original strength. The Kaitians had lost even more, down to one tenth of the original strength. But they'd fought well, and now they were getting desperate. Jiao realized that their victory had been achieved at great cost. She thought for the first time that it had always been possible that they could lose the battle.

She thought hard and could come up with only one idea to assure victory.

Tears came to her eyes as she typed the orders to the fleet. She couldn't bear to ask directly.

To her surprise, all of the remaining ships volunteered for the task and more tears fell as she randomly chose five cruisers.

"Ocean of Suzhou! Ocean of Hobart! Ocean of Curitiba! Ocean of Fargo! Ocean of Madeley!" called Jiao. She made no effort to wipe the tears from her eyes and cheeks. "Your sacrifice will be remembered! May you live forever!"

The Coalition fleet advanced toward the remaining Kaitians; in the middle of the attack, all but the five cruisers disengaged and entered hyperspace.

The five cruisers made course changes, firing all the way, so that they were evenly distributed among the Kaitian fleet, and then self-destructed.

And the Kaitian fleet was destroyed.

***

"Take us back, Commander," said Jiao quietly.

Jeffery nodded and ordered the fleet to return to normal space right in the middle of the battle field.

"Scan the debris," said Jeffery. "Any survivors?"

"No, sir," said Tricia after a moment. "But scanners may not penetrate the debris."

Jiao overheard the comment and said, "Send an order to the fleet to search for survivors; salvage anything that we can use, and destroy all we can't."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

The Coalition fleet had suffered great losses, and they needed everything they could salvage to help them fight against the Kaitians.

As Command had ordered, they were going to the Miccvan home world to reinforce the forces there, now that they'd destroyed the enemy here. Jiao sighed. "Commander. May have a word with you in my office?"

"Of course, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"This was a bad battle," said Jiao in a tone that Jeffery understood all too well.

"Very bad." Jeffery sighed. "But we did not lose. We knew we'd win."

Jeffery paused; he didn't know if he should say what he intended.

Jiao understood. "And I still feel free. And content that we won."

"Right, ma'am," said Jeffery, "That's what I was about to say."

"And it makes you uncomfortable," said Jiao, "to feel like that while so much of our people died to give us our victory."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery, surprised to find out that Jiao felt the same. Their eyes met again and both knew that this was a bond never to be broken.

They went by the window to look outside. No words were exchanged. None were needed. The silence itself said everything that was necessary.

"Sir." Tricia interrupted the silence. "May I see you on the bridge?"

"I''ll be right there," said Jeffery and went back to the bridge.

"What is it, Tricia?"

"The salvage operation is complete," she said. "Very thin results, I'm afraid."

Jeffery nodded. "I didn't expect much."

He informed Jiao about it and she ordered the fleet toward the Miccvan home world at maximum speed.

The Kaitians would reach the Miccvan home world soon and the fate of the galaxy would be decided there--and on the Rg'Tkeen home world, where the Kaitians were ready to attack.
33

"Admiral," called one the clones on board the Rg'Tkeen flagship. "The humans have succeeded defeating the Kaitian fleet at the Ooktian home world. But at considerable losses; they lost over three-quarters of their forces. And now they are going to reinforce the Miccvans."

Grand Admiral Z'eenkoo, Mr. Grey, nodded. The humans had fought well, he thought, much better than he'd expected.

He looked at his clones with a non-existent smile. If real humans fought so well, then his clones, created only for war, would fight even better. A long time ago, Mr. Grey had made a deal with humans--specifically with William and Bruce. He'd received samples from the human population to breed a new kind of fighting force for the Rg'Tkeen, the only known sentient species in the galaxy not to resemble humans.

Mr. Grey considered himself lucky to have found humans, even luckier to have found William and to make a deal with him. Over time, the Rg'Tkeen had perfected the human clones to serve as the Rg'Tkeen military force, and the entire Space Fleet was manned with clones. The only Rg'Tkeen on the ships were the ship commanders.

No one in the Coalition knew about this--even if they did know, it wouldn't matter to Mr. Grey. This started as a deal between humans and Rg'Tkeen, and then it became purely the internal affairs of the Rg'Tkeen. But Mr. Grey didn't doubt that William would be very upset if he ever found out about the clones.

Mr. Grey looked at the clones. They all looked the same. All human individualism was long gone; the clones were bred and trained for only a few functions on a ship. They lived their entire lives in a single ship; after dying or aging beyond useful capability, a new clone replaced them. The Rg'Tkeen had spent much time and resources to optimize human natural maturation to happen in a matter of standard weeks instead of years, and they had built reproduction tanks that produced new clones in hours.

"The Kaitian forces have encountered our defenses in hyperspace," said a clone.

Mr. Grey turned to the console. Knowing the risk of combat in hyperspace, he'd assigned the latest ships from Rg'Tkeen Space Fleet Research to hyperspace to encounter the enemy.

The new ships were heavy cruisers controlled by next generation technology, a combination of human DNA, AI technology, and nanotechnology.

As the ships encountered the enemy, reports came in and indicated success of the new ships, although they were soon overwhelmed by the vast numbers of the Kaitian fleet.

"Send the results of the battle to the Research," said Mr. Grey, "And tell them I want new ships ready before this battle is over."

The clone nodded in obedience.

"Send the first wave of fighters to edge of the star system," said Mr. Grey. "Order them to attack immediately when the Kaitians enter the system."

Again a clone nodded, and the fighters flew to meet the enemy. The fighters were also new technology, perfected only short time ago. The project had been difficult, and had required a lot of personal investment from Mr. Grey at expense of everything else--including personal and professional relationships.

The fighters were almost fully organic, based on human DNA, able to generate their own power and repair or heal even in the middle of the battle.

"The board is set," said Mr. Grey to himself after the fighters were in position. "Black and white. Pawns, rooks, bishops, and knights. Which is which? That we'll see."

***

"Anything from the scout?" asked Mr. Grey after a too-long silence from the scout he'd sent to hyperspace to find out what the Kaitians were doing.

He'd expected the attack to have started already, but it seemed like the Kaitians were not coming at all. But Mr. Grey knew it wouldn't be the case. They were coming, and the only question was when.

"No, Admiral," said one of the clones. "It appears it has been lost. Like the others."

Mr. Grey nodded in frustration. Why aren't they attacking? he thought.

Perhaps he should attack first. But to engage in combat in hyperspace was risky thing to do, and it was unnecessary risk to his fleet. The Kaitians themselves were risk enough.

But perhaps he could risk one cruiser to investigate. He opened a channel to one the cruisers, the RGT-7472.

"Colonel V'eet," called Mr. Grey. "I have a task for you."

He ordered the colonel to go to hyperspace and investigate what the Kaitians were doing. He also ordered colonel to come back alive, even if it meant abandoning the cruiser.

"Yes, Admiral," said V'eet obediently.

***

Colonel V'eet ordered the ship to enter hyperspace, where he half-expected to encounter the enemy. But no ships were to be seen.

"Scan the area," said V'eet. "Find out where the enemy is."

"Nothing found, Colonel," said a clone. "Should we maximize the scanner range? If we do, we'll lose third of the reserve power."

"No," said V'eet. "We might need it. Move ahead and keep scanning."

The cruiser slowly searched the enemy in hyperspace, but the enemy was nowhere to be found.

"We are now at the edge of our system," said a clone.

V'eet nodded and wondered where the Kaitians were.

"Do we know where the Kaitians attacked our ships?" asked V'eet.

"Yes," said a clone. "It's beyond the edge."

"Take the ship there," said V'eet. There should be debris of their ships and the enemy ships.

But there was nothing there. No debris. V'eet wondered why that was and it made him uneasy. As moments passed, the uneasiness grew.

He cursed aloud.

"Take us back," said V'eet. "Move the ship backward at normal speed."

"As you say, Colonel," obeyed a clone.

"Prepare to fire plasma rays from the bow," said V'eet. "High and wide."

"The force of the wide plasma rays won't be enough to damage any enemy ships," said the clone.

"It doesn't have to be," said V'eet. "It is enough to detect cloaked ships."

"Yes, Colonel," said the clone. "It is enough for that."

The weapons of the cruiser were highly configurable, so they were ready almost immediately.

"The weapons are ready, Colonel," said the clone.

"Fire!" ordered V'eet.

There was a moment of disbelief when the rays hit hundreds of Kaitian ships. V'eet's black eyes widened as all enemy ships decloaked and started to accelerate toward them.

"Back to the home world!" yelled V'eet. "The attack starts!"

He was correct. And, although he didn't know it, the Kaitians had been surprised by the advanced technology of the Rg'Tkeen ships and had decided to stop and reconfigure their ships in order to match the Rg'Tkeen technology.

***

"Admiral!" called a clone. "RGT-7472 returns."

The clone opened a channel.

"They are coming!" said V'eet. "Right behind me!"

"Now it starts!" said Mr. Grey.

Thousands and thousands of Kaitian ships emerged from hyperspace at the edge of the star system right in the middle of the Rg'Tkeen fighters, who started a brave fight, clearly surprising the Kaitians.

For a moment, it looked like the fighters would prevail--but it was only an illusion. When the Kaitians realized what they were up against, they sent their own fighters--which, after the reconfiguration, were superior to the new Rg'Tkeen fighters.

The Rg'Tkeen fighters were destroyed one by one and then they were gone.

Mr. Grey was surprised to see the Kaitian forces were more deadly than he'd anticipated. He shrugged and decided to take the initiative himself.

He waved a hand and the map of the star system appeared in front him. The Rg'Tkeen ships were displayed as white and the Kaitians as red. The enemy had slightly more ships than the Rg'Tkeen, and they had many more cruisers than the Rg'Tkeen, whose forces were mostly frigates and corvettes.

Mr. Grey grabbed the ships in front of him and made a throwing gesture toward the Kaitians. The order was sent to the ships and they advanced toward the enemy.

"Fight until death!" ordered Mr. Grey, and grabbed another group of ships and ordered them to flank the enemy. Another group was ordered to flank from the other side.

He selected the fourth group and ordered them to enter hyperspace and then emerge in the middle of the Kaitian forces.

The fifth group was ordered to not directly engage the enemy, but to observe and support those who needed it the most.

He left only a fifth of his forces to reserve. He sighed; the fate of the Rg'Tkeen Empire would be decided in this battle.

***

Colonel V'eet was part of the flanking group and as they moved to position, a group of Kaitians came to give them a deadly welcome.

"Evasive actions!" yelled V'eet.

"Fire!" He pointed to the nearest enemy. The plasma rays hit the enemy cruiser and it stopped.

"Fire! Fire!" he shouted, and plasma rays obliterated the cruiser.

But another one came right behind it. And it was not alone.

"Evasive actions!" he yelled, and barely evaded the enemy cannons.

Fortunately, another Rg'Tkeen cruiser helped them and destroyed the attackers.

V'eet sighed in relief.

"Contact the others," he said. "Let's concentrate all our weapons on a single ship. And then another. And another. One enemy at a time."

Soon the action was approved and V'eet was given the command of the unified group.

"Ready!" called a clone.

V'eet targeted one of the nearest ships and hundreds of Rg'Tkeen ships fired upon it. He then targeted another and again Rg'Tkeen ships fired all their weapons on it. And then another.

V'eet tapped enemy ships so quickly that all the Rg'Tkeen ships didn't even have time reload between new targets.

The Rg'Tkeen attack was devastating and it caused the Kaitians to retreat.

"Ha ha!" laughed V'eet.

"Message from the admiral," said a clone, and put Mr. Grey on speaker.

"Excellent work, Colonel," commended Mr. Grey. "I have already ordered the others to follow your example."

"Thank you, Admiral," said V'eet, pleased.

"Continue the attack," said Mr. Grey.

"Fight until victory!" he added to the entire fleet.

"Forward!" ordered V'eet and pointed to enemies in front of them. "Destroy them all!"

They advanced toward the enemy; although the enemy saw them, they couldn't do anything about it. They were already engaged with the Rg'Tkeen forces.

"Colonel!" yelled a clone. "Enemy ships behind us!"

The Kaitians had called in their reserves.

"Destroy them!" said V'eet, and cursed.

But now the Kaitians knew the Rg'Tkeen tactics; as the Rg'Tkeen ships concentrated their fire on one ship, so did the Kaitians, and forced the Rg'Tkeen to evade. The effect of concentrated fire was lessened.

V'eet watched another Rg'Tkeen frigate explode. "Disperse the ships! Engage the enemy one on one!"

His frigate engaged two enemy cruisers before the other one was destroyed by the supporting Rg'Tkeen frigate.

"Straight toward the enemy! Ramming speed!" ordered V'eet. "Fire all weapons!"

The cruiser turned and accelerated. The Kaitian cruiser almost didn't realize what V'eet was doing and barely evaded the Rg'Tkeen cruiser. V'eet sighed, relieved, for he'd feared that the Kaitians wouldn't understand to evade.

"Destroy them!" commanded V'eet to a supporting frigate. It immediately destroyed the Kaitians.

"Direct hit!" shouted a clone. "Hull breach! Three enemy cruisers approaching!"

V'eet cursed and tried to decide what to do; they were no match for three cruisers.

"Turn toward them! Maximum speed! Fire all weapons!" he ordered.

The cruiser turned to meet the enemies and accelerated toward them.

"Direct hit!" called a clone when the enemy cannons battered the bow of the cruiser. "We won't hold another hit!"

"Drop mines and enter hyperspace!" said V'eet.

The tactic was successful and the mines destroyed the enemy cruisers.

"Exit to normal space and be ready to fire!" said V'eet, after a pausing a second in hyperspace.

They emerged back to normal space and destroyed the enemy frigate that was right in front of them.

***

Mr. Grey watched as Colonel V'eet emerged from hyperspace. He thought that V'eet was very resourceful and decided to promote him to admiral--if he survived the battle.

The battle was fought without a clear initiative on either side and with nearly equal forces. Both were losing ships at steady rate.

But the enemy had more and larger ships than the Rg'Tkeen, and Mr. Grey feared they'd lose the battle unless he thought of something that would give the Rg'Tkeen the initiative.

He turned to one of the clones and said, "Do some quick research on military tactics. Try to find a situation similar to this and tell me what tactics the winning party used."

The clone nodded.

"Research the humans first," said Mr. Grey as an afterthought.

He watched the battle raging and an idea came to him.

***

"Evade!" yelled V'eet yet again. "Fire! Fire!"

His cruiser had seen better days; multiple direct hits had reduced his firepower to only forward plasma rays and cannons. It meant that he had to maneuver his cruiser straight toward the enemy and it limited his options quite severely.

Fortunately, he was not alone in the battle and other Rg'Tkeen ships fought side by side with him. But the Kaitians were at least equal to them and it wasn't clear who'd be victorious in the end.

V'eet was getting tired and many of his clones had been killed. If the battle didn't end soon, he feared he'd be doomed.

The cruiser rattled after another direct hit.

"Return fire!" said V'eet.

He was getting desperate.

***

Mr. Grey toyed with his idea and knew that it was his last hope. He had no doubt that he'd lose the battle if he didn't do something. He'd already sent half of his reserves to the battle, but it had only made the forces equal.

"Forget the research," he said to the clone walking beside him. "I know what we must do."

The clone only nodded.

"Send the remaining reserves to hyperspace and tell them to wait for my command," said Mr. Grey.

"Yes, Admiral," said the clone.

"Call the fleet," said Mr. Grey, and the clone opened a channel to the fleet.

"Listen!" Mr. Grey said. "When I say the command, all of you will turn quickly back toward the home world. Try to act as if we are in disarray. Make it look like you're retreating."

There was a moment of silence. Mr. Grey knew that his officers wondered at the order; they were not used to retreat.

Colonel V'eet wondered that, too, but at the same time, he was glad. His ship was badly damaged and if the fight continued, he'd be destroyed soon. Now he had a chance to live a little longer.

He was also ashamed of these thoughts and so said nothing.

Mr. Grey watched as yet another Rg'Tkeen frigate was destroyed.

"Now!" he commanded.

The Rg'Tkeen ships turned around and really made it look like they were retreating in disarray. Mr. Grey frowned to think that perhaps they looked like that because they were, in fact, retreating.

As they retreated toward the home world, several ships were destroyed, but the Kaitians acted as Mr. Grey had hoped. All of them pursued the retreating Rg'Tkeen.

And now came the moment of fate.

"Send the message to reserves! Attack the enemy!" he ordered.

As the remaining reserves emerged from hyperspace, and the plan became clear to all.

The Rg'Tkeen didn't even need an order; they all turned around to meet the enemy at same time as the Rg'Tkeen reserves attacked the Kaitians from the rear.

The Kaitians were suddenly forced to fight the enemies in front of them and in the rear. Now the Kaitians looked like they were in disarray.

"Forward!" ordered Mr. Grey. "Join the attack!"

V'eet had also realized what his admiral had thought and, with a smile on his face, he turned his cruiser to meet the enemy.

"Fire all weapons!" he yelled.

The final clash of ships commenced and now the Rg'Tkeen had the upper hand.

"To victory!" yelled Mr. Grey to his fleet. "To victory!"

The Rg'Tkeen cheered. The clones said nothing.

The last of the Rg'Tkeen reserves emerged from hyperspace and battered the enemy from the rear with little opposition. Once the retreating Rg'Tkeen forces had turned around, the Kaitians were doomed. Although they had a few more ships, they had lost the fighting momentum. The Kaitians realized that they'd lost it right after they started pursuing the retreating Rg'Tkeen and so sprung the Rg'Tkeen trap.

"Fire!" yelled Mr. Grey, and the Rg'Tkeen fleet hammered the enemy in front of them. Colonel V'eet's cruiser was just beside him.

"Colonel!" he called. "Let's concentrate our fire and break through!"

"Yes, Admiral!" said V'eet.

Both ships moved as one and destroyed everything in their path until they had broken through the enemy ships and then turned around to do it again.

"Let's finish them!" ordered Mr. Grey on an open channel. The Kaitians heard it, too. They knew they were lost, but none of them made any attempt to escape.

The Kaitians fought bravely, but desperately, until they were all destroyed.

***

The victorious Rg'Tkeen cheered for the victory. Mr. Grey had to contain himself not to join in the cheering.

He let the officers cheer, but he knew that it would end soon when they realized the cost of victory.

"Assess the damage," he ordered one of the clones.

"It's already done, Admiral," the clone said. "On your console."

Mr. Grey turned to his console and sighed. He'd lost over four-fifths of his fleet and his own ship was the only one undamaged. All others were damaged--some so badly that it was a miracle they were in one piece.

As he'd predicted, the cheers went silent as the survivors looked around to see what had survived.

"Send a message to Coalition Command," said Mr. Grey. "Tell them that we were victorious and the enemy has been totally destroyed. Tell them also our status."

A clone nodded and carried out his orders.

"Open a channel to the fleet," said Mr. Grey to another clone. When it was done, he said,

"Rg'Tkeen warriors! You were victorious!"

Cheers came from the fleet.

"But at great cost," he continued sadly, "and the war is not over yet. Assess the damage, make repairs and be ready to fight yet again if, and when, called to do so. But now you may rest and be joyful! You have earned the respect of the Rg'Tkeen and the entire Coalition, the victorious Rg'Tkeen warriors!"

The fleet cheered--not only the Rg'Tkeen commanders, but also all the clones.
34

"The enemy will be here soon," said Rachel to William. "We must go."

Rachel and William were still on the Miccvan home world, reluctant to leave. But they knew they had to leave now, before the battle, because otherwise they might not be able to leave at all.

"Yes, my love," said William and hugged Rachel. They were parting once again; William had to return to his own corvette, and Rachel to the Thoughtful Flame.

Rachel held William tightly and kissed him.

After a long silence, they let go of each other and went their own ways. William saw tears in her face and he felt moisture in his eyes, too.

He sighed sadly and flew to his corvette, the Lake of Nevada, where he was alone, accompanied only by the AI.

"Welcome aboard, Commander," said the AI.

William grunted. "Anything new?"

"Yes, Commander," said the AI. "Message from the Rg'Tkeen."

William hoped the best. "Yes?"

"They were victorious," said the AI.

"Right on!" cheered William, feeling his spirits lifting.

"But," continued the AI, "the victory came at great cost. They lost 83 percent of their forces and those who survived are badly damaged. They are in no position to come to our aid."

William's spirits sank again. "Damn. Do you have any good news?"

"Define good," said the AI.

"Forget it," said William, and called Milton.

"William," he answered. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be," said William. "You got the message from the Rg'Tkeen?"

"Yes; for some reason, I was not surprised by their victory," said Milton. "But their victory will be in vain if we don't have victory here. And I would've liked to see them come to our aid, but they can't help us now."

"No, although I'm sure they would come if asked," said William.

"They would," said Milton, "but that wouldn't help much. And speaking of helping, are you sure that your own fleet is in a position to help us?"

"I'm sure. They've already tasted victory and I know they're eager for more of it. They will fight bravely and they will fight to win."

"That's good to hear, William," said Milton.

"We must win. You know that."

"I know," said William. "I know."

Milton paused and William knew why.

"The Kaitians are coming," said the AI.

"This is it, Milton," said William. "Let's win this and have a drink."

Milton laughed. "Hear, hear. We'll do that."

***

"They're here," said Marya. "All of them."

"It sure looks that way," said Bruce as the Kaitian fleet emerged from hyperspace at the edge of the system.

"Command orders us to wait," said Marya.

"Let the enemy make the first move," said Bruce.

"Call Command. I have an idea."

"Channel open, sir," said Marya.

"Bruce," said William, "to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Commander," said Bruce, delighted. "I didn't know you were still here."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," said William, smiling.

"Right, right," said Bruce. "I have an idea."

"Go on," said William.

"I assume you've decided to wait for the Kaitians make the first move," said Bruce. William nodded. "We could do hit-and-run attacks with our fleet. I mean the Human Empire fleet. And then divide the Behemoths do the same, and the Miccvan fleet could make an assault with us supporting."

William shook his head. "We already thought of that. We decided it wouldn't be effective and instead we thought of another plan."

William then informed Bruce of the plan they'd decided on.

"Risky," said Bruce, and smiled. "But it might actually work."

"It will work," said William.

"All right, then," said Bruce. "Let's wait for the enemy to make their move."

"When this is over, let's have a drink," said William. "Milton has already agreed to join us."

"Let's do that." Bruce smiled, and raised an imaginary glass.

***

Jiao watched hyperspace on the observation deck, waiting. She'd had orders to wait in hyperspace until called. Command had something in mind, but they hadn't told her any details.

"Admiral," called Jeffery, "can I see you?"

"Of course, Commander," she said. "I'm on the observation deck."

"I'll be right there," said Jeffery.

Jiao watched hyperspace and thought how little they knew about it. She remembered stories of odd phenomena and sightings there, usually far beyond the normal hyperspace routes, but she herself hadn't seen anything odd.

She was still watching hyperspace when Jeffery came to the observation deck.

"Admiral." Jeffery saluted.

"Jeffery," she said. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you know how long we wait here?" he asked.

"No," said Jiao. "Command didn't say anything, but they have something in mind."

"I'm sure about it," said Jeffery, "and that's partly why I'm here. The fleet is still tired from the battle and we have all suffered damage. Some more, some less."

"And you wonder whether or not we are in any shape to fight," said Jiao.

"Right," confirmed Jeffery. "Exactly."

Jiao turned toward the window again and sighed. "I said that to Command. They said they realize it and they said they have full confidence in us."

Jeffery came beside Jiao, also watching hyperspace.

"I'm glad to hear it," he said. "But I still have doubts. I mean, this is the enemy fleet that destroyed half of our Behemoths."

"I share your concern," said Jiao. "But I have also full confidence to Command. They wouldn't send us into harm's way if they didn't think we were useful. After all, they didn't request the remains of the Rg'Tkeen fleet."

"The remains?" asked Jeffery. "But didn't they win the battle?"

"Yes," said Jiao, "at great cost. They lost over eighty percent of their forces and those who survived are all badly damaged."

"But they did win," said Jeffery. "And we won, too. We really have a chance here."

"We do have a chance, Jeffery," said Jiao reassuringly.

They watched hyperspace quietly, listening to the silence and the ever-present humming of the ship.

Suddenly, Jeffery thought he saw something in hyperspace.

"What is that?" he whispered.

"You see it, too?" asked Jiao quietly. "I saw it a moment ago, but I wasn't sure whether or not it was my imagination."

Now that they knew what to look, there was definite flickering in hyperspace. Far away, although they couldn't estimate any distances.

"It moved," said Jeffery. "Did you see it?"

"I saw," said Jiao.

They looked at the flickering, but it didn't move again.

"You know," said Jiao, "Before you came, I was just thinking of the odd sightings in hyperspace. This is the first time I have actually seen something in hyperspace. Damn! I should have recorded it!"

She ordered the computer to record anything visible on the window and to monitor and record all possible frequencies from the flickering.

"Whatever it is, I'm recording it now," she said, mostly to herself.

"Should we scan it?" asked Jeffery.

Jiao thought it a moment. "No. Let's just record everything we can," she said. "The scanner might scare it away. Or, worse, it might become hostile and attack us."

"You assume it's something that can actually become hostile--a sentient being, perhaps?" asked Jeffery.

Jiao glanced at him, surprised. "That's right, Jeffery. But I'm not sure why I think so."

Jeffery's communicator beeped; he smiled as he looked at the message. Jiao noticed his smile and assumed it meant that the message had come from Ellen.

She waited for Jeffery to leave, but when he didn't, she said, "Did you have anything else, Jeffery? I'll be here while the computer monitors and records that flickering."

"No, ma'am," he said. "Call me if you need me."

"I will." Jiao smiled. "Have a good time."

Jeffery realized that Jiao knew he was going to see Ellen.

"I will." He smiled and left the observation deck.

Jiao turned to look toward the flickering.

"Can you tell me anything about it?" she asked the computer.

"Not yet," said the computer. "And analysis will be limited without active scanners."

"Do your best without," said Jiao. "I don't want risk anything."

"Yes, Admiral," said the computer.

Jiao watched the flickering intently, but it didn't move or show any other signs of activity. She thought of various possibilities of what the flickering might be, and none were very encouraging. For all she knew, it was yet another enemy. Or, even worse, an unknown enemy.

She felt shivers and left the observation deck after instructing the computer to keep monitoring and recording the flickering.

***

"What the hell they are waiting for?" wondered Marya, looking at the Kaitians. She'd been looking them for hours and they hadn't moved at all.

Bruce smiled. Marya didn't know the plan, but he knew. Hundreds of Coalition warriors moved toward the Kaitian fleet. Each warrior was riding a cloaked space bike, and was equipped with personal stealth technology and a fusion bomb that would bring death to the Kaitians.

Once the bombs had exploded, the Coalition fleet would start their attack.

"Patience," said Bruce. "Patience."

Marya looked at Bruce and moved closer to him.

"You know something," she whispered.

Bruce just smiled and Marya understood that something was indeed going on.

"Patience, then," said Marya and Bruce nodded.

***

"They've reached their targets," said Milton.

He couldn't scan for the warriors in the emptiness of space but assumed they'd reached their targets, since they hadn't seen any activity from the Kaitian fleet.

"Soon, then," said William, "the battle starts."

"Very soon now," said Milton, hoping that warriors would be out of the way when the Coalition fleet started their attack. The fleet would not evade the warriors if they were in their way.

The warriors had been instructed to move away to the nearest planet, where they would stay in the orbit and watch the battle.

"I'll join the attack," said Milton.

"Are you sure?" asked William. He didn't like the idea that Milton would be at the front line. Rachel was aboard with Milton.

"I'm sure," said Milton. "But before we start the attack, I'll send Rachel to your ship."

William was surprised and delighted.

"She asked for it," said Milton. "And I approved. She'll launch her shuttle at the moment we launch the attack."

William was surprised to feel his heart pounding with the anticipation of seeing Rachel again.

"Thank you, Milton," he said from the heart.

"You're welcome, old friend." Milton smiled.

***

"Marya," said Bruce quietly. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" she asked.

Bruce just smiled for an answer.

At that moment, two things happened: there were huge explosions within the Kaitian fleet and there was a surprised shout from the bridge officers. Then, a half a second later, the loudspeaker went active.

"Coalition fleet!" said Milton. "Let's meet our destiny! All ships forward to engage the enemy! Let none survive!"

"Full speed ahead!" ordered Bruce. "Fire at will!"

The same command was heard in two-thirds of the ships, who started to advance. The remaining third was left as reserves.

"What just happened?" asked Marya, surprised but eager to fight.

Bruce told her of the plan.

"Wow," said Marya eyes wide. "Unbelievable."

"But it worked, the fusion bombs destroyed a lot of their ships and the remaining are in chaos. Although their chaos won't last," said Bruce.

"Firing!" The black energy rays destroyed quickly three enemy cruisers.

"Hurray!" the weapons officer shouted and continued firing.

***

"Argh!" shouted Captain Kould in fury when a cruiser beside his ship was destroyed.

"Evade and return fire!"

But they didn't have time. A blast from an enemy drilled his cruiser and cut through the hull.

"We're breaking apart!" one of the officers shouted.

"Argh!" shouted Kould again. He had no choice but to abandon ship. He ran to his fighter, which he'd brought with him, so he could continue the fight with it.

Although he feared that the ship would break apart before he reached his fighter, he smiled as he ran to it.

He made it just in time. The cruiser exploded as he was flying away from it.

Kould cursed, then grinned devilishly. The enemy now has something to worry about, he thought, and attacked the nearest enemy ship.

***

Milton was happy. Not since the War of Borders had he been in a battle of this magnitude. He enjoyed every time he fired on the enemy, every time he evaded the enemy, and even every time they took a hit.

He even laughed aloud occasionally when they took a hit.

He was glad that Rachel had gone to William, as he didn't want to worry about Rachel, for whom he cared deeply.

Now Milton could concentrate on battle and the victory he was sure to have, albeit at great cost.

***

"The battle goes well," said Rachel.

The Thoughtful Flame destroyed two enemy frigates and continued to the next target.

"That fighter looks familiar," said William, looking at the small and agile fighter.

"Correct," said the AI. "It's the same fighter that was at battle of the Mopian home world.

"Ah," said Rachel. "I remember. It caused us much headache."

"Inform Milton," said William to the AI.

As an answer, the Thoughtful Flame fired all its weapons on the fighter, who barely evaded and then retreated. Milton apparently decided to pursue; his cruiser went after the fighter.

"Hah!" laughed William. "That'll teach him!"

"Commander!" said the AI. "The Kaitians are planning something. Look."

The AI displayed how the Kaitians had moved within the last half an hour or so, clearly concentrating their forces for an attack.

"They'll move soon," said the AI.

"I don't think so." William smiled, tapping the concentration of the Kaitian forces. "Send a message to the Sea of Boston. Instruct them to attack the enemy right in the middle. Send the same message to Milton. He'll want to know about it."

***

"Admiral!" said Jeffery. "Orders from Command."

"Show me." Jiao looked at the orders and the accompanying situation report.

"Excellent," she said approvingly.

"Warriors!" she said to the fleet. "Let's go and taste victory once again!"

She heard cheers from the fleet and it made her smile. She felt good again and she knew that Jeffery felt the same.

"Get us in position and wait for my command," said Jiao.

"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.

The fleet moved to a position that correlated with the Kaitian forces in normal space.

"All report ready, ma'am," said Jeffery.

"Warriors!" said Jiao to the fleet. "Prepare your weapons and fire at will as soon as we exit hyperspace. There are plenty of targets!" Jiao waited for a second before giving the order.

"Engage!"

The hyperspace exit point opened and they saw the enemy ships right in front of them.

The human ships fired in unison and caused great destruction among the Kaitian forces.

***

"The humans attacked, Advisor," said Nisha and added, "with great success. The Kaitians were totally surprised and they lost a third of their forces at the attack. They are scrambling to assemble their forces."

"Let's join the fun," said Milton. "Order all who can to assist the humans."

Nisha nodded and Milton turned to the projection that showed the battle. He walked among the projection, looking for something.

"Where's the fighter?" he asked when he didn't find it.

"Unknown, Advisor," said the ship's AI.

"Why?" asked Milton.

"Unknown, Advisor," said the AI.

Milton had an uneasy feeling about it, but it passed as one of the Kaitian cruisers fired a direct hit to his ship.

"Evasive actions!" shouted Nisha. "Return fire!"

They hit the enemy directly in the engines and it stopped.

"Finish it!" ordered Milton. "Then order the humans and our forces to pull back and regroup. And order the reserves also to regroup with us."

***

"Order from Milton," said Rachel.

"We're ready to end the battle." William smiled.

"Hey, William," called Bruce.

"Bruce." William smiled at him. "You've fought well. Ready for the final fight?"

"We're more than ready," said Bruce.

Bruce and the rest of the Behemoths had fought well, but with heavy losses. Only six Behemoths remained, but combined with the rest of the Coalition forces, they were enough to end the battle and destroy the Kaitian forces.

The Coalition forces hurried to regroup and so did the Kaitians, but it wouldn't do them any good. It was obvious that they would lose the battle.

"Let's send them to oblivion!" called Milton to the fleet and as he said it, the fleet started to move forward and each ship was assigned a target. As soon as they were in weapons range, they would fire at the all enemy ships at the same time.

"They are not moving," said William thoughtfully. He'd expected them to counter-attack, or to flee, but they did nothing.

"Commander!" shouted the AI and if ever William had heard emotion in the AI, it was now. The AI sounded almost in panic.

"Ships emerging from hyperspace right in front of us! A thousand Kaitian cruisers!"

William's heart stopped in disbelief. Rachel cried aloud, "Evasive actions!" but the AI was already doing it, as were all the Coalition ships.

The Kaitian cruisers exited from hyperspace at full speed and came fast toward Coalition fleet, already firing on the Coalition ships.

***

"Evasive actions!" shouted Nisha.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Milton cursed.

He hadn't expected that the Kaitians had any reserves left. The amount of ships in the battle had corresponded to the sightings made by the Behemoths.

"Advisor!" shouted Nisha. Milton had enough time to see the surprisingly slow-moving torpedoes coming directly toward them. Even as he looked at them, he knew there was nothing he could do.

The explosions shook the ship and Milton knew the ship was lost.

"Engines lost," said Nisha in a matter-of-fact tone. "Life support failing. Weapons not functioning."

Milton sighed. "Abandon ship! Repeat, abandon ship immediately! You too, Nisha."

"No, Advisor," responded Nisha. "I will not leave without you."

Milton nodded. "Send a message to William. Tell him to rescue as much of the crew as possible."

"Yes, Advisor," said Nisha. "But we must leave, too. Now. The ship will break apart soon."

After a moment's pause, Milton sighed. "You're right. Let's go."

***

Captain Kould had insisted that they must have reserves and although he had to fight to get his will through, the Divine Command had eventually decided that Kould's suggestion was valid.

The Divine Command had decided on only one reserve force that would be sent to Miccvan space to wait until directly called.

Kould had left the battle to call the reserves and they came just in time to bring victory to the Kaitians.

"Leave none alive!" shouted Kould to the fleet, and hammered one of the enemy frigates to pieces.

***

"Admiral!" called Jeffery. "Request for help!"

"Show me!" said Jiao. She looked at the broadcast message from William to rescue all escape pods from the Thoughtful Flame and other ships in the vicinity. Jiao knew that the Thoughtful Flame was the flagship and Advisor Milton was on board.

"We're near them! Find and rescue them!" she ordered.

Jeffery sent a reply to William and ordered the ship toward the wreck of the Thoughtful Flame.

"The escape pods are coming toward us," said Jeffery.

"Pick them up and keep an eye on the enemy," said Jiao.

That went without saying--but, lucky for them, the Kaitians were busy enough destroying and pursuing other Coalition forces to leave them alone for now.

"All escape pods picked up," said Jeffery after a few moments.

"Go to see if Advisor Milton is aboard," said Jiao.

The Coalition forces were in a general retreat and Jiao ordered her ship to join the retreat. There was little she could do alone.

***

"William," said Rachel, relieved. "Milton is rescued. He's aboard the Sea of Boston."

"Good." William sighed, relieved. "Open a channel to the Sea of Boston."

The AI obeyed immediately and Jiao's image appeared in front of William.

"Commander," said Jiao. "What can I do for you?"

"Rendezvous with me and tell Milton to come to my ship," said William.

"Yes, sir," said Jiao and closed the channel.

"The Kaitians have stopped," said Rachel. "They are regrouping."

The Coalition fleet had been forced to retreat to the orbit of the Miccvan home world. It was the last line of defense, but William knew they couldn't hold it. Most of the Coalition forces had suffered damage and the Kaitians had a thousand fresh cruisers ready to attack.

"Milton is boarding," said Rachel after the Sea of Boston had docked with the Lake of Nevada.

Milton knew the way to the bridge and was there soon.

"Milton," said Rachel and hugged him.

"I'm glad you survived," said William and shook Milton's hand.

"So am I," said Milton. "What do you think?" He nodded toward the Kaitian ships.

William sighed. "Doesn't look good. In fact, I think we've already lost."

"No!" cried Rachel. "We must fight!"

"Rachel," said Milton, "William is correct. Look what we have. Look what the enemy has."

There was no denying it and Rachel knew that. She felt tears in her eyes.

"We must retreat," said William, "So we can fight another day."

William knew how hollow his words were. In principle, he was correct, but they simply didn't have much to fight for another day.

"Whether to die today," said Milton, "Or to die another day. It's all the same."

"William," said Rachel. "Message from Bruce. He wants to know what he should do. He's ready to fight."

"No," said Milton. "We die another day. Send a message to the fleet. We regroup in hyperspace and then move on to tend to our wounds and prepare for the next battle."

William nodded and ordered the AI to send the message.

Within seconds, the first ships had entered hyperspace; soon all were gone. The Lake of Nevada was the last ship remaining in orbit of the Miccvan home world.

"They're coming," said Rachel when the enemy ships started to move toward them. In front of them was the small fighter.

"We need to leave," said Milton in a sad and heavy voice.

The Lake of Nevada entered hyperspace and the Miccvan home world fell to the enemy.
35

In the days and weeks after the Miccvan home world fell to the enemy, the battles became increasingly desperate. The Kaitian reserves had been a complete surprise and they were fresh fighters compared to the weary Coalition soldiers.

The Kaitians steadily pushed back all the Coalition forces they encountered and brutally secured the conquered systems.

William had been in his office at SD-9 ever since the defeat at the Miccvan home world. Milton was with the remains of the fleet to organize the defenses--and, hopefully, a counter-attack. Rachel had gone to the Saami home world to improve the genetic weapons.

The map of the galaxy on the wall did not look good. The Kaitians had conquered a large portion of the Coalition territory, nearly a third of the galaxy. William didn't remember it, but the Coalition and the Kaitian territories were nearly the same as the territory of the old Hwzeenn Empire at the time of their extinction.

William rubbed his chin and thought about the situation. He'd known it for some time now: it was obvious that they were losing the war. And badly. The Kaitians didn't want to just conquer. They wanted to kill.

He sighed and thought aloud to the ceiling, "We need a divine intervention."

He paused for a moment, looking again the map of galaxy.

"Yes," he continued, speaking alone in his office, "a divine intervention. But what kind of intervention? I'm open to suggestions."

William wasn't surprised that no one answered. He turned to the window and looked into the blackness of space. The same blackness and the same stars far and away and forever.

Not forever, thought William, only a very long time, until stars explode as novas. And then only blackness will remain.

"Stars explode?" said William, surprised by his thought. "As in a nova? That would definitely be a divine intervention."

A sly smile came over his face.

***

"Are you certain you know what you are asking, Commander?" asked the AI.

"Of course I am," said William irritated. "Can it be done? Now?"

The AI was quiet a long time for an AI. "Yes, Commander. But I need substantial resources."

"Everything you need," said William. "You have my authorization and I want it done now. We don't have much time." He nodded toward the galaxy map.

"I agree, Commander," said the AI. "You should have the device ready in a week."

"Excellent," said William. "Send for Nick and Louis. I have a mission for them."

Nick and Louis had been on SD-9 ever since they'd returned from Kaitian space and watched the battles of the Ooktian, Rg'Tkeen, and Miccvan home worlds. They'd wanted to be in each of them, but William had forbidden them to leave SD-9.

"Commander," said Nick formally as he entered the office.

"Commander," said Louis, following Nick.

"Good to see you, too, gentlemen," said William formally. "Have a seat."

Nick glanced at Louis and said, "He has something for us. And it can't be good."

"Oh, yes," said Louis. "He definitely has something."

"You are correct, of course," said William and walked to the map on the wall.

"As you can see, the war is not going well."

"We are losing," said Louis. "And we're losing badly."

William sighed. "You are correct again. And that's why we need something radical. A divine intervention."

Nick laughed, but turned serious when he saw that William was dead serious.

"And what that might be?" asked Louis curiously.

"In a week," said William, "we will have a weapon to change the galaxy. We already have the cloak and cloak detector. And soon we will have a weapon that can destroy entire star systems."

"How?" asked Nick.

"By exploding the stars as novas," said William.

"Impossible," said Louis immediately.

"No," said the AI. "We already have the technology. It's only a matter of combining the current technology in new ways."

"Explain," ordered Louis, and the AI did.

"Uh-huh," said Louis after the AI had finished. "A very radical plan."

"But you're right, William," said Nick. "We need to be radical. And this is about as radical as we can be. And I assume you want us to deliver that doomsday device to the Kaitian home world?"

"That's right," said William. "Take the Lake of Fairwater and deliver it to the star. And wait and see it work. I want a detailed recordings for further analysis."

Nick and Louis nodded physically and shook their heads in their minds. They were about to commence an act of terrible proportions.

"You have doubts," commented William as he saw the expressions on their faces.

Louis nodded immediately.

"You can tell me," said William. "I'm sure I have the same doubts."

"Well," said Louis. "Think about it. To destroy a star. And not just a star, but the entire star system. All planets, moons, asteroids. And the Kaitians themselves."

He paused.

"What have we become?" he said. "What will become of us?"

Louis looked William directly in the eyes and the men were quiet.

"Very good questions," said William after a while, and sighed. "This will guarantee that if there is hell, we will have seats reserved there. But I see little choice here. To put it plainly, it's either them or us. And I'd rather it'd be them, even it means a seat in hell for us."

"I know, Commander," said Louis. "We have no choice here. It's them or us, I agree. I also believe that it's better that we are the ones responsible of this instead of anyone else, human or otherwise."

"I couldn't agree more," said William.

"Will you be ready when the device is ready?"

"Yes, we're ready," said Nick.

"Good," said William. "The mission is easy. Go to the Kaitian home world as fast as possible without being detected, deploy the device, and see it work."

"And after?" asked Louis.

William smiled. "I expect the Kaitians be quite surprised and devastated by the destruction of their home world. I leave the rest to you. Come back here, or fight them, or do whatever you want with only one condition: the cloak technology must remain secret."

"Very well, Commander," said Nick and started to leave with Louis.

"Oh, one more thing before you go," said William. "You remember that the Kaitian home world has a Strangers base in the star?"

"Now that you mention it," said Louis, trying to sound casual. "I didn't remember it."

"What you have in mind?" said Nick.

"I want to see their reaction as well," said William. "Wait for them and record everything you can."

"Right," said Louis. "You understand that they are a wild card in this war. Hell, for what I understand, they are the wild card in this universe!"

"You're correct again," said William. "That's why we must know everything we can about them. If we survive this war, I believe we will all live long enough to see a war against them."

Louis nodded. "By the way, you asked us to investigate the machines after the war is over? Could there be a link between the Strangers and the sentient machines?"

"Interesting thought," said William. "They are another wild card in the pack, I guess. Keep that thought in mind while you travel around the galaxy."

"Will do," said Louis.

"Good." William smiled, indicating that their meeting was over. "I'll see you before you leave. Have good time in the meantime."

"As you command," said Nick, and the men left William's office to drink heavily at the thought of destroying a star system.
36

"Evasive actions!" yelled Bruce.

"Too late!" shouted Marya.

Bruce could only watch in disbelief as a hundred torpedoes came directly toward them. They'd been sitting ducks after their engines had been disabled by the annoyingly small fighter.

"Abandon ship!" called Bruce. "Abandon ship!"

The bridge crew hurried to escape pods, leaving only Bruce and Marya.

"Admiral," said Marya. "We must leave, too."

"Go ahead," said Bruce. "I'm right behind you."

"No, sir," said Marya firmly. "We go together."

Bruce looked at her and could not tell what she meant by going: dying or going to the escape pod. Or perhaps she meant both.

"Let's go!" said Bruce. They ran to the last escape pod and launched it just seconds before the torpedoes hit the ship.

"It's a sad view," commented Bruce quietly, looking at the exploding Behemoth. It was the last Behemoth of the Coalition; they'd fought well, but the enemy had fought better.

"It's a sad time for us all," said Marya.

"What are we going to do, Admiral?"

Bruce heard despair in her voice and he understood perfectly. The war had taken an ugly turn at the Miccvan home world and he suspected that they would be defeated soon.

It seemed to Bruce that they'd need a miracle to win this war.

"We fight," said Bruce, and hoped that his voice didn't betray his own doubts. "We fight until we win or die."

"Do you die, sir?" asked Marya and immediately regretted it.

"We all die, Marya," said Bruce casually, and didn't show his surprise at hearing her question. He knew that she knew, or suspected, that he was immortal. Or at least would live a very long time.

Marya nodded and didn't pursue the discussion.

Bruce had been honest; he could die right here, right now. But he didn't grow old, nor would he die from any illness.

Bruce made a mental note to tell William about this. If Marya suspected, she was definitely not the only one. Their secret was spreading and he didn't know if it was for better or for worse.

***

"Captain Kould," called the High Priest after the last Behemoth was destroyed. "Excellent work. Continue to the next colony of Godless Others."

"Shouldn't we secure this system first?" asked Kould, even though he knew what the response would be.

"No," said the High Priest, just as Kould had known. "Our priority must be the Godless Others' worlds."

Kould said nothing and ordered his forces to enter hyperspace and continue to the next target.

***

"They left," whispered Marya. She felt tears on her cheeks; she'd been certain she would die here and now.

Bruce was happily surprised; he'd thought he'd die, too. Now he felt his spirits lifting. "They made a mistake to leave us alive, Marya! Contact the others," he said. "Let's gather together and go after them."

"After them, sir?" said Marya. "But how can we go after them?"

"Ah," said Bruce and raised his finger to chide her. "You haven't read your newsletters. The Behemoths were equipped with escape pods that can be combined together to form a functional ship, the equivalent of a small corvette. Weapons and shields included."

"Sorry, sir," said Marya, a little embarrassed; she hadn't read the newsletters for a long time, as they all seemed to be full of entirely irrelevant information. "I'll contact the others right away."

Bruce smiled. He hadn't read the newsletters either, but he knew about the escape pods since it had been originally his idea to design them that way.

But what should I do? wondered Bruce. A small corvette was by no means match for the Kaitians.

"Sir," said Marya after the pods had assembled together. "What should we do now?"

"It's all automatic," said Bruce, and opened a channel to the pods. "You see a small panel above the exit? Hit it twice and it opens. Then just press the button, sit back, and relax. The assembly takes about an hour."

Acknowledgments echoed from the pods and soon the pods started their automatic assembly.

"Incredible," commented Marya after half an hour. "It's starting to look like real ship."

"Indeed," said Bruce. "The combined know-how of the Coalition has made this possible. There's something from each empire in the Behemoths and that's why they were so successful, even though they were ultimately all destroyed."

"It's no wonder we lost," said Marya. "The enemy is formidable. Much more so than we even thought. More than anyone thought."

"You're right," said Bruce. "A lesson for the next time."

"Next time, sir?" asked Marya. "What next time?"

"The next war, of course," he said.

Marya nodded and wondered how he could even think of the next war when they were very much losing the current one.

And why think of war at all?

The pods had nearly finished the assembly. Bruce entered his personal code to finalize the assembly and to give him the command of the new ship.

"The assembly is ready," said Bruce to the crew. "We now have a fully functional corvette. I will open the walls now. Everyone, stand away from the walls."

He pressed a button and the internal walls from the pods moved away and formed an additional external armor made of metamaterial that also gave the ship a very effective stealth layer, making the ship nearly invisible to sensors. When the walls moved, a large open space was left where the crew stood to see all others around them.

"Marya," said Bruce and gave her a pad. "Here are the crew assignments. Distribute them to the crew; there's something for everyone."

"Yes, sir," she said and looked at the pad. "Most of the tasks are weapons controllers."

"That's right," said Bruce. "We have weapons that will be a surprise to the enemy. They won't expect that much firepower from a small corvette like this."

Marya nodded and went to assign the tasks to the crew.

***

Bruce decided not go after the Kaitian forces, but instead to disrupt the Kaitian supply lines.

He hoped to slow their advance and give the other Coalition time to reinforce, at least a little.

Their first stop was the Miccvan home world, which the Kaitians used as one of their main supply depots. They would also get a glimpse of how the Kaitians had been treating the Miccvans after they conquered their home world.

"Surprisingly few ships," said Marya.

"Hmm . . ." wondered Bruce. "Should we wait for the supply ships?"

"I don't know, sir," said Marya. "The wait could be long."

Bruce didn't dwell on the decision.

"We strike now," he said, "and wait afterwards. And let's contact the Miccvans on the planet, see if we can help them to organize an effective resistance."

"I like that idea." Marya smiled.

The others nearby had, of course, listened intently to what Bruce and Marya had discussed. Bruce was certain he heard whispers that relayed his decision to the crew.

"Are you ready?" he asked, raising his voice.

"Yes, sir!" said all.

"Then ahead!" said Bruce. "Maximum speed!"

As the makeshift corvette increased speed, its stealth effect diminished and the Kaitian scanners locked on to them.

"Fire at will!" commanded Bruce. The guns pointing forward fired upon the nearest Kaitian frigate.

"Turn and fire!" he said, and the corvette made a quick turn to port as all starboard guns fired simultaneously to the enemy frigate. It reminded Bruce of the ancient sea battles with sailing ships that fired full broadsides to the enemy ship.

The frigate didn't have a chance and it exploded.

"Quick!" ordered Bruce. "To the debris field and full stop!"

Marya understood immediately that they went there to hide.

They were well-hidden; the remaining Kaitian ships, two frigates and a corvette, rushed past them trying to find them.

Bruce smiled. "Did I remember to tell you that we have five stealth torpedoes on board?"

"No, sir." Marya smiled at the thought of the torpedoes. "You didn't remember."

"Well," said Bruce, smiling, "no harm done. I'm telling you now"

"I assume you want to use them now," said Marya.

"Yes, and I give you the pleasure of guiding them to their targets," he said.

"Thank you, sir," said Marya, not exactly knowing what kind of pleasure to expect.

But it was a pleasure, as she discovered. She put on the glasses that displayed the image from the torpedoes' bow, alongside a display with all the relevant information of the torpedo and the target. It was like being a torpedo herself in empty space.

She guided all three torpedoes simultaneously and took extra care to hit all targets at the same moment.

"Yes!" she shouted, excited as all targets exploded.

The crew had watched torpedoes from their own screens and Marya's excitement had been shared with the crew.

"Good work, Commander," said Bruce, and tapped her shoulder.

"Now, let's go and see what the Kaitians have in their supply depot. And contact the Miccvans on the planet."

"Yes, Admiral," said Marya smiling. It had been a great pleasure to guide the torpedoes in their targets.
37

Nick and Louis passed the Mehar home world and it left them speechless.

The Kaitians had totally obliterated the planet; they saw no life signs anywhere in the system. They saw no Kaitians, either, but that was not a surprise since there'd be no reason to watch a dead world.

"Analyze the planet," said Nick to Aileen. "What have they used?"

Aileen had already started the analysis when they entered the system.

"I have done it," said Aileen.

"The planet was attacked in three waves. And I must emphasize that the planet itself was attacked, not the people or installations of the Mehar Empire on the planet."

Nick and Louis glanced each other; that didn't sound good.

"The first wave was to send asteroids to the oceans," she said. "You see the impact craters here."

Five locations were highlighted on the planet map.

"The asteroids created tsunamis over a kilometer in height and they destroyed everything on all coasts and far inland. The second wave was to destroy the major population centers, forests, and other flora with orbital weapons. And, finally, the third wave was to send asteroids to the continents; you see the impact craters on the map."

Louis shook his head in disbelief. "Even if the attacks hadn't killed everyone, the winter that has started will kill everything."

"That's correct," said Aileen. "The impacts raised dust and other particles to the planet's atmosphere--it will take decades before skies are clear again. The Mehar are gone. And likely every other species on the planet is gone, too."

Nick sighed, but said nothing. It was almost too much to understand that the entire planet had been destroyed. But even that paled against what they were going to do.

"Let's move on," said Nick. "Direct route to the Kaitian home world. Let's go and end this war."

"Right," said Louis. "Better them than us."

"You're right," said Nick. "After what we just saw, you're absolutely right."

***

"Approaching the Kaitian border," said Aileen. "There are lot of surveillance stations in the systems along the border."

"Interesting," said Nick. "Why would they want to set up surveillance stations at their borders? Now, when they're already at war?"

"Perhaps all, or almost all, of their forces are away," commented Louis, "and they want to know in advance if anyone happens to approach their territories."

"That is most likely the explanation," said Aileen. "And it means that we may not encounter any enemies en route."

"That's good for us," said Nick. "But let's be careful regardless."

"Of course, Counselor," said Aileen.

They entered Kaitian space in silence and traveled toward the Kaitian home world. They encountered not a single Kaitian ship.

***

"There it is," said Nick, looking at the Kaitian star directly in front of them.

"What about the Strangers?" asked Louis.

"They're not yet here," said Aileen. "If they are still working to their schedule, they will arrive in three days."

"Plenty of time to get in position," said Nick. "Are you ready to deploy the weapon?"

"Yes, Counselor," said Aileen.

"Then let's move close to the star," said Louis, "and do it."

Nick noticed that Louis was acting somehow oddly, not himself at all. And he knew why he sounded odd--he was thinking the same thing as Nick, about the magnitude of the act they were about to do.

"Is this the right thing to do?" asked Louis. He'd asked that question of himself countless times even though he, selfishly, thought it was better the Kaitians than themselves.

"Is there any right thing to do in the first place?" asked Nick. "I mean, right for us isn't right for the Kaitians. And right for Kaitians isn't right for us. Who will be the judge?"

Louis made a snort. "The Strangers?"

"Ha!" laughed Nick. "Maybe they are!"

Louis laughed, too, and then suddenly got serious. "What if they are?"

Nick pondered the question. "I don't like that idea. It gives me the shivers."

"For me, too," said Louis.

"May I add a comment, Counselors?" said Aileen.

"Of course," said Nick.

"Louis raised very interesting thought," said Aileen. "Something that no one has raised before. But it opens totally new trains of thought. To say that the Strangers would be some kind of judges would imply that the Strangers are really, in the pure meaning of the word, strangers."

"What do you mean?" asked Nick.

"Strangers to our universe," said Aileen. "Outsiders. Something that has come from someplace else."

"Wow," said Louis. "Where did that come from?"

"From the dictionary," said Aileen. "A person who is not a member of the family, group, community, or the like, as a visitor or guest."

Nick and Louis looked at each other.

"I got the shivers again," said Louis after a moment. "Think about it, Nick."

Nick smiled. "We must investigate it further. We might find something interesting."

Louis laughed. "I'm sure of it. How close can we get to the Strangers, Aileen?"

"Close enough," she said. "Our cloak is perfect."

"All right, then," said Nick. "Let's prepare for the show."

***

"Any moment now," said Nick to himself. They'd set up the weapon within the star, where it waited for the signal to start a chain reaction that would ignite the star to nova.

The theoretical model indicated that the reaction would be quick and there was no way to stop the reaction once it started.

"There," whispered Louis. "The Strangers."

The super-cruiser entered normal space with a black flash. The men watched the Strangers' cruiser and felt fear.

"Why am I feeling this?" asked Nick.

"We are much closer than last time," said Louis, and his voice nearly broke. He made no effort to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

"My tears are falling. My mind burns and fear consumes. My torment in hell," he whispered.

Tears were falling on Nick's cheeks, too, and his knees were shaking. Nothing had prepared them for this.

Time slowed as they watched the cruiser approaching and then passing them in silence.

In addition to fear, the men felt despair and great loss, almost as if life was draining from them and not just their own lives. The life, the entire existence, of the universe was there and they were losing it and couldn't do anything about it.

"Nick," whispered Louis, almost losing his mind.

Aileen watched the men and monitored everything. It was great data, something entirely new about the Strangers, which was not surprising considering that no one had ever been so close to Strangers.

Except perhaps the Kaitians.

Aileen wondered whether they felt like Nick and Louis near the Strangers.

In an instant, once the Stranger cruiser disappeared within the star, all the feelings passed and the men felt normal again.

Or as normal as they could feel after the experience.

Louis shook his head, trying to get rid of the memories of feelings. But it didn't work.

"Ready?" asked Nick, both shocked and cold. "Let's end this."

"All is ready, and I wait your command, Counselor," said Aileen.

Nick looked at Louis. He nodded, without hesitation.

"Do it," said Nick.

***

Nick imagined a signal traveling from the ship to the sun and expected to see immediate results.

But nothing happened. He started to think that the device didn't work. He was opening his mouth to ask about it when Aileen said, "The first flares should start any second now."

"Look!" said Louis and pointed outside. The Stranger cruiser exited from the sun--in a hurry it seemed. The cruiser came to halt and turned its bow toward the star just as the first flare erupted from the surface.

"They know something's wrong," Louis observed the obvious. More flares erupted, all around the star, and the magnitude of the flares increased by the second.

"Any activity from the Kaitian home world?" asked Nick.

"Not yet," said Aileen. "They won't know it yet. It will take five minutes before they see what's happening in the star. And more before the solar winds hit them. But they will know soon enough."

"What the hell is that!?" shouted Nick.

Something emerged from the star, accompanied by flares. It was a huge black structure, clearly Stranger in origin, and many times larger than the Stranger super-cruiser.

"Must be their base," said Louis. "Or something like that. But look at the size of that thing! It's burning." A massive flare erupted right behind the structure and engulfed it. After the flare burnt out, the structure was literally melting.

"Nothing but black mass," said Nick looking at the structure, which looked to be entirely solid. "How can it be just black solid mass?"

Neither Louis nor Aileen had an answer for that, so they said nothing.

"I'm picking up increased activity in the Kaitian home world," said Aileen.

"You're too subtle," grunted Louis. "They are panicking."

Nick looked at the Stranger cruiser; it didn't do anything, just stood still, watching the dying star. Nick suspected that they were not even aware of the Kaitians or their panic in the planet.

"We should start moving away from the star," said Aileen. "It will go nova soon."

"Make it so," said Nick.

"The Kaitians are launching ships," said Louis. "They are evacuating."

Nick made a laughing noise, void of humor. There were over twenty billion Kaitians on the planet--with luck, few of them might survive.

"The final stage starts," said Aileen. Huge flares engulfed the star.

"It's getting bigger," said Louis as the star began inflating.

The men could almost hear the panic from the Kaitian home world. The Kaitians saw what was happening, but they couldn't do anything about it and they couldn't know why it was happening. Perhaps they blamed the Strangers, but Nick and Louis would never know.

"It will become nova now," said Aileen in flat voice and the Kaitian star exploded.

***

The Stranger cruiser showed no signs of moving as the shockwave of the nova came toward it until second before it hit; the cruiser disappeared to hyperspace and left a black flash behind.

The shockwave destroyed the innermost planet and would hit the Kaitian home world soon.

Nick tried to imagine how it would feel to see the home star explode and then see the coming shockwave. He shook his head and hoped that he would never have to be in that situation.

Louis also imagined being on the Kaitian home world right now. He cried invisible tears and knew that if he had a soul, it was doomed beyond redemption.

Aileen accelerated the corvette to be slightly faster than the shockwave so they could monitor it as it happened. They went past the Kaitian home world with the shockwave in their wake.

"It hits them now," said Nick quietly, and so the Kaitian home world was destroyed.

Twenty billion Kaitians, all other living beings, and the entire planet died in an instant, and not even memories remained behind.
38

William was in his office, watching the map of the galaxy--as he'd done a lot lately. He was watching the movement of remaining Coalition ships and the unstoppable progress of the Kaitian forces.

They had known the strength of the Kaitians, but still underestimated them. The Behemoths had been destroyed and so had their AI-controlled fighters. The genetic weapons had been effective, but they didn't have enough of them. The Kaitian ships forced the Coalition to retreat battle after battle.

Bruce was the only one who'd had a major victory since the fall of the Miccvan home world, and he was disrupting Kaitian supply operations on the Miccvan home world admirably.

But it didn't really matter against the Kaitians.

William started to become desperate in the face of total destruction. Not only destruction--extinction. The Kaitians would not accept their surrender and they would kill their enemies without remorse.

His only hope was that Nick and Louis would accomplish their mission to destroy the Kaitian home world.

William was surprised that he could think so casually about destroying an entire star system. He shook the surprise away; it was too late to have any second thoughts, anyway.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as reports came in about a skirmish in one of the Miccvan colonies, near the Mopian border. Milton was there, and he too was getting desperate. His forces had sustained heavy damage but they'd fought bravely, delaying the inevitable.

William sighed and walked away from the map to the cafeteria to get something to drink.

***

"And that one." William pointed to a delicious-looking chocolate cake.

"Of course, Commander." The waitress behind the desk smiled and gave a coffee and the chocolate cake to William.

William smiled back and he felt good, almost as if his spirits were lifted by the waitress's smile. He smiled all the way to his regular table at the cafeteria and was in no hurry to finish the coffee or the cake.

He stared at the emptiness of space, thinking nothing. When he'd finished the coffee he went back to the office, and smiled to the waitress on his way.

"Commander," said the computer when he entered his office, "I have news."

"What is it?" asked William.

"Several reports came in while you were having coffee," said the computer. "The Kaitians have abruptly stopped fighting and left the battlefield. No one knows where or why."

William took a deep breath. It could mean only one thing: Nick and Louis had accomplished their mission.

"But we know," he said.

"Yes, Commander," said the computer.

"Let's keep it that way," said William. "No one must know."

"Message coming from Milton, Commander," said the computer.

"Put him through," he said and an image of a surprised Milton appeared on the wall.

"William," he said. "The Kaitians are pulling back."

"I know," said William. "I've just received several reports. It seems to be happening everywhere."

"But why?" asked Milton. "Is this a trap?"

"It might be," said William thoughtfully.

"Commander," interrupted the computer. "Grand Admiral Z'eenkoo is on the line."

"Put him through," said William, surprised to hear from Mr. Grey--but he knew why Mr. Grey was calling.

"Admiral," said Milton. "I assume you know about the Kaitians."

"Yes," said Mr. Grey. "Do you know why?"

"No," said William.

"I've already sent ships to follow them," said Mr. Grey. "It looks like they are falling back everywhere."

"I don't understand," said William, hoping to sound genuinely perplexed.

"I'll follow them, too," said Milton. "I'll call a conference when I know more."

Milton disconnected and so did Mr. Grey, without a word.

"Contact Bruce," said Milton to the computer. "Verify that Kaitians have left the Miccvan home world and order him to follow them."

"Yes, Commander," said the computer.
39

"Acknowledge the message," said Bruce. "Tell them that the Kaitians left from here as well, and we follow them."

"Yes, Admiral," said Marya.

She had been very surprised to see the Kaitians leave so fast. The Miccvans' reports from the surface said that Kaitians had literally left in the middle of their meals.

"I wonder what happened," said Marya.

"It must be something big," said Bruce. "My guess it's something related to the Strangers. Let's go and find out."

"Yes, sir," said Marya, and their ship accelerated to follow the Kaitians.

***

"They are in a hurry," said Bruce. "We're having trouble keeping up with them."

"They are headed toward Kaitian space," said Marya.

"The home world?" asked Bruce.

"Perhaps," said Marya. "Too early to determine."

Bruce knew about the Stranger base in the Kaitian home star; if the Strangers were involved, it was a logical guess that they were headed there.

"Assume that it's where they're headed," said Bruce. "Can we take a shortcut to get there?"

"No, sir," said Marya after consulting the computer. "We are already on the most direct route to their home world."

"So," said Bruce confidently, "that's where they're headed, then. Send a message to Command that the Kaitians are most likely going to their home world. We can slow down now. Let's not push our luck. They might get too interested in us before we reach their home world."

"Yes, sir," said Marya.

***

"Sir," said Marya, as the ship approached the Kaitian home world. "Strange readings from the Kaitian home world."

"How strange?" asked Bruce.

"Well," said Marya. "It looks like that their star has gone nova."

"Nova?" said Bruce, not quite believing. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir," she said, not quite believing herself. "Positive."

Bruce said nothing, but he knew that the nova must've been William's doing. The thought gave him the shivers, thinking the magnitude of what he'd done.

"Do we have any data on the star?" he asked. "The Kaitians must've known that the star would go nova."

"I already checked, sir," said Marya. "Our data didn't have any indications. But our scans may have been too superficial to make any conclusions."

Bruce said nothing, but waited Marya to make any speculations.

"Sir," said Marya after a short silence. "I find it hard to believe that the Kaitians didn't know that the star would go nova. And yet they apparently didn't do anything to leave the planet. I don't buy it."

"Buy what?" asked Bruce, trying to sound that he had no idea what she was thinking about.

"That the star would go nova and the Kaitians wouldn't do anything," said Marya. "They can't be that crazy."Marya looked at Bruce, perhaps waiting for him to say what she thought, but Bruce remained silent. He tried to look casual, reading the report of the Kaitian star.

"I think someone caused this," said Marya quietly, doubting her own words.

"What do you mean?" asked Bruce innocently.

"I mean what I said," she said, building confidence as she spoke. "I think someone caused this. Someone, or something, destroyed the star. And the Kaitian home world with it."

"I don't think . . ." started Bruce and hesitated, hoping it'd look like he thought about what Marya said.

"But that's unbelievable. Who could do it?"

"The Strangers, sir," said Marya. "As you suspected."

"True, I said that," he said. "And I believe they could do it. But why?"

"I don't think we'll ever find out why," said Marya.

Bruce nodded in agreement. They knew nothing of the Strangers, and their motives were next to impossible to know.

"What of the Kaitians? Their fleet? What are they doing?" asked Bruce.

They were already close enough for long-range scanners to see what was happening.

"The ships are standing still," said Marya. "There's frantic communication, mostly on open channels."

"What are they saying?" asked Bruce

"They wonder what happened," said Marya. "They cry for their gods and why they abandoned them."

"Gods?" asked Bruce surprised. "What gods?"

"Black Gods, they say," said Marya.

"Ah," he said. "The Strangers, of course. They must think them as gods."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Marya.

"I guess you didn't know that one of the Strangers bases is, or was, within their star?" asked Bruce, and she shook her head.

"And we also know that this star system is relatively near the location where we think the Strangers entered our galaxy."

"This all new for me," said Marya, almost accusingly.

"I know, Marya," said Bruce. "And I apologize."

Marya was surprised to hear him apologize. But she was not surprised to find out that he knew much more about the Strangers than he'd said. It was in line with what she'd heard of the admiral--strange rumors, told only after one drink too many. No one believed the rumors, of course, but during her service with him, she had started to believe the unbelievable.

That he was an immortal. Almost like a god himself.

"Sir," said Marya and Bruce knew what she was about to say. "If they cry for their Black Gods, then the Strangers may not have been behind the nova?"

"That's what I was thinking, too," said Bruce.

"Who then?" asked Marya.

"Not many options, are there?" asked Bruce.

"No, it must be someone in the Coalition," said Marya. "But who? We have no such technology. Arash, Mopian, and Mehar are gone. I doubt that Saami or Ooktian would have such technology. Miccvan or Rg'Tkeen, then. Perhaps the Rg'Tkeen? I've always thought of them secretive."

Bruce nodded, glad that she'd ruled humans out already, and said with full confidence, "You may be correct. Send a message to Command. Tel them what we see, but do not tell them of our suspicions. I have a feeling that we can wait here," he added, smiling.

"How so?" asked Marya.

"We will take advantage of their situation," said Bruce, eyes on fire. "And we're going to wipe them out."
40

"You've all heard what happened," said Milton, opening the conference with the Coalition Command.

"It is unbelievable," said Laura. "We must find out what happened, and whether the nova was natural or artificial."

There was uneasy silence on the call. William feared the consequences of what he'd done, if any one ever found out about it.

"I agree," said Milton.

"I think we all agree," said Mr. Grey somewhat anxiously. "But not now. We must deal with the Kaitians. This is too good an opportunity to miss."

"Sounds like you have a suggestion," said William.

"Correct." Mr. Grey nodded. "We have confirmed that all the Kaitians have left the Coalition space and gone back to their own space. They are scrambling to defend their colonies as we speak, I'm certain that they fear that whatever happened to their home world may happen to their colonies as well."

"That's quite understandable," commented Laura.

"And so they've been forced to stretch their forces," continued Mr. Grey, "leaving individual colonies with relatively few ships. We can concentrate our forces and strike one world at a time."

"Just as they did to us," said William, and smiled with malice. "It's payback time."

"Yes, Commander," said Mr. Grey with a thin smile. "So it is."

"But our forces are limited, too," said Milton.

"We have enough. We've already built new ships and more are on the way. And our soldiers are eager for payback," said Mr. Grey confidently. "We can take the first wave; you can follow as the second wave."

"Are you smiling, Grand Admiral?" said Laura looking at Mr. Grey.

"I am, Matriarch," said Mr. Grey, and his smile widened. "We will win this war after all. It's a good reason to smile."

"I agree," said Milton. "But there is one more thing I want your agreement on."

"What is it, Milton?" asked William.

"The Kaitians," said Milton, and the way he said it removed the smile from Mr. Grey's face. He understood what Milton meant.

"I agree with you, Advisor," said Mr. Grey.

"Agree with what?" asked William.

"We cannot allow this to happen again," answered Milton. "The Kaitians need to be exterminated."

William nodded, without hesitation. "I agree."

Milton clearly wanted agreement from them all.

"The Saami Empire agrees," said Laura.

"As does the Ooktian Empire," said Kaldan. He'd been badly wounded at the battle of the Ooktian home world, and had barely survived.

"The Gemono Empire agrees as well," said Juno. He had also been at the battle of the Ooktian home world--where the Gemono had lost nearly their entire fleet.

"Excellent. The decision is unanimous," said Milton, relieved. He'd feared that there'd be objections; there was no way he could've justified the genocide. "We have just perfected the genetic weapon against the Kaitians and it is being delivered here. As soon as it arrives, I will equip my cruiser and deliver it to Kaitians personally."

William noticed that there were silent nods of agreement. He suspected that they were relieved to not have to use the weapon themselves.

He sighed in his mind; he had started this by destroying the Kaitian home star.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked.

"Two is better than one," said Milton, glad that William offered to help. "Rachel is bringing the weapon here. I suggest you take your ship and come here."

"Agreed," said William, "I'm on my way."

***

As soon as the conference call ended, William took his corvette and traveled to rendezvous with Milton. He was happy to see Rachel too, it had been too long time since he'd seen her.

"There it is," said William, mostly to himself. He had only the computer accompanying him.

"The remains of the Coalition fleet. Looks like all are here, except the Rg'Tkeen."

"You're right," said the computer. "All the Coalition ships that can fight are here. Advisor Milton is calling." The computer opened the channel.

"William," said Milton. "Very good to see you. Dock with us. We'll transfer the weapons to your ship and we can start."

"On my way," said William and instructed the computer to dock with the Thoughtful Flame.

***

"Are you sure you want to be with us?" Milton asked Rachel.

"Yes," she said. "I'm responsible for the weapon and I must be there."

"I disagree," said Milton.

"But you must do what you think best. What we are about to do will be with us as long as we live. And if the old stories are true, it'll be with us after we die, forever and ever on the other side of this existence."

"I know," said Rachel sadly. "I know."

"Advisor," called Colonel Nisha. "Commander Johnson has docked and the transfer has begun."

"I must go," said Rachel, and hurried to see William.

***

The Coalition fleet arrived to the border of the Kaitian Empire to rendezvous with the Rg'Tkeen fleet.

"So few ships," said Rachel, looking at the Rg'Tkeen fleet. "And most are damaged."

"We have enough," said William confidently. "We've confirmed that the Kaitians have distributed their forces to defend their colonies. We can wipe them out one by one."

"But what if they scramble their forces to defend their colonies under attack?" said Rachel. "We don't have enough forces to fight all of them."

"Good question," said William. "We must be swift in our attack. I sent a message to Bruce to keep an eye on the Kaitian movements and he'll warn us if they start to counter-attack. And keep in mind our role--as we discussed with Milton and Mr. Grey, while the fleet fights the Kaitians, we'll sneak to deliver the weapon."

"Commander," interrupted the computer. "Advisor Milton calling."

"We are ready," said Milton. "The first colony is one hour away."

As he spoke, the fleet started to disappear into hyperspace and soon all were on their way.

***

Two dozen enemy cruisers defended a Kaitian agriculture colony. As planned, the Rg'Tkeen attacked as the first wave and it seemed to William they wouldn't need a second wave.

The Rg'Tkeen ships entered normal space simultaneously from a dozen exit points and destroyed half of the Kaitian ships. The rest recovered from the surprise quickly and managed to destroy two Rg'Tkeen frigates before they, too, were destroyed.

William and Milton were in orbit of the colony, ready to deploy the weapon.

"No turning back," said William.

"No," said Rachel. "Not anymore."

"Milton," he called. "Ready to deploy in three . . . two . . . one . . ."

"Bomb released," said William and Milton.

The screen showed the two bombs on opposite sides of the planet, slowly falling toward the planet.

The bomb had three compartments for the weapon, each programmed to open at different layers of the atmosphere. Depending on the weather, the nanoviruses would spread to entire planet in just a few days.

"Commander," called Mr. Grey. "Leave a ship or two to monitor the situation and to destroy any ships attempting to escape from the planet."

"Already done it," said William.

He'd assigned the Sea of Boston to the task.

"Excellent," said Mr. Grey.

"Victory is at hand! Let's move on!"

The Coalition fleet entered hyperspace and only the Sea of Boston remained in the orbit of the soon-to-be-dead Kaitian colony.

***

"Sir," said Marya. "I detect increased comm traffic."

"The fleet must've made their first attack," said Bruce. "What are the Kaitians doing?"

"So far, nothing but talking on the comms," said Marya.

"They're debating what to do. Stay here or go to help other colonies." Bruce nodded. "Let's monitor the situation and inform the fleet if they leave."

"When should they attack here?" asked Marya.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me," he said. "But we are quite close to the border, so I don't think we need to wait for long."

"I hope so," she said. "I don't like just standing here."

"Heh." Bruce smiled. "It's option of standing here or there. The Rg'Tkeen fleet is attacking first; from what I understand, they have formidable forces, even though it was heavily diminished after their battle against the Kaitians."

"But still, Admiral," she said. "It would be better there than here."

"Maybe so," said Bruce thoughtfully. "Maybe so."

"The comm traffic has ceased," said Marya. "And they are still here. Looks like they decided to defend this colony after all."

"Send a message to the fleet," said Bruce and added. "And tell them to hurry here."

***

"It's too easy," said Rachel after they deployed the bomb to yet another Kaitian colony.

Rg'Tkeen forces had been effective in destroying the colony defenses and they were ready to move to the next target.

"The Kaitians haven't really realized what we're doing," said William. "Otherwise they would launch a counter-attack."

"And they'd fight desperately," said Rachel. "All or nothing."

"Right," said William. "But we're ready for them."

"I hope so," she said.

William ordered one of the human frigates to stay behind and monitor the situation on the planet before going after the Coalition fleet to the next target.

***

"That's William," said Nick, monitoring the Coalition fleet coming from hyperspace near the Kaitian colony and seeing the unmistakable unmarked corvette sneaking up.

They'd waited in Kaitian space after they'd left the Kaitian home world, knowing that the Coalition would launch an attack after the destruction of the Kaitian home world.

"And Advisor Milton there." Louis pointed to another sneaking ship.

"The Rg'Tkeen are quite effective. They already destroyed the Kaitians defenders."

"Look!" said Nick suddenly, as more ships exited from hyperspace. "The Kaitians!"

The Kaitian ships went directly toward the planet, trying to intercept William and Milton before they could deploy the bombs. But the Rg'Tkeen were vigilant and went to intercept them together with the rest of the Coalition fleet.

"They are desperate," commented Nick after watching the battle for a while.

"I'm not surprised," said Louis. "Did you see what William and Advisor Milton did?"

"No," said Nick. "What did they do?"

As an answer, Aileen showed a recording that displayed how two bombs fell to the planet.

"What happened there?" said Nick. "There's no explosions."

"No," said Louis. "But the bombs opened three times in the atmosphere--in different layers of atmosphere."

"So?" asked Nick, but realized as he spoke. "Ah. The genetic weapon."

"Exactly," said Louis.

Nick sighed. "They're finishing what we started."

"No," said Louis, shaking his head. "Not us. William is finishing what he started. We're just delivery boys here."

Nick said nothing, watching the battle. The Kaitians were losing the battle, and each time they lost a ship, their desperation increased, but no one could do anything to help them. Their species was already doomed.

"Let's follow William," said Nick when the corvette entered hyperspace with Milton. "Let's see how this ends."

***

The end of the Kaitians was methodically executed.

Mr. Grey, Milton, and William equipped all the Coalition ships with the nanovirus bombs and sent them across Kaitian space to hunt down any remaining ships and colonies.

William and Rachel were part of a task force that found the final Kaitian colony in the most remote corner of the galaxy.

Captain Kould of the Kaitians defended the small agriculture colony and destroyed three ships, but failed to stop William from dropping the nanovirus bomb to the planet. He could only watch the bombs opening; he knew what was inside them was the virus brought by the cursed Godless Others, and that it would kill all the people on the planet.

The last of my people, thought Kould. And the thought stopped him. Until now, he hadn't realized what it meant, that his people were now an extinct species.

Knowing in his heart that he was the very last of the Kaitians in the universe, Captain Kould went insane.

"Stop that!" shouted William and pointed at a small fighter he recognized, It was the fighter that had caused them heavy losses in the war; he was curious to see who the pilot was.

Two Rg'Tkeen frigates accelerated toward Kould, but he was too fast--and seemingly protected by dumb luck. He destroyed one frigate before entering hyperspace . . . and so the last Kaitian disappeared.

"Damn!" cursed William. "Any traces of where it went?"

"No, Commander," said the computer.

"How many Kaitians were on that fighter?" he asked.

"Just one," said the computer.

"One?" asked Rachel. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said the computer. "And based on the sensor readings and the erratic maneuvering of the ship, I suspect the Kaitian pilot suffered a mental breakdown."

"What do you mean mental breakdown?" asked Rachel.

"He went insane," said the computer.

"Well." William smiled and took a deep relieved breath. "That's then the end of the Kaitian war. We won."
41

"I hate this job," said Jeffery, standing on a hill after a long climb from the landing site. They'd seen a town surrounded by hills from the orbit, but hadn't been able to find a space to land nearer the town.

"You volunteered." Ellen smiled, holding his hand.

"I know," he said. "That's why I wouldn't be anywhere else but here."

Jeffery and Ellen were one of many expeditions that had been sent to Kaitian space after the war had ended--a year earlier. Their mission was to investigate any Kaitian colonies they found and find any habitable planets or resources for the Coalition. The Coalition empires, including humans, were eager to find out what the Kaitians had had, and to expand the empire to new territories.

Jeffery had volunteered for the mission, after he had been granted a leave of absence from the Human Empire Navy. He'd wanted to resign, but he wasn't allowed to do that.

He was still shocked by what the Coalition had done to the Kaitian species. His ship had remained behind and watched the first colony killed by the nanovirus bombs; it was an experience he would never forget.

They'd made the mistake of monitoring the effects of the nanovirus. He still had nightmares about it. The first nanovirus that had been deployed to the ships at the battle of the Ooktian home world had cut the signals from brains and the Kaitians dropped dead, but the new one had been more disturbing. It was designed to attack the cells it infected by destroying the walls of the cells, releasing the water held by them.

"Don't think about it," said Ellen, who'd wanted to be with Jeffery and had resigned from the Marines after the war. She saw that Jeffery was again thinking what he'd seen on the Kaitian planet. He'd never told to Ellen what he'd seen, but she knew it was really bad. And since they were standing in a Kaitian colony, looking at the empty town ahead, it was no wonder Jeffery was thinking about those who'd died.

"I'm sorry," he said. "The images just came to my mind."

He shook his head, trying to shed them.

"Let's go and see what we might find." This was the part he enjoyed enormously, exploring the unknown.

They walked toward the town hand in hand. They'd already been on several colonies and always they'd found something new. As per their contract, they were allowed to take anything they found and the only limit was the size of their ship. Fortunately, their corvette was big enough.

Both felt rising excitement as they entered the empty Kaitian town.

"I love this job." Jeffery smiled.

***

Jiao stood beside the mountain wall where there had been an entrance to factory of the sentient machines. Now there was nothing but solid rock.

She'd been on the planet for six months with archeology teams and scientists from all the Coalition empires. Everyone wanted to know more about the factory and the sentient machines who'd built it. Jiao had said that there was no entrance to the factory anymore and she'd warned them about the black veil inside it, but her warnings had been ignored.

The teams had combed the entire planet trying to search out another entrance, but nothing had been found. They'd found more evidence about the sentient machines, including debris on a battle field on the other side of the planet. But who they had fought against was unclear; it had happened five million years ago.

Jiao knew that the entrance had been directly where she was looking; she could imagine the long corridors inside, and the black veil that guarded the factory. She sighed; she had lost lot of soldiers then.

"Admiral," called Caleb. He had volunteered to go with Jiao on the mission. Like Ellen, most of the Marines in his squad had resigned from the Marines and went on their own ways, but Caleb had decided to stay with the Marines.

"Yes, Caleb," she answered. "What is it?"

"The Miccvans finally penetrated the mountain wall," he said. "They're ready to deploy the spiders."

The autonomous spiders had been adopted from military reconnaissance bugs to more include scientific functions.

"Finally," she said. It'd been surprisingly difficult to penetrate the mountain wall. They'd analyzed the rock to conclude that it was far from natural. The entire mountain, and the large area surrounding the mountain as well, was artificial.

Caleb and Jiao walked to the Miccvan team, who were eager to send in the spiders.

"Admiral," said the Miccvan team leader. "We're ready."

"Do it," said Jiao.

The team leader went to the hole and sent a dozen spiders inside.

"We're receiving images," said a Miccvan scientist. "And measurements. Everything is okay, they are going through the hole."

Jiao and Caleb watched the incoming images with the scientists. The spiders used optical, infrared, and ultrasonic sensors to map the surroundings.

"They're through," said the scientist, after they heard a bump.

"What was that noise?" asked Caleb.

"The spider apparently dropped to the floor," the scientist said, smiling.

"All are in. They are scanning."

The combined sensors of the spiders showed the entrance hall of the factory.

"Does that look familiar?" asked Jiao.

"Yes, ma'am," said Caleb. "That's the entrance."

"Moving in," said the scientist, and all the spiders moved in line, mapping the interior.

"What's that? A wall? Where did it come from?"

Before anyone could say anything, the wall had surrounded the spiders and they lost the feed.

"The black veil," whispered Caleb.

"It's real?" asked the scientist.

"Of course it's real!" said Caleb. "What did you think?"

"Shh!" said Jiao as she heard something. Then she felt it.

The ground was shaking.

"Everybody! To the safe zone!" shouted Jiao. "Now! Move! Move!"

After they'd found out that the mountain and its surroundings were artificial, she'd practically forced the scientists to agree on a safe zone that was beyond the artificial area. Now they all ran toward it.

The mountain and the surrounding area shook until they were all in the safe zone. Then it stopped.

"Look!" shouted a human scientist and pointed to the wall. "Something's coming!"

It was the spiders, thrown through the hole in the wall with a force enough to break the arm of one scientist who happened to stand in their way.

"Damn," said Jiao. "Everybody stay here! I'm going to investigate. Caleb, come with me."

They carefully walked toward the mountain but as soon as they set a foot on the artificial surface, the ground started to shake again.

"Is it my imagination," said Caleb, "or was that more powerful than before?"

Jiao had thought the same and stepped again on the artificial surface. The shaking was now clearly more powerful.

"Whoa!" said Jiao after stepping away. "I guess it doesn't want us near the mountain anymore. Send a flyer."

"Why?" asked Caleb.

"I have feeling that it's not only the ground that's off limits," she said.

Caleb nodded and fetched a flyer. He programmed it to go around the mountain and then return.

But Jiao's feeling was correct. As soon as the flyer entered above the artificial surface, the ground started to shake. The flyer didn't care and flew toward the mountain.

But it didn't go far--it suddenly shattered to pieces.

"What happened?" asked Caleb, surprised.

"Something came from the mountain," said Jiao. "I barely saw it. Looked like a black filament."

"Admiral," said a voice from behind her.

"Yes?" she said.

"A message from the Sea of Boston," the Miccvan team leader said. "They monitored the planet and they say that over one-third of the planet was shaking, and they lost contact to other teams."

Jiao feared the worst. "We evacuate now. Everyone to the shuttles!" she shouted. The scientists didn't need to be told again; they gathered all equipment they could and left the planet in a hurry.

Once aboard the Sea of Boston, Jiao's fear was confirmed. All the other teams had been killed and further analysis determined that that nearly half of the planet's surface was artificial. Jiao cursed--yet again she'd lost men and women under her command.

"You couldn't have stopped it," said Caleb in a sad voice. "Besides, before the black veil showed itself, we were only guarding the scientists. Not leading them."

"Perhaps," she said. "But . . ."

"No buts, Admiral," interrupted Caleb. "What are your orders now?"

Jiao glanced at Caleb and nodded. She was no longer only guarding the scientists. The events on the ground meant that scientific mission had become a military mission.

She ordered the officers and senior scientists to the conference room and told them she intended to leave and place the planet under military quarantine.

"But, Admiral," said the Miccvan team leader, "We can't leave now. We still have much to learn."

Jiao shook her head. "Too dangerous."

"But, Admiral," continued the team leader. "We have invested a lot of resources. You do realize the entire Coalition is waiting on our report here and they expect to hear good news."

"I understand that," said Jiao coldly. She didn't like when her orders were second-guessed.

But she also knew the Miccvan was correct so she proposed, "Let's send a probe to surface. Just one. And if the probe is not destroyed, we can stay and investigate the planet from orbit."

She raised a hand to stop objection from the team leader.

"But if the probe is destroyed, I'll place military quarantine on this planet and we leave back to Coalition space," she said.

The scientists could only agree and reluctantly prepared the probe.

The reluctance changed to disbelief and silent thanks when the probe was destroyed as soon as it had entered the atmosphere.

"Let's get out of here," said Jiao. The Sea of Boston entered hyperspace and went back to Coalition space.

They didn't see it, but at the moment Sea of Boston entered hyperspace, a black filament rose from the planet surface and followed the ship.

***

Nick and Louis were beyond Coalition space, far west from Earth as seen in the galaxy map, on a mission to find out about the sentient machines. They'd encountered many marvels of the universe--even a semi-sentient species on one of the earth-like planets.

But no signs of sentient machines.

"Gentlemen," said Aileen, as they were en route to yet another unremarkable star system chosen for its similar characteristics to all the known sites with confirmed sentient machine ruins or other artifacts.

"There's a planet in the next star system that's very similar to the factory planet of the sentient machines."

"How's that different from other similar planets we've visited?" asked Louis, slightly bored. He'd heard this before.

"It appears to be very close match. Even the diameter is within two percent that the factory planet. Correction," said Aileen as ships sensors received more accurate data. "Within one percent and approaching to be exactly the same."

"I don't believe that's a coincidence," said Nick.

"Coincidence is possible," said Aileen. "But it's so unlikely that we'd be lucky to find one in two parallel universes."

"Interesting," said Louis. "Increase speed, then. Let's see what we have there."

They entered the system that was typical to countless other systems, except for the fact that the third planet of the system was exactly the same diameter as another planet on the other side of the galaxy.

"In addition to the size, the planet has exactly the same atmosphere composition," said Aileen. "There one notable difference, though--it's three times heavier than the factory planet."

"Very interesting," said Louis. "Go to orbit and start scanning."

Aileen first made quick scans that confirmed that there was sentient machine debris on the planet. Just like the other planet, there seemed to have been a battle on the surface.

Aileen found, after thorough scans, that there was an entrance--a hidden one, but open. Nick and Louis could go in there if they wanted to.

"Well?" asked Louis, when neither of them had made any indication of going.

"Well what?" said Nick.

"Do we go?" said Louis. "Or not?"

Aileen listened to the men, amused that the notorious couple feared to go down to the planet.

"Gentlemen," she said. "I suggest we send a probe and then move on. We can return to get the probe and the data on our return journey."

Nick and Louis glanced each other; why hadn't that occurred to them?

"That's a good idea," said Louis. "Do it and let's move on.

"This place gives me the creeps."

Nick nodded. "Me, too."

Aileen sent two probes to the planet. One started to scan the surface and the other entered the inside the planet.

***

Deep within the planet, a Guardian awoke, sensing a ship approaching. As it was instructed, it only monitored what happened unless threatened or the secret of the planet was in jeopardy.

The Guardian monitored the ship, the two living sentients, and a machine that had almost reached sentience. It was very surprised to learn that the living sentients belonged to the infant species--but they had been touched by the Forgotten Ones.

After watching the Infants leave, it sealed the entrance and destroyed the probe inside. It then sent a message to the Masters about the Infants and the Forgotten Ones.

The Guardian knew that it would raise great interest and it eagerly awaited what would happen.

***

"Finally, I see your engine shop," said Mr. Grey. "I've heard lot about it."

"I wonder what you've heard?" asked William curiously.

"I hear that engines were not the main article of your shop," said Mr. Grey, with a tone that he knew for a fact about the distillery.

William laughed. "You may have heard correctly. This way, gentlemen. And my lady."

Rachel, Mr. Grey, Bruce, and Milton followed William to the engine shop--it had been unused, but well-kept by the autonomous aids, ever since Bruce had left the Miccvan home world after being an ambassador here.

"You know, William," said Rachel smiling, "I also knew about your distillery."

"Really?" he said surprised. "You never said anything."

"No, and I also know that some of your customers were customers only because of your whiskey."

"No kidding?" said William smiling. "I suspected as much. But I bet you didn't know about my stash." He opened a perfectly hidden cache on the floor and took two bottles of whiskey.

"Here," he said triumphantly. "My second and third bottles of whiskey!"

"What happened to the first? Oh!" she said, after seeing wide smile on William's face. "You drank it, of course."

"Of course," he confirmed, and went to get glasses for everyone.

He poured whiskey and they drank together for the first time since the end of the war.

"Now!" said Mr. Grey, surprisingly happy. "We can declare the war officially over!"

Rachel and the men laughed. They couldn't agree more. It had been busy time since they had ended the war with Kaitian genocide.

Countless worlds had been destroyed; the Mehar and Arash Empires were practically extinct; all the other empires had lost most of the military forces. With exceptions of humans and Saami, large parts of the civilian populations had been killed. The rebuilding of the empires and the Coalition would take a long time.

"You know what worries me?" said Milton seriously after they'd drank first rounds of the exceptionally tasty whiskey.

"The Strangers," said Mr. Grey, and Milton nodded.

"Still no sightings of them," said William. "Not in any of the known worlds where they've been."

The Strangers had disappeared after the destruction of the Kaitian star and their base inside the star. They'd been traveling from the core to the outer edges of the galaxy along many routes for two hundred thousand years, regularly visiting the stars that contained their bases. But not anymore and it worried them all.

"We can only guess what they're doing," said Rachel. "I don't like that at all. If the Strangers decide to destroy us, we'd face the same fate as the Hwzeenn did long ago."

"And there'd be no stopping them," said Bruce. "The Hwzeenn had something to fight with. We have nothing now. A few ships here and there . . . it'll take a long time to rebuild our forces to same level. And even more since we need to be much more advanced than we've ever been if we have to fight against the Strangers."

"But we will rebuild," said Milton. "And fast. I fear that the Kaitian war was just the beginning."

"And let's not forget the other mysteries," said Bruce. "Susan and her kind. And the sentient machines. You recall what happened to the expedition on the factory planet that the Arash had found."

Everyone nodded.

"You're right. We must not forget them, neither Susan nor the machines," said William.

"I sent Nick and Louis to find out about the machines. And if they can't find anything, no one will."

"Good that you sent them to do something productive," said Mr. Grey. "I've encountered them many times and always found them to be irritating. Especially when I found out that they were spying on our nobility."

"You knew?" asked Bruce surprised.

"Yes," said Mr. Grey with a thin smile. "They found out more about them than I've ever managed to find."

"Hah, I'm sure it was interesting," said Milton, silently annoyed to realize the Rg'Tkeen had found about Nick and Louis. He knew that they'd spied on the Miccvans, too, but he never could find any evidence about it or even what they were spying on.

"Have you heard anything from them?" he asked William.

"Not yet," he said. "But they are far away, and under instructions not to contact us unless they find something."

"It might take time," said Milton. "The last traces of the sentient machines are from five million years ago."

"I know," said William. "But we must try. They're too big an unknown to be left unattended."

"I agree," said Mr. Grey. "We've also started investigations in our space."

"So have we," said Milton.

"And Susan?" asked Rachel, changing the subject to the more recent mystery.

"Nothing," said Mr. Grey. "Absolutely nothing."

Milton shook his head. "They've disappeared without a trace. And only thing we know is that they disappeared when Michael was killed by the Strangers on the Kaitian home world."

"And we know mostly what they did before the disappearance," said Bruce.

"That's a start," said Rachel. "If we combine our forces, we might learn something."

"I think we should do it openly," said William. "I mean, as openly as any regular intelligence operation."

So far, they'd operated in secret, mostly because they didn't want to let Susan and her kind know about their investigation. But the secrecy had been mostly in vain, because she had known about the investigation; that much had been clear from the inscription in her gravestone. And since she was now missing, there was no point continuing to be secretive about the investigation.

"Yes," said Milton, "let's do that."

"I agree," said Mr. Grey. "Since it was your idea, William, I suggest you take the lead in investigation."

"Gladly," William said. "I'll set up a base at SD-9. Send your teams there as soon as possible."

They discussed more about the general approach to the investigation and soon concentrated more on other matters. And drinking the rest of the whiskey.

"Was that all?" asked Milton, disappointed when the bottles were empty

William smiled widely. "Hell, no." He walked to another hidden cache on the floor and pulled two more bottles. Milton laughed. "And what stock is this?"

"I can't remember." William smiled. "But these were meant to celebrate special orders from my clients."

"Right," said Mr. Grey. "Then let's drink on. We're in no hurry. We have all the time in the world."

The men and Rachel couldn't agree more; as immortals, they did have all the time in the world.
42 (Epilogue)

"What do you expect to find here?" asked Lea as the yacht exited hyperspace near the destroyed Kaitian star.

"I don't know," said Susan. "But I want to see it myself."

"Unnaturally-born white dwarf," said Harry looking at the remnants of a star. "Something few have ever seen."

"You're right," said Susan. "As far as we know, even the Strangers have never done anything like this."

"And now someone has," said Lea. "Destroying an entire star system with billions of sentient beings. And the Stranger base that was within the star."

"Perhaps even the Strangers' cruiser," said Harry optimistically, "If they happened to be here at the time."

"I doubt it," said Susan. "But it did cause the Strangers to disappear. They vanished before our eyes and I think it's safe to assume that that they did after they learned about the nova here."

"But where did they go?" asked Lea. "And what destroyed the star?"

"I don't like mysteries," said Susan. She then smiled to herself. If any of the younger species had heard her say that, they'd say that she was the mystery herself. And that's the way she wanted it.

"It must've been someone from the Coalition," said Harry. "They wanted to end the war and prevent their own extinction."

"Perhaps," said Lea. "They sure had the motive. But not the means nor the will to do anything of such magnitude."

"I must agree," said Susan. "And the mystery remains. Who did this? And if it was not the Coalition, why?"

Harry shook his head. "Must've been someone from the Coalition. Anything else is just not likely."

"The fact that none of them has the technology aside," said Lea, "who'd have the will to this kind of thing?"

"None of them," said Susan, shaking her head. She'd been among the younger species ever since the Strangers had destroyed the Hwzeenn, guiding them ever so subtly, and mostly in secret.

Her work among the humans was something she was proud of, and she knew that they'd be a great asset in the war against the Strangers. But then the Strangers had killed Michael and she'd decided that they had to disappear, because if the Strangers knew about her kind, there'd be no telling what they would do. But it seemed that the Strangers hadn't realized that Michael was one of them. They'd since concluded that the Strangers had killed the Coalition infiltrators only because of they happened to be in their backyard.

"Perhaps we should go back to Coalition?" wondered Lea

"No," said Susan. "Not yet. We must find out about the Strangers first. And besides, I don't think they'd welcome us with open arms after we disappeared on the eve of the war."

"I think you're right," said Lea. "They might think we abandoned them."

"Perhaps we did," said Susan thoughtfully. She had enjoyed her time on Earth, raising a family and growing slowly old. She still missed her companions there.

"Let's go inside," she said, and they went back inside the yacht. The coldness of space was irrelevant to them, as was the vacuum, but breathing was an enjoyable habit for Susan and she liked to be surrounded by atmosphere even if she didn't need it.

"Let's investigate the white dwarf," said Susan. "Perhaps we find something."

Susan was not surprised when they didn't find anything and told her yacht to leave. They traveled toward the outer edge of the galaxy, toward the destination where the Strangers had regularly traveled from the Core for two hundred thousand years.

***

Far outside the galactic spiral arms, a complex larger than many star systems floated in emptiness. In the center of the structure was an artificial star, the energy source for the complex.

The complex and the artificial star were two individuals of the Sentient Machines, as they knew they were called by the Infant Species.

They had no name for themselves. Some called them Masters, others called them Enemies, and yet others didn't even know of their existence.

"Greetings, Trula-Bobbitt," said Number 94321, one of the Primes. The individual Sentient Machines used numbers as names. The higher the number, the younger the machine. In addition to numbers, many individual machines had adopted a Universal Name to better distinguish themselves, and to emphasize that they were individuals.

Number 94231 was the artificial star and Trula-Bobbitt had been sent to investigate why the Guardian had awoken in one of their supply bases in the nearby galaxy.

"What did you find out?" asked Number 94321.

"The base was infiltrated by one of the Infants," said Trula-Bobbitt, "who'd been tainted by the Outsiders."

"Outsiders?" said Number 94321 surprised. "They have returned, then."

"Yes, only a short while ago," said Trula-Bobbitt. "But I found more."

"We await," said Number 94321. Their discussion was shared to all the Sentient Machines who were present in the complex--Number 94327, another one of the Primes.

"After the Guardian had awoken in the Supply Base 3, I followed the Infants who had not been tainted by the Outsiders," said Trula-Bobbitt. ."

"I witnessed the warring among the Infants, and eventually the untainted won. Their victory was secured when the star of the tainted ones was destroyed. The star had a base of the Outsiders, and it was destroyed, too, and caused the Outsiders to disappear," continued Trula-Bobbitt. "The tainted were hunted down and destroyed. Only a single individual of the entire species escaped, but I chose not to follow him.

"I tried to find out where the Outsiders went," it continued, "but failed to find anything."

"And the star of the tainted?" asked Number 94327. "Who destroyed it?"

"One of the Infants," said Trula-Bobbitt. "But I failed to find out which one."

Trula-Bobbitt paused for a moment.

"There is more," stated Number 94321. "What is it?"

"There is more," confirmed Trula-Bobbitt. "The Guardian of the Supply Base 2 was also awoken by two individuals of the Infants. But these two Infants were not tainted by the Outsiders. Instead, they had been touched by the Forgotten Ones."

Trula-Bobbitt shared the message from the Guardian with all who were present and it raised great interest among them.

"Curious," said Number 94327. "Very curious. We knew that some of them survived after the battle with the Outsiders, but it's been so long that I thought they'd be extinct by now. We must investigate this matter further. Find out about Outsiders: what they are doing? Why have they returned? Why have they disappeared again? What are the Forgotten Ones doing? And why? And what is their relationship with the Infants?"

"I will return and find out," said Trula-Bobbitt.

"You will get help in your task," said Number 94321.

Trula-Bobbitt nodded and its manifestation vanished from the complex.

"It seems that our time of waiting is over," said Number 94321. "The Outsiders have returned, as we knew they would."

"We've driven them away from many galaxies," said Number 94327. "But I have a feeling that we must be very cautious; undoubtedly they are prepared for us now."

"I agree," said Number 94321. "We must not underestimate them like the Forgotten Ones did in their infancy."

"Perhaps we should've helped them then?" asked Number 94321.

"No," said Number 94327. "We were not ready then--and, besides, the First Sentient gave us direct orders not to interfere."

"I wonder why," said Number 94321. "The Forgotten Ones were supposed to be the pinnacle of His creation."

"Any sightings of Him, by the way?" asked Number 94327.

"None," said Number 94321. "Not since He passed through the nearby galaxy."

"Hmm . . ." A thought occurred to it. "Now I know what troubled me in Trula-Bobbitt's update. The Infants touched by the Forgotten Ones come from the planet that was influenced by the First Sentient sixty-five million local cycles ago," said Number 94321, "when He passed through the galaxy."

"You're right," said Number 94327, after recalling what Trula-Bobbitt said and consulting with the Archive.

There was a moment of silence as the Machines thought about the information and what it implied.

"It can't be a coincidence. It is obvious that the First Sentient act cleared the path for the Infants to rise," said Number 94321. "These specific Infants, in fact, and that means that He has plans for them. But do the Forgotten Ones know it? Did they touch them because they knew what the First Sentient had done?"

"I doubt it," said Number 94327. "We have been blind, ignorant, and lacked perspective to see what the First Sentient is doing. And the Forgotten Ones have been blind and ignorant even before the battle against the Outsiders."

"If we have been blind," said Number 94321, "then we must learn to see. Ignorance must give way to understanding and we must transform the lack of perspective to a point of view."

Number 94321 sent the information across known universe to all the Machines, hoping even that Number One would receive it.

"I feel . . ." started Number 94321.

"No--" What it said resonated with all the Sentient Machines. "I fear that we are at the dawn of a new age. The signs have already been visible, but we have failed to see them."

It paused, resigned to the fate that was coming.

"It will be our doom," it said without emotion. "The Universe will be a different place before we leave this existence."

###

Thank you for reading The Kaitian War. If you enjoyed it, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

Thanks!

Sami Salkosuo

**About the author**

Sami Salkosuo is a science fiction indie author and an IBM Software IT Architect. He is the author of several science fiction stories, including _Truths,Half-Truths and Lies_ , and the author of _DWR Java Ajax Applications_ and many articles at IBM developerWorks. In addition to writing science fiction, he enjoys reading, watching and playing it. During summertimes he lives to ride and rides to live and other times he likes computer programming.

**Discover other titles by Sami Salkosuo**

Truths, Half-Truths and Lies

In early 1947, a long-awaited message finally comes and the meeting between Commander Johnson and aliens, the Greys, is scheduled in Roswell, New Mexico. The meeting, and the deal made there, are the first steps on a journey that takes the Commander through the great conspiracy, over a thousand years to unified Earth, to distant worlds and through the first portents of a great war.

Stories from the Strangers' Universe

This is a collection of three stories, in chronological order, from the Strangers' Universe: _End of an Era_ , _Dawn to Dawn_ and _Just Another Scout_. _End of an Era_ tells a story of a vast battle long ago, _Dawn to Dawn_ follows a miner named Nick during a single day and night when everything changes and _Just Another Scou_ t tells about Alex who is on a scout mission five years after the Revelation.

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