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plants surging up from standby to full operational mode, one after the other,
coming up on the screen like constellations of minor suns. This was a great
deal more adventure than he d planned on.
Here I thought I was daring for wanting to take out a carrier. Sheesh!
Suddenly in the center of his screen was the face of Sirgay Ticknor.
Commander, Ticknor said, I can certainly translate this message but it will
take time. I
hope you re not waiting for it right now.
How did you get through to this console? Raeder snapped.
If there s one thing I know about, Sirgay said smugly, it s communications
equipment.
Well, Mr. Ticknor, Peter said, we re about to have a great big battle with
the Fibians, so
I don t have time for this right now.
Fibians! I thought we were supposed to try and talk to them? Ticknor s face
crumpled into a perplexed frown.
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I don t think they re inclined to conversation just now, the commander said.
And, truth to tell, neither am I. Don t attempt to speak to me again unless
I ve given you express permission, Mr. Ticknor. Or you ll be doing your work
in the brig. Do you understand?
Looking only slightly abashed the linguist agreed that, Yes, of course I
understand, Commander.
Then would you please get off my screen so that I can see what s going on?
Oop!
Ticknor s face disappeared, to be replaced by the sight of the Fibian horde
alarmingly closer. Raeder assessed the situation for just a moment longer.
I think discretion would be the better part of valor, here. Ms. Lurhman,
direct us out of here, if you would.
Sir! Gunderson shouted. There s a carrier and two destroyers exiting the
jump point behind us!
Raeder thought a vile word.
Launch! Enemy carrier is launching Speeds! A second later another voice
chimed in:
Missile lock-on! Enemy ship killers inbound three minutes forty-seven seconds
to intersection!
Well, what do I say now?
Raeder thought.
Oh, shit!
is definitely out, I think. How did
Knott always look so Goddamn calm at times like this?
It occurred to him that Knott might have felt as terrified of screwing up as
he did. That was both comforting and alarming.
Ms. Lurhman? Does this place have a back door?
An agonizing pause, then, Yes, sir. Information is at helm.
Helm, Raeder said tightly, get us out of here.
Getting us out of here, aye, helm responded.
And in the meantime, Tactical, I suggest we stay alive.
He sat silent, eyes flicking from screen to screen. The energy output bar was
red-lining, and he saw the little flashing beacon that showed the crew in the
engineering spaces was going into their hardsuits. The weapons officers
hunched over their consoles, like birds mantling over their prey not that
merely human reflexes could do much at these distances.
At most, they made decisions for the machines to implement. It was a matter of
whose machines did better, that and pure luck. . . .
Interception, someone said tonelessly.
Globes of magenta fire bloomed in vacuum, geometrically perfect in the absence
of air.
Counter-missiles lashed out, and were met by the counter-counter-batteries of
automatic energy weapons on the big ship killers.
One . . . two . . . three . . . four are through. Activating point-defense
batteries.
Vibration growled through the hull as tubes spat plasma and coherent light.
Popularly known as the OH GOD batteries, Raeder throught mordantly. Meanwhile
he watched the overlapping cones on the viewtank, the possible normal-space
trajectories of the various actors the hideously numerous Fibian ships, and
the lone yellow path that the
Invincible could thread among them to the weakness in the fabric of space-time
that would let them jump out. Jumping blind . . .
Navigation, don t forget to get a good fix while we re here, he said calmly.
It ll give the computers something to work with at our next stop.
Navigation answered with a jerk of the chin. Everyone s eyes were pinned to
the defense battery screens. The last of the big enemy missiles went up not a
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sympathetic explosion, but the idiot-savant kamikaze mind of its guidance
system trying for some damage on target after a beam killed its drive. That
one was close enough that the
Invincible
s kilotonnes of mass toned and shook. And that meant close
, in vacuum.
Rad dosage below critical parameters, a tech announced. And: Prepare for
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