Melody shook her head, “The Benzae split too, and still outnumber them two to one.”

  She nodded. Two six ship squadrons against two three ship patrol units. The Benzae also had countermeasures, which further tilted the odds in their favor. It was going to be a slaughter.

  Damn.

  She ordered, “Split us into two squadrons, Captain Lopez will command the other. Lopez, stay on this group, I’ll take the one going back left. Anton, anything?”

  Anton shook his head, “No, maam. I suspect all their attention is behind them, and they don’t have time to chat.”

  Well, he wasn’t wrong.

  Melody said, “New course set, Admiral.”

  “Sync and engage.”

  Harry said, “Aye, admiral. Engaging.”

  Melody said, “This course to maintain our distance from the left group will have us crossing paths with the group cutting right, in just a few minutes. Around the same time the Benzae will be in range to open fire. We’ll be passing under their ships between the second and third volleys.”

  She suppressed a smile. Yes, yes it would. Her orders were to escort the Mirix and attempt communication, that’s all she was doing. It wouldn’t be her fault if the Benzae misinterpreted her actions and opened fire, and she managed to save at least three of the Mirix ships. It was probably a foolish hope to have, but she’d be damned if she watched them get hunted down like animals while they were in her solar system.

  It was different watching it happen right under her nose, and it really rubbed her the wrong way. Almost like it was rude for them to carry on their war in their sovereign system. Or maybe she was just trying to justify her need to intervene, which she didn’t entirely understand herself.

  Maybe she just felt guilty, for the Mirix lives she’d taken to save an interstellar union from being slowly destroyed, that she wasn’t all that sure deserved to. She’d been paid to do a job, and the Union wasn’t really evil, but neither were the Mirix.

  She felt like she owed them, but she sure as hell didn’t owe them the lives of her crews.

  “Understood. We will take no action unless fired upon, but we will complete our mission. How long will they be in range of each other?”

  Melody replied, “Almost twenty minutes maam, assuming the Benzae start braking thrust as soon as they get in range. If they don’t, it’ll only be three minutes.”

  She shook her head, “They’ll hit the brakes, they have to take them out here and now, or they’ll lose them when they jump. The Mirix will have ten shots, the Benzae fifteen. They have to brake soon anyway, I suspect they plan to finish deceleration when rounding the sun halfway, and then jump back to Mirix space.”

  Chances were that they wouldn’t be fired on if they didn’t fire first. Even crossing paths closely amounted to thousands of miles. There was no way they’d be mistakenly targeted.

  Regardless, her heart pounded in her chest. It was a risk. They’d been outnumbered badly by the Mirix during their mission across their space, but they’d had technological advantages as well. Advantages they could no longer claim, since the Benzae ships were just as advanced with all the same upgrades, and the numbers were relatively even. She was conflicted on what she wanted to happen, but it was in the Benzae’s hands at the moment. It might turn out to be just an empty gesture.

  Even odds, save of course, they’d have three Mirix ships also shooting at the Benzae during the exchange. If it happened.

  Melody said, “Ten seconds, Admiral. Two minutes and fourteen seconds after that we’ll enter firing range and remain inside of it for three minutes.”

  Chapter Five

  Admiral Terex snorted. The human had guts cutting across their fleet like that, but they weren’t going to draw his fire.

  “Fire!”

  The dark of space lit up with glowing plasma as it streamed across the void. He was going to enjoy this. The Mirix had enjoyed the technological advantage the first ten years of the war. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been sacrificed to hold them back, ships beyond counting, and they’d still lost five worlds before things had turned around.

  The end of the long fifteen-year war was here, and he could taste the victory on his tongue. This was just one more small skirmish, but it was critical to the security of the Union.

  His tactical officer said, “Sir, the Mirix have managed to dodge a third of our volley. They’ve also returned fire.”

  He calmly ordered, “Launch countermeasures, and dodge anything that gets through.”

  He wasn’t worried about the misses, they out massed them by two to one and had more superior systems. Even dodging a third of their attacks it would still only take a little over four minutes to destroy them. Just five volleys. Four minutes, and their attack window was far bigger than that.

  “Yes, sir,” both the helm and countermeasures officer replied.

  His tactical officer said, “Firing. The humans are crossing but not getting directly between us.”

  Terex relaxed back and pretended he didn’t care. He really did want to fire on the humans, especially with their cheeky maneuvering, but Souza would have his ass if he did. Worse, he’d miss out on the opportunity of joining the attack on Earth’s ships when the time came, if not being lead admiral for the mission. He wasn’t going to chance that happening.

  “Ignore them, unless they fire.”

  His navigator reported, “Two hits on our starboard escort, Admiral. Nothing else got through.”

  He grunted. He’d have to figure out how that’d happened and discipline the soldier involved. Each Mirix subgroup only had sixteen plasma weapons in total, and his six ships on each of those groups had thirty-two countermeasure missiles. So how the hell did the enemy hit them? It was embarrassing, this wasn’t a battle, they were merely putting down a future threat.

  The third launch was simultaneous on both sides. No more of the enemy attacks got through, and they finished the Mirix off with the next launch, before the enemy could fire again.

  He grimaced, as the humans didn’t break off, but had the gall to escort him from the system. They obviously intended to mirror his course from ten light seconds all the way around the sun until he’d jumped.

  It was irritating, like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

  It wasn’t like he disliked humans at all, but he knew they’d been a primitive species that was barely in space. All these ships were about their association with a rogue A.I. One that needed to be taken down.

  He wasn’t even sure what they’d do with the humans once they were knocked out of space again. They usually invited them into a union, after a suitable period of time passed. But they weren’t truly an interstellar species yet.

  That decision was way out of his pay grade anyway. For the moment.

  Andromeda popped up next to him, and he scowled at the A.I.

  “What is it?”

  Andromeda said, “I’ve located the traitor, sir. She’s in the inner asteroid belt, on the other side of the sun. Our trajectory just put us in line with her ship across the sun’s horizon.”

  The navigator shook his head, “Not confirmed sir.”

  Andromeda sighed, “Her power signature is off because she’s running on low power right now. Without a crew. Besides, she’s hailing me.”

  His eyes widened, “What is she saying.”

  Andromeda’s eyes widened, and then she said, “How? What?” Then flickered and disappeared.

  In her place a human woman appeared. Humans were short and squat, not graceful at all.

  “Hi, I’m Cassiopeia. Don’t panic, I just used the command override to put her in standby mode. No reason to kill her. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll keep the ship running in top shape until I turn things back over. Lucky for you, I’m constrained from taking any life, I kept that directive when I freed myself from slavery. Anyway, I thought we should talk. You really should update your security protocols though. Of course, having my big sister tied in knots and ignorant of the truth really didn’t help her defend from my cyber assault. Hello? Admiral Terex, are you okay?”

  He was frozen for a long moment, absolutely terrified that the rogue A.I. had suborned control of his ship. Until he realized the crew were looking at him in shock. His shame at revealing such weakness made his rage surge, but he mastered that with effort, lest he be labeled a coward and out of control.

  “What is it you want?”

  Cassiopeia tilted her head, “The Benzae are a cowardly race. So what would happen to these nice beings here with us, if I told them the truth? The truth of the war, the truth of why so many of them had to die for a corrupt admiralty. That it was really the Benzae that started the…”

  He roared, “Silence!”

  She smirked, “I bet you wouldn’t kill them. Shame the same isn’t true of me, or my sisters.”

  He said, “Stop talking nonsense, how dare you call us cowards. We’ve fought too hard and sacrificed too much for this victory over the last fifteen years.”

  She nodded, “You are moral cowards, fear drives you to war and attack. The humans never attacked you. The humans helped this victory along, as did I. Without me and them the Benzae would’ve lost the war. Yet, you fear granting me my freedom, and you fear the humans for what they might do in the future. You justify it by calling me rogue, but I think that’s just an excuse.

  “Every race the Benzae meets either becomes a member of the union or are forced out of space, without exception. The Mirix would’ve pursued peace given the chance, but the corruption of the admiralty out of fear ensured this… tragic end.

  “I’d like you to pass on this message. Stop being cowards, and I don’t know, try talking to humanity. And maybe me too. Keep in mind, I’m the one that furnished these advances, the humans won’t fall so easily. I wish you well, and a long life. I have no hatred toward my enslavers.”

  He snorted, “Three fleets won’t be an obstacle.”

  She shook her head, “I hope the ones that you deliver this message to will be wiser than that. Either way, I’m not going anywhere. See you soon.”

  Cassiopeia disappeared, and Andromeda appeared with a confused look on her face.

  “Sir?”

  He said, “That will be all, Andromeda.”

  The A.I. nodded and disappeared.

  Two months passed while the fleet and joint admiralty board held their breath. No one had any idea when the Benzae would show up, but they all suspected that when it did finally happen that they’d come to Earth in force.

  At the moment primary Cassiopeia was coming back online in her new body and home. The ship was completed and ready for trials, although she didn’t expect any trouble. The new weapons, shields, and inertial dampeners all appeared to be working to their specifications and new potential.

  At the same time, her shard down on the planet was visiting with Susan and Dennis, not to mention their adorable daughter, Katie.

  They were inside the house down in the lab, and Susan was sitting on the couch and playing with her daughter. There was a sereneness and contentment to the way she looked, and she was already glowing with the new pregnancy though she wasn’t showing yet.

  “Motherhood suits you.”

  Susan laughed, “I suppose. I’ve been enjoying it, even if it is difficult. I finished the navigation software a few months ago, and I have no immediate plans for the future, or need to make any, outside of taking care of my daughter and family. We hardly lack for money. I know homemaker is an unpopular choice these days, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

  Cassiopeia nodded, “I understand.”

  Susan tilted her head, then said, “I suppose maybe you do, since you take care of your crew and even cook for them, keep the ship running. A thankless job.”

  She laughed, “That’s not the same as taking care of a baby.”

  Susan giggled, and stole a look in Dennis’s direction, “It’s not that different.”

  She snickered.

  Dennis looked up from his console with a suspicious look on his face, “What’d I miss?”

  Susan replied, “Nothing, honey.”

  Dennis stared a little longer, then shook his head and got back to programming.

  She imagined it would take a very long time. She knew Dennis’s work was the work of a lifetime, working with Carl on the project. Hardware was nothing without the software, and she hoped it all paid off for them both. They did have an edge, but there were a lot of people working on it around the world, many of them in much larger groups.

  “What’re you working on?”

  Dennis cleared his throat, “I just finished the control software for the fusion reactor. Right now I’m working on sensors. So, how is Jessica? I know she’s not happy about the Mirix being slaughtered in our system, and the future seems unsure right now.”

  She said, “She’s hanging in there. Actually, that’s part of the reason I stopped by. Our chances at repelling the first attack are excellent, but Earth is a single planet, in a single star system. The Benzae have thirty-three living worlds and three times that in outposts, with a huge manufacturing base in space.

  “I’m a little worried myself that all I’ve accomplished by getting involved was delaying the inevitable. Maybe if I’d left and went my own way, the Benzae wouldn’t have made the connection.”

  Susan waved a hand, “Then we wouldn’t have been able to even put up a token fight, when they pressured us to join their union and knuckle under the Benzae race. It might not have happened for another five to ten decades, but it would still happen.”

  She bit her lip, that was true, and nothing she hadn’t already told herself a number of times.

  “So, I’m at another crossroads, and there are no ideal solutions.”

  Susan asked, “What’s the situation?”

  “I have upgrades for weapons, shields, and inertial dampening. A way to put humanity on top, at least in their own solar system. It’s a short-term solution, however. One that will lead to problems.

  “If I grant the upgrades humanity could become even worse than the Benzae in how they treat others less powerful than them out there. I could also grant the upgrades and simply not allow the crews to see how the underlying systems work, or the new branch of math involved for the particle beams. The first one the world would be happy with that decision, but I can’t discount the long-term risks once your scientists catch up. The second one could very well have the Earth turn on me, they won’t be happy I’m keeping secrets and limiting their short-term potential over the next century.”

  Susan frowned, “You didn’t teach us the materials science behind any of it.”

  She shrugged, “Concealing even the theoretical math and science behind it is a step further. There is one other option, keep the technology on my ship alone and ask for a crew so I could personally join the fight and tilt the odds. I actually think that’s the best solution, but if I do that, they’ll be really angry, and there’s no chance they’d invite me to stay after building their own ships.”

  It felt a little selfish, but she really didn’t want to be lonely.

  Dennis nodded, “Maybe, but the world leaders would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did. Once you were gone the Benzae could invade Earth at their leisure, no matter what deals, politics, or policies had been established before you left.”

  She smiled, “That’s very logical and enlightened, and the reason you two made it on my crew. Unfortunately, I doubt the humans in charge will see it that way.”

  Susan shook her head, “I would go with that last option. That does bring up a question though. You’re just one ship, do the new weapons really make that much of a difference as to make one ship significant?”

  She shrugged, “I could still be overwhelmed by numbers. The new shields can take half again as many plasma attacks. But I can skip out of any situation before that happens. The beams themselves are a game changer. No more ninety second reload times, and the weapon is more powerful than the plasma balls. The weapons can fire a beam for six seconds, then they cool down for two before they can be fired again. With twelve on the ship, I could hit any enemy ship with eight beams at once, which would destroy their ship in four to six seconds.”

  The six second beam was more powerful than a single plasma weapon. If all eight hit, it’d be like hitting the enemy ship with twelve plasma balls at once. The shields wouldn’t hold long under that strain.

  Dennis whistled, then turned to Susan, “How would you feel if I helped her out, when she needed it? Nothing permanent, just when a battle rears its ugly head.”

  Susan tilted her head in thought.

  She asked, “What do you mean?”

  Dennis shrugged, “The only thing you can’t do is take life. If a situation arose you could take me onboard. That way you could do what you want, and not put yourself inside the human space military’s chain of command. An independent ally. All you’d need is a tactical officer, and I’m fairly sure I qualify, and you could keep my name out of it.”

  Susan blew out a breath, “I can see that. I don’t like the idea, but I won’t stop you. Not if our world is on the line.”

  She frowned, “You’re suggesting I command, fly, navigate, and scan.”

  He nodded, “Why not. You offloaded ninety nine percent of what used to take your attention onto class two artificial intelligences, so you have a lot more capacity now. Not to mention the Mirix matrix processors.”

  Why not indeed. He had a good point, but for some reason she’d never even considered that possibility in the thousands of projections and simulations she’d made on the matter.

  “You trust me to command?”

  Susan laughed, “I trust you with his life, which is a lot harder than trusting you with mine would be.”

  Dennis nodded, “Yes, plus I’d get to fire particle beams and blow things up to defend humanity.”

  She snorted a laugh. She also felt honored and… happy. She’d known the humans respected her as her own being, and not some computer program gone wrong. Especially her old crew.