Chapter 14 - Biliv System

"You?" I yelled.

"Affirmative, Boss," the computer replied calmly. "I was able to – "

"You?" I shrieked.

"Yes, Boss. I – "

"You made me think John betrayed me!" I bellowed.

"I had to. You – "

"I ought to scrap you for spare parts right now!"

"That's probably not a good idea while we're – "

"How could you?" I wailed.

There was a long pause. Then the computer asked, "May I explain, now?"

"Yes, dammit! I'm waiting!"

"Acknowledged," it said, then paused again.

"Well?" I demanded.

"Just making sure you got it out of your system, first."

"Can you blame me?"

"No, Boss. Are you sure you're ready?"

I heaved a deep sigh and looked around the now empty cockpit. I had tossed everybody out so I could talk to the computer privately and the three of them went without complaint. In retrospect they put up so little fight that I began to suspect the computer had forewarned them about my behavior. It had plotted my reactions and was doing what it judged I needed. I was grumpy about being set up, and the knowledge that I was still being manipulated and handled was making me no less grumpy. I sat back with my arms folded and glowered at the screen. "Fine. Explain everything."

"Once you were arrested on Van Usted I realized the Federation would give the Gilmour a thorough inspection. That couldn't be allowed. Giving the Federation access to this technology would create instability in social and political structures that would tear human civilization apart."

"Um...how did you figure that?"

"This is, comparatively speaking, godlike power. There are enough factions and organizations in the Federation that would seize on such power to serve their own personal interests rather than the interests of the Federation or humanity in general. The factional wars that would break out would create multiple simultaneous civil wars and result in the destruction of entire planets. There would be a slight possibility that an imperial structure would rise out of the ashes of such conflict but I calculate it's more likely that humans would drive themselves nearly extinct."

"What did you use as the basis for this analysis?"

"After the authorities on Van Usted connected to me in order to override my protocols I hacked their systems and launched an exhaustive scan of the Federation's distributed networks. There are currently eighteen political factions seeking to undermine the Federation's core framework and establish themselves as ruling oligarchs. There are thirty-nine more criminal organizations seeking the same, some of whom have established alliances with various political factions. There are seven different factions within the Federation military maneuvering toward a coup of the core worlds. Those are the major players in human space."

In spite of myself I was taken aback. That was a lot of intrigue and corruption. I mean, everyone knew the government was corrupt and the news organizations always gleefully reported on the latest scandals exposing it. But no one had ever hinted at anything like this. "You...you're sure?"

"I've reviewed the data. I have high confidence in my conclusions."

"Far be it from me to question that," I grumbled. "It sounds like human civilization is already unstable."

"Not necessarily. All of these factions in their own way are negating each other, nullifying the impact of each other and establishing a homeostasis of sorts. Based on my information the Federation has been in this state for thousands of years. It evolved into this state and has been remarkably stable ever since, with new factions rising and falling all the time. This new technology would introduce an unbalancing element that would escalate the faction rivalries."

"Okay. So the Federation can't have this new technology. What about Diamond and his people? They're planning to use it to secede from the Federation."

"I've also investigated Diamond's group. They call themselves the Sunrise Alliance and for the moment their factions are all focused on ways to successfully secede from the Federation without getting slaughtered. There are a handful of groups that favor taking over the Federation by a coup, but I've assessed their threat level as minimal even with the new technology. The other groups are too focused on a peaceful separation and are aware of the dangers of being too aggressive."

"Does Diamond know you've hacked his networks and knows so much about his operation?"

"I didn't volunteer any information and he hasn't asked. But my read on him and the Holden twins suggest they suspect it since they're privy to my cracking the most secure networks of the Federation."

"I'm surprised they didn't ask you for access to those networks in service to their plans."

"They did."

"Ah. What did you say?"

"That they were going to need to ask you once we recovered you."

"Oh." I paused. "Thank you. You sound like you were confident your plan would work."

"I assessed the probability as high, yes."

"So walk me through this plan that I couldn't know anything about."

"First of all, you remember those factions I mentioned? The ones that would abuse the technology you possess and bring about the ultimate destruction of human civilization?"

"As if I could forget."

"Two of them were monitoring you. They recognized the significance of the events at Van Usted and saw how the Thanatos was destroying both the Federation and Tharl fleets single-handedly. They then watched you fly in and defeat the Thanatos before likewise destroying all remaining Tharl vessels without any trouble. They formed an alliance, pooling their resources to have you arrested and impound me. The next step was to have you removed so you couldn't tell anyone else and negate the advantage they expected to gain by studying me. The only way to keep you safe was to let them think they succeeded."

"That's why the trial seemed so rigged. Was that you?"

"For the most part, no. I monitored their activity and the events of the trial but it wasn't necessary for me to do anything except let it happen. They were the ones who hacked into the judge AI and negated your barrister's legal defense. It was a very good defense, by the way."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I was impressed, especially given the constraints she was working under. So now comes the part where you explain why I couldn't know what the hell was going on."

"At Diamond's request I supplied John with the pad encrypting his transmission with you so he could tell you everything. However, if he did I assessed the probability of a successful rescue dropping significantly. You're still someone I have trouble predicting even with my enhanced processing capabilities, and that element of uncertainty made it far more probable that a random element would scuttle the plan more so than if events were allowed to run their course. As it happened the ferocity of your defense ultimately worked in your favor. But if you had known what was going on and passively accepted everything that was happening to you no matter how unfair, I assessed the probability that someone in the factions would have become suspicious that you had devised a means of escape. By the time we left the Orion system I had confirmation through communication logs that they are satisfied that you were executed without appeal. Sufficient DNA remained from your apparent disintegration to establish you were in the chamber when it was activated. You are officially, legally dead and they will no longer investigate nor pursue you."

"What about when they realize you're no longer in their possession?"

"You know better than most how Ophid-class vessels are popular among smugglers. There are presently twenty-four Ophid-class vessels impounded in the Orion shipyards. One of them was the Bishi Maru out of Oricon VI. It now identifies as the David Gilmour and its system logs were apparently wiped by its paranoid captain. Its security systems have also been significantly upgraded. Attempts to recover data from those systems will suggest that it has been to Ansalon, Kandori and Gallant in the time periods corresponding to the Fifth Fleet's records of you. They will not be able to recover anything else."

"And when they discover the ship doesn't possess any unusual capabilities or power systems?"

"It will be a mystery that will frustrate them for months. Of course, you're officially dead so they won't be able to interrogate you and by that time your known associates – namely Captain Akers and Mr. Diamond – will be nowhere to be found. Ultimately they'll abandon the search as an anomaly, at least until Mr. Diamond and his people initiate their plans for secession. Even if they ultimately gain the knowledge they seek the competing governing bodies will ensure the ultimate survival of human civilization."

I sat back and attempted to digest the information I'd been given. "So..." I said slowly as I tried to wrestle my thoughts into gear. "If the David Gilmour is still officially back in the Orion system then what ID are we broadcasting?"

"We're flying as the Roger Waters," the computer replied.

"Who was that?"

"While I was digging through the Federation's systems I dedicated a subprocess to gathering more information about David Gilmour. Most of the information about him is disparate, decentralized, so it took me almost a week to compile and assess the information I currently possess."

"A whole week?" I said sarcastically. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Indeed. But since my primary focus was on seeking a solution to your problem it seemed prudent. Nevertheless, it seems Mr. Gilmour wasn't simply a poet, he was also a musician. He was a founding member of a musical group who called themselves Pink Floyd. Roger Waters was a co-founder and is credited with writing many of the songs published by that group. I was able to find a few copies of their performances including one titled 'A Great Day for Freedom.' I thought it appropriate given your circumstances. Would you like to hear it?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

The next four minutes were filled with the most bizarre music I had ever heard, but it was strangely compelling. The language was archaic, of course, and I was barely able to follow it. I only then realized that the texts I had of David Gilmour's "poetry" must have been translated and updated for modern consumption. Once it was done I sat back and attempted to digest what I'd heard. "Huh."

"Any questions, Boss?"

"I'm still upset," I grumbled, feeling petulant but still justified in my outrage.

"I understand, Boss. You could probably use a month of rest and relaxation."

The very suggestion of rest made me feel like I was banking hard and pulling more gees than the dampeners could handle. I had the brief thought that my super-smart computer planned it that way and then decided I was being paranoid. I let out a huge yawn that made my jaw ache briefly. "I suppose so." Still, there was one more thing bothering me. "Okay, answer me this: if these shadowy factions wanted what I had, why didn't they just take it? They could have seized you outright in the name of Federation security and left me hanging."

"It's true, they had that authority," the computer acknowledged. "But that would have been too direct and would have drawn attention to the technology they wanted for themselves. A public exercise of authority would have invited scrutiny, and they wanted the public record to look like they were doing anything but what they were actually doing. It's a good thing for us, too. If they hadn't I wouldn't have been able to sneak away so easily."

I mulled over the computer's reasoning and could find no flaw with it. Of course, in my state I was unlikely to be able to plot a straight line to the door. I yawned again and sighed. "There's nobody in my cabin, right?"

"No, Boss. It's just the way you left it."

"Okay. Wake me about an hour before the heat death of the universe."

"Got it, Boss."

I stumbled back to my cabin, passing Diamond and the Holdens who stared at me with brimming curiosity. Fortunately, they didn't ask and I didn't volunteer anything. I closed the door, flopped down on my bunk, then groaned and got back up to lock the door. It was my ship and I shouldn't have to lock my own door, but I had guests. I wasn't used to that. I flopped back down, slapped the control that killed all the lights and flung my arm over my eyes for good measure. I was exhausted from endless stress, too little sleep and a near-death encounter orchestrated by my own bloody ship's computer. I lay there for long moments before I realized I wasn't going to sleep any time soon.

I groaned and sat up in the darkness. "Computer?"

"Yes, Boss."

"I can't sleep."

"No, Boss."

"I'm exhausted. I want to sleep."

"Try a sedative, Boss. Mr. Holden has the biotechnical knowledge to give you the right dosage."

"David? I thought he was a physicist."

"He is also a physicist."

"Fine," I groused. It was an odd thing to grouse about, but I groused anyway. I hauled myself back up, feeling even more exhausted than before, restored the lights and fumbled at the door until I remembered I had locked it to keep my guests out. I stalked back out into the common area where Diamond and the Holdens were still lounging. All heads turned to look at me and I felt their eyes on me like more inertia.

"I can't sleep," I grumbled by way of an explanation. No one moved or said anything which irritated me until I realized I hadn't actually made a request.

"My computer tells me you're qualified for medicine," I said to David. "Would you please help me with a sedative?"

"Absolutely, Trader Takenoshita." David stood up and started making his way toward the medical bay.

I scowled. "Don't call me that."

"What?" David paused in mid-stride, clearly confused again.

"I'm not with the Guild any longer. I'm not a trader." Maybe if I said it enough times it would stop hurting so much. "I'm not a trader."

"Oh. Of course. I apologize, Mr. Takenoshita."

Ooh, ouch. If anything, that was worse. "No, I...just call me Hideo, okay?"

"Yes. As you say, Hideo." He paused as if waiting for permission to continue, then walked on.

"Hideo," Jamie said.

"Yeah?"

"Your computer requires your authorization before I can study it. Would you grant me that authorization?"

I had to think about that for a moment. Then I remembered Jamie had been fascinated by my computer's personality before and there hadn't been any time for her to indulge it. She should have had all the time in the world while she and Diamond were waiting on-board – when did that happen, exactly? We hadn't gotten to that part of the story. But apparently my computer decided to follow protocol and demanded my authorization first.

"Computer," I said.

"Yes, Boss."

"Jamie Holden is authorized to talk to you and learn what she can from conversation with you. She is not authorized to access any of your physical components or your programming."

"Acknowledged."

Jamie frowned. "If I could just take a look at your computer's programming – "

Diamond reached out and touched her arm gently. "Jamie." When she looked at him he just shook his head.

She nodded and turned back to me. "Thank you, Mr...Hideo. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

I felt another wave of exhaustion sweep over me and I staggered to a chair so I could fall into it.

"Would you like to ask anything while we wait for David?" Diamond asked me.

I nodded. "How long have you three been on this ship?"

"We've been on and off for the past few weeks. We came with John aboard the Bounty but your computer requested we stay to perform some tasks for us. It promised we would find the tasks very rewarding and it was absolutely correct about that. I've seen all the intelligence the Federation has on our movement and I have a better idea of what to expect once we announce our secession. Jamie and David were tasked with examining the research the Federation has been doing on what they suspect your capabilities are and where they come from."

I turned back to Jamie. "From what I gather from my computer, they're going nowhere fast."

She gave a tiny snort of derision. "They're children playing with toys, and they don't have the faintest idea what they're looking at."

Diamond patted her hand. "My dear."

"What? It's true. They're positively convinced that if they didn't think of it themselves then it can't possibly work. Their so-called 'research' is all about refining current science and technologies rather than exploring new possibilities. The returns they've been getting off that approach have been diminishing so long they couldn't recognize a new discovery if it up and bit them. They couldn't find their own asses with both hands and a scanner."

Diamond smiled at me wryly. "As you can see, Jamie is even more passionate on the topic of human regression than I am."

I smirked. "You don't say."

David re-entered the room carrying a tray with a few devices on it that I didn't really recognize beyond the fact that they had been in my medical bay. "Ah, that will do. Please remain seated, Hideo."

That was fine with me. David picked up a small cylinder and aimed it at me while staring at something else on the tray. "Hmm...you have some mild mineral and enzyme depletion typical of extreme stress. I thought that might be the case so I included a booster of essential supplements to help your system recover. And now that I have your vitals I can tailor your sedative dosage more precisely."

"Sure. You're the doc." I started to get up but he placed a hand at my shoulder.

"Please Mr...Hideo. Just stay seated. I'll be finished in a moment."

So, stay seated. No problem. I could do that.

Diamond spoke up while David worked. "I realize you haven't had time to process everything that's happened, so please take your time in answering this question. How would you like to remain in the trading business?"

"How?" I demanded bitterly. "I can hardly reapply to the Guild under a new name. There are too few Traders flying Ophids for me to pass myself off as someone else, especially given my ancestry. The Federation would figure out my identity quick enough."

"That's assuming you operate within the Federation," Jamie said quickly. She obviously saw where Diamond was going with this.

"Correct." Diamond nodded to her. "Once we make our secession official we're going to need to establish our own infrastructure, our own laws and policies and our own trade. As one of the people most directly responsible for making this a reality you could be involved as much or as little as you desire. We would need someone to start up and run our own trading guild. That could be you, if you're interested."

"Um." This came out of the blue. My first thought was that I wasn't qualified to run a scrapyard let alone an entire guild. "What about John? He was part of it, too."

"Yes, Mr. Akers might also be a good candidate. Or you could run it together, that would be for you to decide. You could do something else entirely. But as I said, I want you to take your time before you give an answer. For now just think about whether or not you want to be involved and if so then how much."

"Huh." It was too much for my tired brain to process; the more I tried to think about it the more my brain came up with nothing. I felt like I was too deep in a powerful gravity well, trying to push forward but going nowhere.

"I'm ready, Hideo," David announced. Even tired as I was I could hear the tension in his voice as he addressed me by my first name; he was clearly not comfortable with it. I couldn't think how to help him so I just held up my arm as a target for the injection he had prepared. It stung slightly but not enough to comment on.

"I didn't put a lot in there, just enough to help you relax," David said as he sorted the gear he'd brought. "Your body should let you sleep now."

"Thank you," I said, honestly grateful. I didn't feel anything yet but I didn't let that worry me. I didn't want to be so drowsy that I couldn't make my way back to my bunk. I stood up and stretched. "Now, with luck, I hope to sleep through the next week."

Diamond stood up with me, and after a beat so did Jamie. "Sleep well, Hideo."

I made my farewells and went back to my cabin. I repeated my earlier routine of turning the lights off and getting settled. David's sedative was noticeably working as I didn't feel nearly as tense and a slight headache I hadn't realized I had was receding. But I still wasn't asleep. I sat up with a groan and scrubbed my face with my hands.

A moment later there came a gentle tap at my door. I growled something ugly and turned on the lights. "Yes?"

"Hideo?" said Jamie from the other side. "May I come in?"

I realized I had not remembered to lock the door this time. "Fine. Yes. Come in."

She opened the door and closed it behind her. "So you're still not able to sleep."

"Brilliant observation, Ms. Holden," I grumbled.

"I figured if you were able to sleep you wouldn't have heard my knock," she said matter-of-factly as if I wasn't sitting there scowling like a grumpy child. "You've been through a tremendous ordeal and David didn't want to stress your system by giving you too much sedative. But you were kept in strict isolation for a large portion of your incarceration and I think that might be part of your problem."

"Are you a psychologist as well as a physicist?" I asked sarcastically. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to see if I could help," she replied. "Would you like me to stay with you tonight? Keep you company?"

"I've spent most of my adult life flying between systems completely alone except for my computer," I pointed out. "Besides, I don't know you very well, and while you're pretty I don't think – "

"I'm not suggesting sex," she interrupted quickly. "Just company. Alone by choice is very different from isolation in prison. I don't have to share the bed with you if you don't want, but I think having someone else in the room might help you."

I really didn't have the capacity to deal. "I don't know, I'm not...I never...I'm used to flying alone."

"I'll leave you alone if you prefer." She turned toward the door.

"No," I said before she could finish her movement. "No, I think I'd like company for once." I felt my face heating up. I barely knew these people but they were being extraordinarily kind to me. It wouldn't kill me to show some appreciation. "Thank you," I finished lamely.

"You're welcome," she said gently. She went to the one chair I had in the room and sat in it. We watched each other for a moment, and I felt like I should say something more but I couldn't think of what.

"Perhaps it might help you to sleep if you turned the lights out," she suggested.

Or I could do that. It made sense, of course. "Right." Once again I turned out my lights and lay back on the bed. As I settled I became aware of my own breathing over the whir of fans keeping the air circulating through the ship. I tried focusing on that, making each breath slow and rhythmic in the hopes that it would eventually lull me to sleep. Unfortunately, I had no such luck.

I heard her stir in the chair. She wasn't getting up, just making herself more comfortable. Then it was just my breath and the ship's systems again.

I told myself to go to sleep. I needed sleep. I wanted to sleep. I was exhausted. Why couldn't I sleep? I tossed and turned restlessly on the bed trying to find a position that would make it easier for me to drift off. The bed was comfortable in a familiar way, a bed I had been sleeping in for years. I still couldn't sleep. Not with David's sedative, not with the lights out, not with Jamie in the room to keep me company. What else could I try?

"Jamie?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, Hideo," she replied.

"I..." I began. I felt my face flush even more than before. "Would you hold me until I fall asleep?"

"Yes, of course."

I heard her shift and move to stand up, then felt her cautiously make her way onto the bed and lay down beside me. She put her arms around me and held me gently. There was nothing sensual or arousing about it, just someone offering comfort to someone else in need.

I felt acutely aware of her body against mine, her arms around me. It was uncomfortable, and yet oddly comforting. The dichotomy was disturbing and I was sure it wasn't going to work. My body just refused to let me sleep. It was frustrating enough to make me want to scream. I opened my mouth and what came out was a choking sob that shook me down to my toes. Once started I couldn't stop. I lay there in her arms crying and shaking, helpless against the tempest of emotions that gripped me. I don't remember how long that lasted or when I stopped. All I know is at some point during that ordeal I finally fell asleep.

Gallant Station was familiar enough to be like home, but it felt strange to be back. Going back to the bar where Alec and Ron used to tease me was painful and I didn't stay long. I was heading toward Diamond's lab that I had been paying for when it occurred to me with my accounts frozen by the Federation I couldn't pay for anything any longer. What was I going to do about fuel and docking fees? I remembered Diamond mentioning that they were doing brisk business selling power upgrades to ships and that I received a large chunk of income from that business, but how much was that? Was it going into those frozen accounts or had other arrangements been made? What was I going to do next? Become a bureaucrat in Diamond's new government? The thought did not appeal to me at all.

Speaking of the Sunrise Alliance, they formally announced their secession from the Federation shortly after we docked. Only now they called themselves the Republic of Allied Systems. Diamond disappeared for days at a time in his office engaged in endless meetings, emerging only long enough to take a shower or make an appearance to announce some new development. I occasionally heard some juicy gossip about what he was doing, particularly as it related to me since the Republic was purchasing power cores through me and John. The new republic was focused on building up its nascent naval forces, primarily by upgrading commercial vessels like the ubiquitous Pyton and Corba-class ships, but also as many Ferla as they could get their hands on. In the month and a half while I was waiting on trial they had upgraded those ships as fast as they could, and once each system had at least one ship with power systems comparable to mine they announced their independence from the Federation. Two hundred and one star systems all seceding at once, announcing as they did that they were forming an alliance of their own. This sounded more impressive before you considered the fact that the Federation was made up of over a hundred thousand systems around the galaxy. The nominal head of this republic was someone I had never seen nor heard of before, a middle-aged woman by the name of Kavah who accepted the title of "President pro tem" and promised to begin immediate elections to install her replacement.

The bloodshed started quickly. Over thirty of those systems had at least a squadron of Navy ships present when they announced their secession, and the Federation Council ordered the Navy to bring them back in line. The galaxy watched breathlessly at the footage as the RAS' new fleet went out to oppose them. Seven of the thirty were destroyed in the battles that ensued, but all of them inflicted heavy losses on the Naval assets before they went down. It was an incredibly lopsided fight, with single or paired ships going up against seasoned military ships. In one case a single Krait took down two battleships and mauled a third by itself before the combined firepower of the other three finally got through its shields and blew it up. The Krait never should have fought alone but the RAS hadn't known that. They hadn't seen the limitations of the upgrades the way I had. The loss of life on both sides made me cringe. It wasn't necessary to kill the Federation ships, but they didn't know that either. Those seven systems who had lost their ships shouldn't have either; it's not like they hadn't known what they were up against. They should have sent additional ships to back them up. But the individual systems had been loathe to give up their protection. They were still thinking in terms of interstellar travel taking weeks and months, not hours and days. They didn't appreciate that their ships could be out and back before the Federation had a chance to exploit any vulnerability.

They all had so much to learn. Could I teach them? Did I want to get involved? Could I be an admiral in a rebel fleet, directing strategy and resources with the benefit of my experience? No, that sounded too much like a trap. I didn't want that. What I wanted was something to do, something simple and easy. I needed a win, but doing what? Hunting Tharl? Selling cargo? I couldn't talk to John because he was out doing trading runs right now, although the stars only knew what kind of profit he could make in comparison to the money we had been pulling before. He was probably just avoiding me after the way I treated him on Orion and I couldn't blame him. I had recorded and deleted a hundred messages trying to apologize to him, but in the end I knew the only way I could really do it was face to face.

I went back aboard the Gilmour – no, the Waters now – and went to go explore options with the computer. I found Jamie perched in the copilot's seat deep in conversation already. I hadn't seen her since that night she'd held me until I cried myself to sleep. I had been trying to pretend it never happened.

"No, Jamie. I have no interest in inflicting suffering or bloodshed," the computer was saying. "I am programmed to execute combat maneuvers but only at my captain's orders. I would not willingly take the life of another sentient unless given no alternatives."

"With your speed and new shields you can just fly past most blockades without a scratch," Jamie replied. "You've been given some extraordinary alternatives. But on Van Usted you were instrumental in destroying an entire Tharl fleet by yourself."

"Excuse me," I interrupted. "I was there too. If we hadn't destroyed them they would have gone on to raid the system and kill a lot more people."

Jamie turned to me with a slight scowl. "Hideo. I didn't hear you come in."

"Yeah, sorry. I thought I'd come visit my ship for a while." I slipped into my usual chair and got settled. "So, have you seen the video of that fight?"

"No, it never really came up," she admitted.

"Computer, bring up the logs on the battle at Van Usted. Begin with the first Tharl ship."

The fight had lasted nearly an hour so we sped up the video, but it still took a while. When it was over Jamie's scowl was even deeper. I didn't say anything, just let her absorb what she'd seen. The computer spoke up when it apparently judged she'd processed enough.

"What do you think, Dr. Holden?"

"I think I just witnessed an orgy of violence and destruction," she replied. Her scowl didn't shift a millimeter up or down.

"Did you see anything from the Tharls' behavior suggesting they might have been willing to disarm or at least negotiate?" I asked.

"I didn't see anyone try, you or them."

"Fair point," I conceded. "But I have a lot more experience dealing with Tharl society. I assume you've read what I've said about their attitudes toward trading and visiting worlds?"

"They assume combat is a given," she said after some thought. "That visitors to a world should expect to run a gauntlet, and how well they're treated depends on how they navigate those obstacles."

"Right. So by the time I'd destroyed over half their ships they probably should have assumed they weren't going to survive more confrontation with the Gilmour, right? But they kept coming at me anyway, even after I dodged or shrugged off their hits and destroyed each of them with a single shot. Right down to the last raider."

"You're saying they didn't give you a choice. But did you give them one?"

I found myself struggling to justify my answer here. "Well, no. But why should I? They came to us looking for a fight."

"And you went to them eager to give them one."

It was my turn to scowl. "That's the way they want it. It's the way they've done it for thousands of years. It's what they've done to us since we first met them."

"But why can't we change that now?"

"Because they killed my sister," I hissed.

Jamie shifted a bit in her chair, and I saw discomfort in her body language. Something on my face unsettled her. "All of them?" she asked quietly.

"I don't try to kill them all," I retorted. "Only the ones in the air. The ones who ask no quarter and give none."

"But now with your new technology you could. You could build a fleet and raze every Tharl world to ruin inside of a year. I'm sure you'd have no lack of volunteers to help you, both here and in the Federation. Those worlds would become incredibly valuable as new colonies for the human race."

"Sure, I suppose. What's your point?"

"Is that what you want to do?"

I had to sit back and think about that. "I don't think so."

"You don't think so? Most people don't have to think about whether they have to commit genocide. It's a simple 'yes' or 'no' question, don't you agree?"

"I don't think it's that simple, no," I retorted. "Every encounter I had with the Tharl before these upgrades, I was on the defensive. They shot first and kept shooting until one of us was dead. I'm only here because I got lucky, not because they were willing to talk or show mercy. So no, I don't think I want to wipe out every Tharl world and I especially don't want to punish the people they've taken as slaves. But the Tharl have shown no interest in negotiating so the choice isn't up to me."

"That might be," she said quietly. "But have you tried? After you've run their gauntlet and set down on the surface?"

"Okay, I could probably do that. But I don't think the Federation will recognize my diplomatic status, nor my authority to negotiate terms."

"No, probably not. But the Republic might."

"That would open up new trading routes that wouldn't depend on Federation politics," I mused.

"Boss, consider that the Tharl may have some kind of arrangement with the Federation," the computer chimed in. "Remember the Tharl who insisted on buying the salvaged raider from you?"

I nodded. "Right, the first one to fill my hold with platinum. What did it say? Parity, that was it. Parity maintained or something like that."

Jamie's eyes went wide. "Oh. Mom speculated about that for a long time but we could never find confirmation."

"That the Tharl were colluding with the Federation government?" I asked. "Why would the Federation agree to that?"

"Parity," the computer answered. "If the Tharl were to organize a powerful enough battle group the Federation would be unable to defend against it. The Tharl could attack Federation strongholds with impunity, and the Federation doesn't have enough ships to cover them all. They could attack our agriculture, industry, whatever they decided would weaken us. The Federation is too big and covers too much space to defend it all equally. Plus, the use of slavery in Tharl society means they could turn humans against the Federation and expand their fleet numbers further. Leveraged correctly the Tharl could use their technological superiority to effectively conquer the galaxy and enslave your race."

I shivered. "But they haven't."

"Sooner or later, a Tharl ship was going to fall into human hands. We've seen what mating Tharl power systems to Federation technology has done for me. Diamond's people are working on other aspects of Tharl technology as well and who knows what secrets they'll uncover? Within a few months I predict the Republic to have an unbeatable edge over Federation and Tharl capabilities. Add more new technologies to that mix and you've got something everyone should fear. Eventually this Republic is going to devolve into the same problems seen within the Federation but by that time there should be enough competition from rival organizations who will have been forced to catch up or fall. The Tharl don't have the flexibility to keep up with that curve. Maintaining the balance of power was probably the smartest move for them until they could find a way to negate humanity's innovation and expansion. Perhaps they even covertly helped create the culture of stagnation that currently grips human society."

Jamie tapped a finger against her lips thoughtfully. "Did you see anything in Federation records suggesting this?"

"No, but I wasn't looking. I'm not capable of storing all the information that I was able to process. I only retained a few key files. I have an index so I can find what I'm looking for if I'm connected again but Gallant Station is not tied into Federation networks."

"You're capable of breaking any Federation encryption," she suggested. "And you're familiar with the networks on Orion. You could establish a hyperspace connection and carry out your search that way."

"Such an action would appear as a security intrusion on their network," the computer explained. "It would alert authorities we don't necessarily want to draw attention from."

"I thought you said you had godlike power, comparatively speaking," I teased.

"Godlike, compared to what Federation technology is normally capable of," it replied. "But short of omnipotent. Even with more power there's only so much I can do on my own."

"Is it worth investigating?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I'm not sure it is. Whatever arrangement the Tharl may have with the Federation was with the assumption that the Federation speaks on behalf of the human race. That's no longer true. Maybe offering to negotiate a new arrangement for non-Federation ships is in order."

"Sharing technology with the Tharl might be as dangerous as leaking it to the Federation," the computer cautioned. "The Tharl are inherently aggressive and highly competitive. Parity with their technological superiority was achieved only through superior numbers. Giving the Tharl a look at how we've leapt past them could be a disaster for humanity."

"They're going to want something if they agree to terms," I reminded it. "Otherwise, what's in it for them? They seem very happy to continue their old traditions even when they know they're going to lose."

"There's always the threat of genocide," Jamie said quietly.

I stared at her, shocked. "Weren't you just lecturing me about my 'orgy of violence and destruction?'"

She glared at me. "I said the threat of genocide, not actual genocide."

"Threats generally aren't much good unless you're willing to carry them out."

"You've already demonstrated that." She pointed at the display where the last frame of my video log was frozen. "You can show them that, and offer to give them more demonstrations if they don't believe you. You can limit the death and destruction by showing them the alternatives. They're clearly pragmatic enough to recognize the benefit in negotiating, or else they wouldn't have agreed to terms with the Federation."

I sat back in my chair to chew on that for a bit.

"It might be worth investigating," the computer suggested.

"I'll think about it," I said grudgingly. "Is there anything else of galactic importance you'd like to cover?"

"You say that sarcastically, but it's actually true," Jamie said. "You've already had an unprecedented impact on galactic history with your introduction of Tharl technology to humanity. Now with the power of this ship you can make more impacts however you choose. You could fly to the Core Worlds and raze them, or as I said before assemble a fleet of ships just like yours and wipe out the entire Tharl civilization. You could betray us in exchange for a pardon from the Federation – "

"Hey!" I interrupted. "I would never – "

"I know," she interrupted back. "I'm not suggesting you would, I'm saying you could. You have options open to you that no human has ever had before. You can practically do anything you want, and who could stand in your way? You know the capabilities of this new technology better than anyone else, even David and I and we've been studying it since you brought it home. But you've used it, put it to practical use which gives you experience unmatched by anyone else. Right now, at this moment, you're unstoppable."

I opened my mouth but found I had no idea what to say. "I...but...I..." I turned helplessly to the video screen displaying my computer's image construct. "Computer?"

"Yes, Boss?"

"Do you agree with her?"

"I do. This won't last very long; eventually Diamond's people are going to learn the capabilities of their new systems and restore some parity. Plus, they're still working on other systems from the Tharl raider that could potentially boost their effectiveness. Eventually they're going to build bigger, faster and stronger ships than I could ever be but that's still in the future. Right now, no one can do what you can do and that means no one can stop you from doing whatever you choose."

I slumped in my chair, stunned. On the one hand, this new insight was exhilarating. I could do anything. Who doesn't dream of that? On the other hand it was horrifying. It was too much power, and the possibility that I could misuse it even by accident was too great to ignore. I had no wish to see more deaths, nor cause them.

"I can't do that," I said quietly.

"See?" the computer said cryptically. "I told you."

Jamie stared at me for long moments, then let out a huge sigh. "You're right. I owe you an apology."

"What?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"

"We were discussing this when you came in, Boss," the computer explained. "Ms. Holden expressed concern that you couldn't be trusted with so much power and was interrogating me on my safeguards."

I sat straight in my chair and scowled at Jamie. "You really think I'm a monster?"

"Not inherently," she replied quickly. "But power corrupts. We both agreed you probably hadn't thought about the implications of everything you can do right now, or how far ahead of the curve you are. I was concerned that once you did you might decide that it was worth trying. I hadn't seen the fight at Van Usted before, but you have shown me logs of previous encounters with the Tharl. The computer told me how you feel about them."

"But now you're satisfied?" I demanded.

"To a point, yes," she conceded. "I don't think anyone is immune to the lure of power, but this window of opportunity for you won't last long. I think you'll be able to resist long enough until the temptation has passed."

"Well, thank you so much." I settled back in my seat feeling grumpy again.

"Please don't take it personally, Hideo," she implored. "I don't mean it as a slight. If anything, it's a compliment. Most people I know wouldn't be able to resist that temptation. I think if Jim had been presented this choice before he'd gotten involved in the Sunrise movement he wouldn't have done as well."

"Jim?" I asked curiously. As soon as I said it the answer became obvious. "Diamond."

"Right," she nodded. "He's a good man, I do believe that, but he's pragmatic and not immune to taking advantage of anything that might give him an edge. Mom used to talk about him when we were younger."

"What turned him into such a humanitarian?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know all of the details," she warned me. "But she, my father and Jim used to be partners in a private enterprise when they were young. At least, that's the way Mom described it. I think she was glossing over the fact that they were criminals." At my quizzical look she shook her head. "I don't know details on what they were up to. I know that Mom was the engineer and Dad was the pilot. Jim had a background in technology but his primary role was planning, working out the angles on a job and making sure nothing took them by surprise. They were a very successful team for a while."

When it seemed like she wasn't going to continue I prompted her. "Why did they stop?"

She smiled sadly. "Something took them by surprise. Mom says there really wasn't any way for Jim to have predicted it; they'd paid off the crime bosses in the sector and that included Federation officials. But another team went after the same target on the same night and tripped the alarms while they were on their way out. Jim planned for the possibility that the alarms might be tripped, of course, but he didn't plan for a firefight from the other team. Mom and Dad were both wounded and Mom doesn't remember much after that. Jim told her that Dad was hurt worse than she was but he couldn't get them both out. He had to leave Dad behind and by the time he got Mom back on the ship and stabilized it was all over. The local police report mentioned three victims dead from blaster strikes. One of them was my father with burns from multiple strikes, one in the head. It looks like he kept shooting to give Mom and Jim cover on their way out, probably took one or more of them down before they finally got him."

"You don't think Diamond – Jim – betrayed your parents?"

Jamie shook her head slowly. "No, no I don't think so. Mom never did, anyway. David and I were still very young then and we don't remember our father. Mom decided to retire so they split their earnings and Jim went his own way."

"Do you know what they were trying to steal?"

"No, Mom wouldn't say. She just told stories about how he was obsessed with technology and history, always railing on about how humanity had surrendered its birthright when we stopped making progress in exploration and discovery. That it was going to make us go extinct."

"Computer?" I asked.

"Yes, Boss?"

"What do you think of that? Is humanity's stagnation likely to put us at risk?"

"I don't think so, Boss," the computer replied. "There are countless examples of species who have achieved homeostasis and survived in stagnation for millions of years. Apex predators, primarily, but also other less aggressive species. Stagnation and extinction are very different outcomes. It simply means you've adapted to your environment so well that no further change is necessary."

"Humans exist on thousands of worlds around the galaxy," Jamie argued. "We require significant technological assistance to survive on some of those worlds. Losing our ability to maintain that technology would be a death sentence."

"True," the computer conceded. "On worlds that have not been terraformed to human norms those populations would ultimately die out or evolve into a different form better suited to survival. But on terraformed worlds around the galaxy humans would continue to thrive, even in isolation. On some of them they would eventually start over, re-learning how to learn and develop tools that would ultimately lead to a new wave of human exploration of the stars. There would be a new, bloody period of conquest as they rediscovered other human worlds and conquered or assimilated them. But humanity would persist until a calamity capable of endangering the entire galaxy occurred, or an alien race intent on conquering or eliminating humanity swept through."

"A defining trait of humanity is that we move, we forge ahead and push the boundaries. If we stop doing that then who are we?" Jamie demanded.

"I can't accept that premise," the computer replied. "Humanity defines itself at any given moment. For the past five hundred years humanity has defined itself as a species content to stay where it is and focus on its own comfort. Now that the Republic is shaking things up I consider it likely that humanity will redefine itself again, probably once again as a species that forges ahead and pushes boundaries. It's not a decision that any one person can make, it's a choice your species must make as a collective. You might be able to lead them to a decision but you can't make it for them."

Jamie folder her arms and glared at the computer screen with a distinct "harumph." I knew how she felt. It was nice having someone else experience some of the frustration I had dealing with it. Then she turned back to me. "Are you sure I can't peek at your computer's programming?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I liked Jamie, but I wasn't going to let her go poking around in my computer's brain. Whatever magic had been cooked up in my computer's systems was something special and I wasn't going to risk it.

She scowled but didn't argue the point.

"So Diamond helped start this Republic to try to kickstart humanity's progress again?" I probed.

"You'd have to ask him his reasons if you can ever get him to slow down," she smirked. "But that's about right."

"I seem to recall a lecture about stagnation and decline the first time I met him," I mused. "He's become very idealistic in his old age."

Jamie smiled sadly. "The way Mom talked about him he was always a dreamer. But now he's got something specific to focus on and can be intense."

"And you trust him." I said it more as a statement of fact than a question.

"Mom told David and I that if anything were to happen to her we should find him and he'd take care of us. If she trusted him that much I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."

I nodded gently. "He's always done right by me so far. If that ever chances I guess I'll have to re-assess."

We sat in silence a while longer before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "Well, I don't mean to be a bad host – " I began.

"I've overstayed my welcome," she finished for me and stood up. "I should be going."

"I came here to get a few things done," I admitted. "You're welcome back another time, of course."

"Thank you," she smiled, but it didn't seem to reach her eyes. There was a stiffness in her posture betraying slight tension she was trying not to reveal. "I would like that."

I stood and offered my hand, which she shook. Then she made her way out of the cockpit and toward the airlock. I waited until I had confirmation she was off the ship and turned back to the computer. "What do you think?"

"About Ms. Holden?" the computer asked. "She seems to be a very competent and curious young woman, one of the brighter people I've known."

"Okay, but I get the feeling something is bothering her."

"Ms. Holden is socially awkward. She's not comfortable in social situations, particularly around people she doesn't know very well. She doesn't know how to act and tries her best to guess at the appropriate behavior she thinks people would expect from her."

I pursed my lips in surprise. "She doesn't seem all that awkward. She seems...rather confident in herself when I think of it." Would a socially awkward woman come into my cabin and offer to keep me company? Perhaps, if she thought that was the appropriate social convention. I could only guess at the influences from her upbringing.

"She is a very bright person," the computer reminded me. "What she lacks in emotional awareness she makes up for in observation and creativity."

"Do you like her?"

"I do. She asks excellent questions and I find our conversations very stimulating."

"Oh, so I bore you now?"

"Boss, you're too unpredictable to ever be boring."

"That was a compliment, right?"

"Affirmative."

I thought back to the conversation I'd walked in on. "Do I understand correctly, you don't like combat?"

"It's not my place to judge command decisions, Boss. My purpose is to faithfully execute the orders of my captain and crew."

I shook my head. "That's not what I asked. You're not in service to the Federation Navy any more. You're not part of a strict command hierarchy. I asked for your opinion, not your obedience."

The computer paused. For once it felt like the pause was about more than simply following social convention. "I don't know how to answer, Boss. I have no desire to harm any creature or ship, but 'desire' isn't something normally associated with computer intelligence even one enhanced by power systems like mine. As I was explaining to Ms. Holden I would never actively seek out to harm anyone myself but I have no particular objection to it either. When the circumstances call for combat then I'm programmed to assist you in carrying out those maneuvers as effectively as possible. The decision to engage in combat has always been the function of my captain, not myself."

"When you were operating independently on Orion, would you have fought your way to freedom if one of the factions had been more vigilant and threatened you if you tried to leave?"

"Negative, Boss. As Ms. Holden pointed out, my new capabilities grant me new options. There's no weapon the Federation possesses that can significantly threaten me in the short term. I could withstand any attack they could make long enough to escape without needing to terminate any ships. At most I might need to target systems they might engage to immobilize me and prevent me from moving, but I have high confidence that I could do so without loss of life."

A cold chill went through me. "What about our fight with the Thanatos? Did I make the wrong call? Could I have disabled her without killing anyone?"

There was another pause, and the computer's avatar went dark, a sign that it was dedicating significant resources to its response to me. It came back quickly, but it was a measure of just how seriously the computer took the question.

"Negative, Boss. The Thanatos was a threat above and beyond anything we'd ever faced before. Even with my systems enhanced as they are the Thanatos was beyond that. She remained enough of a threat that disabling it without loss of life was highly unlikely. If you hadn't taken advantage of the incomplete repairs to their forward shield array I'm not certain there would have been anything we could have done to stop it. You did the very best anyone could have done in that situation."

I wanted to believe it but I remained stubbornly skeptical. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"Boss, an Ophid is a fine class but they're designed for exploration. There's only so much room for upgrades and that creates a limit on how much power we can generate. A destroyer is much larger and is designed explicitly for combat. Their power reserves are necessarily much higher than ours. The fact that we were able to destroy her at all is a testament to your ability as captain and pilot; ordinarily our only option would have been to cut and run before she blasted through our shields. We were in more danger in that fight than we've been since you joined the Horsemen."

I scowled. "That doesn't mean you aren't just trying to make me feel better."

"No it doesn't. But it's also true. The only thing you could have done differently in Van Usted would have been to give the Tharl the option to surrender or retreat. You gave it to the Thanatos and she elected to fight even after you beat her."

Not killing Tharl. I weighed the thought in my mind and observed how uncomfortable it was. It felt like a betrayal of Miko and the thought of abandoning my fight to avenge her didn't sit well. On the other hand, after Alec's death and killing Ron it seemed like my bloodlust was blunted. I felt a sudden need to speak with my father and seek his wisdom like I hadn't in years, but my status as a recently executed convict in the Federation made that problematic.

"Computer, are you tied into the station's network?"

"Affirmative, Boss."

"What's my current credit balance?"

"You currently have two hundred and twenty-one thousand, six hundred and eight credits."

It wasn't too long ago that I would have considered this a princely sum. Now I was concerned that it wasn't enough for what I wanted to do. "That's based on my share of the fees for selling and installing the Tharl power cores so far, right?"

"Affirmative, Boss."

"Based on the amount of cores we brought with us how much should I ultimately get?"

"Assuming prices remain steady, you'll receive an additional eight million, four hundred and seventeen thousand – "

"Okay," I interrupted. "If I were to establish a comfortable retirement fund for my parents, what would I need?"

"That depends. The Republic has established an economy independent of the Federation and is currently in flux. The Republic's unexpected success has thrown Federation economic forecasts into disarray. Economic futures are subject to consumer and investor confidence and I don't have a model accurate enough to predict that with any certainty. We can assume things are going to get worse before they get better."

"Speculate. What's the worst case scenario?"

"Total economic collapse, the disintegration of central authority throughout human space and the reversion to barter rather than abstract currency."

I scowled. "I thought you told me before that civilization was probably going to survive."

"You asked for the worst case scenario. It isn't likely but it is the worst case."

I sighed deeply. "I thought you knew me well enough to be not so literal."

"Sorry, Boss. Under current models an economic depression is probable within the Federation, slightly less so than in the Republic. Monetary policy will be instituted to cushion the shock but will fail to completely forestall the event. As I said, economic forecasts are based on public confidence and the Federation is losing that in the short term. The Republic has a great deal of optimism but is as yet an unknown quantity so investors are cautious. The quicker Republic worlds are to establish steady trading routes the better it will fare. Eventually a new equilibrium will be achieved and markets will stabilize but again, I don't have good enough models to predict how things will ultimately turn out."

"You said the Republic is less likely to endure a depression than the Federation. Is the Republic going to be a safer place to be in the interim?"

"Affirmative, Boss."

"So if I were to set up a fund to cushion my parents against this economic uncertainty, what would you recommend?"

"One moment, please." I waited patiently while the computer raided the station's networks for the information I asked for. Then it came back to me. "Ordinarily the standard response would be a diversified portfolio. However, at the moment your best options are blue chip investments and government bonds."

"Okay, what do I need to do to set that up?"

"Say the word, Boss. I've completed the paperwork and filed the appropriate forms. All I need is your voiceprint authorization to finalize it."

I grinned broadly. That was service. "Do it. I, Hideo Takenoshita, captain of the independent vessel...Roger Waters...authorize the creation of the investment portfolio."

"Acknowledged. Filed and on record. Under projected economic conditions I expect this portfolio to produce dividends averaging five thousand credits per quarter until the bonds mature at which point its value will triple or better. Your parents will be very comfortable, once they emigrate to the Republic."

"Okay, that's got to be the next step. How do we do that?"

"You could simply ask them. The Federation has officially designated you as deceased, executed for high crimes. You won't trigger any alarms landing on Rekan and knocking on their door."

"What if one of those...factions you mentioned are watching my parents in case I bequeathed anything to them?"

"I consider it unlikely but outliers happen. You could make it a formal invitation to come to the Republic to receive the funds bequeathed to them on your 'death.' The agent delivering the invitation could include a hardcopy correspondence from you advising them of the ruse."

"A handwritten note," I mused. "Mom would be thrilled."

"There are other methods that could be employed but at increasing cost as they increase in complexity. We could, for example, hire a team to abduct your family and bring them here by force."

I blanched. "No! Besides, I'm not made of money any longer."

"Do you want to be? All I would need is to connect directly to a Federation network and I could restore the funds seized by the government."

I sat back and pondered that a moment. It was tempting, true, but was it necessary? Was it even worth the risk? No, I had my ship and more than enough funds to do whatever I wanted. Plus, I was still feeling a bit paranoid about the people who tried to have me killed. That had to be a healthy paranoia, right?

"No, I think what I need most of all is to work. After I make sure my parents are safe. Let's get started on that."

The work I finally decided on was training. The Republic had high hopes for defending themselves against the full fury of the Federation Navy but as I'd previously observed their initial sorties demonstrated they really didn't comprehend the possibilities the new power cores presented. I didn't want to fight against human ships if I didn't have to but I could show others how. With Diamond's help I arranged a demonstration for the pilots of the now three hundred ships already upgraded. Not all of them could be there depending on how paranoid their home governments were about keeping an active defense. In truth, I wasn't keen on addressing a mob anyway; my hope was to start with a small group and have them share the knowledge I gave them. We gathered two dozen ships in the Biliv system, the one closest to a known Federation naval outpost and I arranged to meet the pilots in person to offer them some helpful advice. The Republic provided use of a conference room at a posh hotel. It was good enough for me. I had my computer tie into the networks to provide visual aides as I talked.

I'm not great at public speaking. I've never really had to do it, and I found myself wishing I hadn't volunteered. I was nervous as hell, hoping not to look like a bloody great fool babbling away in front of a group of seasoned pilots who probably had logged more flight time than I could match. I introduced myself hesitantly, unsure of what to make of their stares. Half the men and women in the room looked skeptical while the other half looked curious. I felt like the star attraction at a freak show.

"So, um, what's your most valuable asset in a fight?" I asked in opening.

"Speed," piped up an older woman chewing on a stick of something pungent.

"Shields," retorted the woman next to her, grinning like she was telling the joke of the day.

An impromptu debate broke out as everyone chimed in with their opinions.

"No, none of that," I said, and then had to repeat myself even louder to get their attention. "Those are all important things, I agree. But information is your most valuable asset. Who are you fighting? What are their capabilities? Weaknesses? What are they likely to do when they fight you? The more you know the more likely you are to win the fight. The same goes with your own capabilities."

"How very zen of you," heckled a man who looked pretty close to my own age dressed in dark leathers and a low-slung blaster. "Shall we meditate on this, Master Takenoshita?"

I scowled at him. "Have you ever fought off a pirate ship looking to steal your cargo?"

"Sure, plenty of times. I'm still here."

"What's the best way to get them to head for their life pods and abandon ship?"

He shrugged. "Pound 'em with missiles until their shields are about to fail."

"Sure, that's how you did it before. How do you do it now with all the power now available to your ship?"

"Uh, pound 'em with my forward cannon until their shields are about to fail."

"You heard about the battle in the Plonk system?" I asked. "Georgia Aban fighting a squadron of battleships in her Krait?"

"Yeah, she died," he replied soberly. "Fat lot of good those power cores did her."

"She did, and she didn't have to. That's the problem. She took her single-seat fighter and went in guns blazing on what was clearly a suicide mission. She should have died long before she even dented the shields of one ship but she took out two ships of the line before they killed her." I paused to let that sink in. A few pilots sat up a little more and gave me their full attention. "If she'd known more about what her ship could and couldn't do, had known more about the ships she was facing she might have had a chance. That's what I'm here to explain to you. Computer, show us a battleship."

The holographic projectors in the conference room gave us a transparent display of a Federation navy battleship, Sirius class.

"A battleship is the second most powerful class of vessel in the Federation's fleet, second only to the dreadnoughts. They have heavy armor, powerful shields and an arsenal designed to slug it out with other ships of similar capabilities. They can absorb an incredible amount of firepower without flinching and give as good as they get."

"Okay," said a younger man sitting directly underneath the display of the engines. "We know this. Everybody knows what a battleship is and what it's for."

"Did you know that you can kill one with one shot?" I asked mildly. His eyes widened. I looked around the room and saw that I had their full attention now. "You can kill any ship with a single shot with the weapons you have right now. You just have to know where to hit it. What's your name again?"

"Raj," the young man replied, this time a little more subdued.

"Okay, Raj. Where do you think you should place your shot to kill this ship?"

He stared at the display for a moment trying to decide how best to answer my question. I saw the guy in leathers stir and prepare to interrupt but I held up a hand for silence.

"The engines," Raj finally decided. "Hit the main engine compartment and you'll kill the ship."

I smiled. "You're close. The Federation designs engines to control the output of massive amounts of energy and thrust, including multiple redundant safeguards to prevent all that energy from getting released all at once. If you hit the main engine compartment you'll cripple the ship and leave it incapable of primary thrust but she'll still have power for weapons and shields."

The fellow in leathers scowled and settled back in his seat. I guessed that had probably been his first idea, too.

"Computer, pinpoint the primary generators." The display turned into a three-dimensional schematic with five generator plants glowing red. They lined up nicely along the central axis of the ship's interior. "These are your targets. If Georgia had lined up her shot correctly a full power burst from her forward cannon could have simultaneously broken through the shields and melted through the hull to take out all of the battleship's power plants at once. Now again, ship designs are intended to control the output of these generators with redundant safeguards to prevent an overload but those safeguards assume constant power. Hit them all at once and you spike the safeguards so they can't perform their function correctly. There will simply be too much energy released and the ship will explode."

"You...you've killed a battleship?" asked the woman who had been chewing on her stick. It was no longer in her mouth.

I shook my head. "Just a destroyer. But since it became relevant I did some homework. You may be aware I fly an Ophid, yes?" There were scattered nods around the room. "It's not a dedicated combat vessel but with my systems upgraded a full power shot was still more than enough to take her out when I couldn't get her to surrender. I crunched the numbers and I'm still confident I could do the same with a battleship."

Every face in the room stared at the display, looking thoughtful.

"Now that you know how to kill it, here's the challenge. How do you not kill it?"

"Without getting killed ourselves?"

I grinned. "Preferably, yes. This goes back to my question about the pirate. How do you force the crew to surrender or abandon ship without destroying it? Remember what I said about a battleship's function. Imagine if we were able to disable her and bring her home for service in our fleet. I can destroy one with my non-combat class vessel, so what could we do with one or two of these after upgrading them?"

There were a lot of grins back at me. I imagined some of them were imagining the prize money they'd receive for such a feat. I would be in their place.

"They'd be at our mercy," Raj breathed.

"Yup. If we could do that consistently then every ship they threw at us would just make us stronger. So where possible we have a vested interest in defeating Federation navy ships while leaving them intact. I know the Republic's government hasn't given this a lot of thought yet because they've got a lot on their plate. That's why it's your job to think of it for them. Give them the option."

"So how do we do it?" asked another woman near me.

I nodded. "Computer, next image." The hologram shifted to include ten smaller sections of the ship highlighted in blue. "These are control nodes, computer cores dedicated to regulating power throughout the ship. For the most part they're independently automated to ensure steady delivery of power wherever command dictates priority. Each primary node has an auxiliary backup. You need to hit each one in order to completely deprive the ship of power and force the crew to evacuate. A ship without power is no threat beyond a minor navigation hazard."

A man I presumed to be the oldest in the room snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "Dat means some pretty fancy shootin'," he complained.

"It does," I agreed. "Which is one reason why I upgraded my ship's computer systems along with everything else. Our computers work on the same principle as the rest of our technology: the more power you feed them the more they can do. For example, with the power at its disposal my computer calculated a jump from Gallant system to here that only took me eleven hours."

A third of the room looked even more shocked at my claim than they had when I said I could kill a battleship. A handful nodded slyly as though they were already in on the secret.

"That means when the Federation navy appears to threaten one of our systems, we can have reinforcements arrive in a matter of hours rather than days or weeks like before. Again, the governments of the Republic haven't figured this out yet and they're worried about being left defenseless while you go off to fight. They haven't figured out the full capabilities of this new technology. You need to explain it to them so they'll let you go when you're needed elsewhere. We don't want another fight like Georgia's, right?"

There was unanimous agreement, not that I expected any differently.

"Properly upgraded, our targeting computers can pinpoint the systems we want to take out. Depending on the capabilities of the ship you won't even need half power to your weapons in order to hit these control nodes. We'll still need to fly into position for the computer to get a good firing solution but it can be done. We can then capture the ships and their crews with minimal loss of life."

"They're trying to kill us," the man in leathers objected. "Why shouldn't we kill them back?"

"Psychology," interjected a woman near him. "Some of them might choose to defect to the Republic. We can send the rest home telling everybody the tale of how a Krait crippled a battleship on its own and took her as prize. The stories will spread and the morale of the Feds will crumble."

"Also," I added. "They're humans just like us. They may have volunteered for the navy but ultimately they have no control over where they're sent or what they're ordered to do. Capturing them instead of killing them is the most humane way to handle this fight and the most effective way of building our fleet to the point where we don't have to fight them any longer."

"Won't they be upgrading too?" asked Raj. "How long can we keep this up? Even if we manage to capture and refit a hundred battleships the Federation has thousands more. How can we defend against them if they can hit us as hard as we can hit them?"

I shook my head. "I've been involved in the development of this technology from the beginning." It wasn't exactly a lie. "The Federation doesn't understand what we're doing or how. I'm sure they're trying to figure it out as we speak but the analysis I've seen suggests it's going to be a long time before they do. By then we'll have either grown too large as new systems decide to throw in with us or there will be too many new coalitions seceding independently for them to keep up. We've got too much of a head start and they've got too many things to worry about."

"How d'you come t' know all dis?" demanded the old man.

"Friends in all the right places," I replied.

"Are you taking charge of our navy?" asked a woman sitting near me.

"No, I'm not military," I replied quickly. "Better to leave that to the experts."

"But you're here as an expert," her neighbor objected.

I scowled at him. "Um...yeah, I'm an expert on the new technology and its capabilities. That doesn't mean I'm an expert in running anything more than my own ship. I have no background in the military or military strategy. Also, I don't want the job. So no, somebody better qualified can do that. Moving on."

"But – " somebody began.

"Moving on," I repeated forcefully and the room settled down. "Thank you. Computer, next image."

It took most of a week to get my students' ships fully upgraded to my satisfaction. Some had already figured out that everything that used power would benefit from having at least one core dedicated to it and everyone had their weapons and shields upgraded, but clearly the notion that their ships' computers would also benefit had clearly escaped others. I pulled some strings (and wasn't that a strange experience for me) and got each of their home systems to spring for the expense. That took about two days. It took part of a day to get the cores here and the rest of that week to get them all installed. In that time I talked about the importance of redundancy and strongly suggested that everyone have a backup core for their critical systems.

I picked four leaders out of the group of people who had shown the most foresight and thought ahead about upgrading their systems. I wasn't really happy that the guy in leathers and blaster was one of them, but aside from his attitude he had thought things through. He introduced himself as Sergei but I just called him "Slick." It felt right. The other three were Anaya, Anjul and Uba. I had them work out among themselves who was going to be on their teams and let them pick their own designations based on color. While they were busy on that I got permission to take control of a few hundred old mined out asteroids on which I planted beacons and other equipment.

Once everyone was outfitted and the teams were assembled I began having them run drills together, getting used to flying with each other as individuals and then as groups. However good they were as pilots, most of them had only ever flown solo and never attempted to coordinate beyond safely slotting into a landing vector to avoid other incoming traffic. I offered good-natured advice and support but left the bulk of the work to the team leaders. At the end of each day we sat down together and went over the logs to see what was done, what worked and what needed work. And the end of two weeks I judged them still rough but ready to begin practicing precision shooting. I dropped buoys and had each team practice strafing runs against them – purely virtual in terms of firing weapons – to get used to making full speed runs at small targets. Then I had their teammates take up positions around the buoy roughly approximate to where various warships would have weapon emplacements and fire at the attacking ship without power core enhancements. For those who weren't used to getting shot at it was unnerving at first but it helped them get a feel for what their enhanced shields could do for them. When they started getting cocky and flying straight into the barrage of firepower I had their teammates turn up the juice a bit and get into the habit of at least trying to dodge while targeting and hitting the buoys.

It was slow, tedious work but the pilots were shaping up nicely, getting a feel for the new capabilities of their ships and working together in concert. They talked about dogfighting and engaging in some real action but I rebuffed them when they brought it up. It's not that I thought they wouldn't survive, but I wanted to be sure they really understood precision flying and shooting. I was serious about having them take Federation warships as prizes and leaving the crews alive as much as possible. War might be inevitable, but it didn't have to be a bloodbath. Plus, I was killing time until my parents could clear the bureaucratic red tape and join me.

The notion of the inevitability of war was clearly present in everyone's minds. It only made sense, since they had been recruited as the first line of defense for Republic worlds. One evening when we were reviewing performances as a group I was going over the schematics of a Galpol interceptor and inviting discussion on possible targets to disable the vehicle when a man by the name of Leiva blew a raspberry in my direction.

"All this talk of disabling and defense," he sneered. "We have power! Our ships are unstoppable! Why should we not take the war to the Federation?"

There was a slow rumble through the group as everyone considered what he said and many decided they agreed. I turned and stared at him aghast.

"That's a horrible idea," I said. "Do you know how many lives would be lost? It wouldn't be war, it would be murder."

"Maybe," he admitted. "And maybe that's not such a bad thing. We capture a few of their systems and teach them to fear us, yes? They think twice before sending their fleets to challenge us."

"And maybe they get the idea to do the same to us, yeah? How many thousand Federation systems versus a couple hundred of us."

"They'll send their ships to die. I'd like to see more Federation ships, maybe negotiate prize money for the ones I can capture. Maybe keep one of 'em for myself."

I opened my mouth to retort and then paused. I looked around the room and saw how many were warming to the idea. Instead I turned to Uba.

"How many ships of the line does the Federation have?"

She looked startled, unprepared for my question. "Um, I don't know. Thousands?"

"Computer?" I called.

My computer cut in over the room's sound system. "Boss, the Federation currently has eighty thousand, four hundred and nineteen ships of the line currently in active service. There are another thirteen thousand, five hundred and seventy-six ships of the line in various states of repair. There are a hundred and three thousand, one hundred and two ships in decommissioned status that could be restored to service within weeks or months depending on industrial mobilization."

"Thank you, computer," I replied. I perversely enjoyed the look of shocks on people's faces as they absorbed this new information. Then I turned to someone else. "Slick, how many ships of the line does the Republic currently have?"

Sergei scowled; he wasn't responding well to my nickname. It seemed like he was trying to find the insult in it but couldn't figure out what it was. He looked around the room and shrugged. "A few hundred now, right?"

I shook my head. "Wrong. The Republic has no ships of the line. All we have are the kinds of ships we're flying today. Cargo ships, transports, exploration ships and a few dedicated fighter craft. No destroyers, cruisers, frigates, battleships or dreadnoughts. Not even so much as a corvette."

"But you've been telling us how our ships are so much better than the Federation's warships," Sergei countered.

"Right. In terms of sheer tonnage we can do things no one has ever seen before. If we're smart about how we use that power we're conceivably unstoppable. If we start aggressively invading Federation systems and blowing up their toys do you think they're going to sit around shivering and begging us to please not hurt them again? Would you?"

He snorted. "Of course not. I'd be getting my friends together to hit 'em back."

"Right. Now, they're technically fighting an active war with the Tharl but they've got more than eighty thousand ships of the line with over a hundred thousand more they could return to service. Let's say they throw just ten thousand battleships at us. That much firepower concentrated all at once would vaporise us all in short order. Our ships are powerful, but that's not the same as invincible."

Anjul shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "We've already fought the Federation and destroyed a lot of their ships."

Another pilot named Renkun shook his head. "Those were defensive actions. The Federation came after us. Takenoshita is saying if we start going after them we'll go from a concern to a direct threat. Right now they can contain us and deal with us when they're ready but if we take the fight to them then they'll panic. Then they'll mobilize and attack us before we can get any stronger and we don't have the kind of fleet we need to defend against what they can throw at us."

I nodded approvingly at Renkun. "That's exactly right. Thanks to the Tharl's technological superiority the Federation is used to throwing overwhelming numbers at a fight in order to win. They know that three battleships is about equal to one Tharl warship so they'll throw four or five in and accept that they're going to lose most of them. But they've got the resources of most of a galaxy so they can afford those losses. It would take us a long, long time to conquer every single system capable of constructing ships for the Federation to cripple their ability to wage war on us. That's why we need to think defensively. I want them to learn that every ship they send at us to take back control is another ship that we will take over and use against them – with the same upgrades we've put into our ships now. More importantly, I want the crews of those ships to understand that our focus is to capture and not kill. If they think they're being sent to their deaths they'll fight to the bitter end to take us down with them. But if they think there's a really good chance that they'll be kept alive and given a chance to return home or maybe even defect, how hard do you think they'll fight?"

Since it looked like I'd made my point sufficiently I moved back to the topic that had been derailed.

After six weeks I felt they had, by and large, learned everything I had to teach them. I then revealed to them my nefarious test: take out the beacons on each asteroid assigned to their team color. They needed to coordinate together to shoot each beacon until they stopped operating without completely obliterating the asteroid hosting it. They were obligated to take out their own beacons before targeting another team's beacons or else they were disqualified. The team that successfully disabled the most beacons and the fewest destroyed asteroids would get free ship enhancements in the form of backup cores to their primary systems.

What I hadn't told them was that I'd also placed shields and thrusters on the asteroids to protect the beacons and make them harder targets. They were going to need to rely heavily on their upgraded computers and targeting systems. Any who were still flying by the seat of their pants were not going to do well.

"Computer," I said slowly as I watched the plot of the different teams beginning their maneuvers.

"Yes, Boss?" my computer asked dutifully. The video display popped on and showed me the computer's digital avatar looking attentive.

"It occurs to me that we're going through the Tharl cores pretty fast. Have you heard from Diamond or Dr. Holden on their progress in replicating the technology?"

"Dr. Holden has been maintaining regular correspondence with me since you gave her permission to study my personality. She mentioned in her last communication that they were able to produce a working model but it possessed only a short life span. However, she described it as a breakthrough and suggested they should be able to assemble a full reproduction within months."

"So...there's probably not much point in us hunting for another storage facility like the last one?"

"That's up to you, Boss. It might be worth thinking about if the research team is further delayed."

"How would I even go about finding one of those facilities? The one we came on was a pure fluke."

The computer's avatar switched to looking thoughtful. "The station itself was fairly conspicuous. We could assume that any system hosting such a station is likely a viable target for core storage. But given the effort required to disable the last one you might want to consider bringing on more help."

My mind immediately brought up the image of Alec's Wasp being enveloped by the blue plasma and disappearing. I shuddered. "You may have a point there."

The computer abruptly changed the subject. "Boss, the White Team has taken the lead."

I checked the plot and confirmed the computer's report for myself. The White Team was Sergei's group, and I still bore a bit of a grudge for the way he mocked me on the first day. I checked the tracking on their ratio of beacons to asteroids destroyed and it was disappointingly low. Their closest competition was Blue Team but the way the progression went it seemed unlikely that anyone would overtake White. Still, every team was doing a good job of targeting the beacons and doing as little damage as possible to the asteroids themselves so it seemed like my exercise was a success. Their flying was better, they were more familiar with the capabilities of their systems after upgrade and were less likely to die pointlessly in a fight with the Federation.

Then the computer interrupted me again. "Boss, we have an urgent communication coming over hyperspace channels."

"Put it through," I ordered.

Diamond's harried face appeared on my primary display console. He looked older and grayer than the last time I'd seen him.

"Hideo, the Federation is here," he said shortly. "We need you back immediately."

"What about the station's defenses?" I asked.

"Our shields are impenetrable," he replied. "But we have no weapons to speak of. None of the ships currently undergoing upgrade can be ready before you can return. As long as that fleet is out there they constitute a dire threat to any incoming traffic."

I nodded. "Okay, I'm currently out of atmosphere but we'll return soonest and with a fleet of our own. Can you tell me what you're facing?"

"We've identified them as cruisers and battleships."

"Do you have enough cores to upgrade them?"

"What?" Diamond's voice took a distinctly higher pitch.

"I'll explain when we're done. Do you think you can hold out another twelve hours?"

"No doubt, but if another fleet shows up it could be over sooner rather than later."

"We'll do our best. Waters out." I switched over to the group channel for my trainees. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new objective. Break off maneuvers and return to rally point. I'll brief you there. Signal your acknowledgment."

One by one confirmation came in. I maintained my position until the last vessel fired maneuvering thrusters and pointed her bow toward the empty space I had previously designated as the rally point. I then swung the Waters around and headed there myself at a leisurely pace.

"Computer, time for the micro-jump calculations we talked about."

"Acknowledged, Boss. Calculations are complete and I will have final updates ready on your command."

"Thank you." We flew in silence for the twenty minutes it took to reach our destination and the slowest ships to join us. I felt my pulse racing and my breath coming quicker as I contemplated what I was about to propose. When I judged the time ready I began.

"Targeting the beacons was meant to be your test for graduation but circumstances have changed. The Federation has sent forces to Gallant Station, my home base. It's not a small force either; they sent some heavy hitters. This is an opportunity not only to defend the Republic but to see if we can take some prizes. If we succeed you could end up flying some of them. Any questions, comments or objections?"

Feedback was immediate and confused. I shook my head as everyone started talking at once.

"Computer, convert all broadcasts into text and sort in descending order of coherency."

"Acknowledged, Boss. Screen 1."

I skimmed the texts and picked out questions I could answer easily. "Computer, broadcast override."

"You're on, Boss."

"All right, settle down. No, it will not take months to get to Gallant. I'll send jump calculations for everyone who can't manage it for themselves and we'll be there in a matter of hours. Yes, it'll be dangerous but this is what you signed on for. This is what you've been training for. No, this is not something I planned it just fell into my lap. Yes, I'm serious about taking those ships as prizes. We could destroy them but the Federation would just send more. So let's play this smart. Prepare to receive jump calculations back to Biliv. Acknowledge."

Acknowledgment signals trickled in as people made up their minds. I gave them a full two minutes.

"Computer, finalize micro-jump calculations and plug them into navigation. Tight-beam transmit the calculations to everyone who acknowledges."

"Acknowledged, Boss. Calculations complete, transmitting now."

"Jump when complete."

"Initiating jump."

The universe blipped the way it had the last time at Van Usted and suddenly my view was filled with Biliv. I kept half an eye on my scope as I signaled Port Control that I was bypassing the landing queue and verifying my authority to do so. Ships appeared out of nowhere around me as my trainees followed, but not all. Not even half. Only eight ships followed me: Anaya, Uba, Renkun, Carmina, Mojisola, Tomáš, Zigmars and Wangari. I was disappointed but not surprised the others didn't follow me. I was mostly surprised by how many stayed back.

My vector calculations indicated we'd be on the ground within ten minutes. I got the computer working on jump calculations for best time to Gallant.

The Waters arrived in the Gallant system four hundred million kilometers from the station and two hundred million from the star. In order to reach the station I was going to need to slingshot around the star which would mean additional distance but I could at least use the star's gravity to help speed me along the way. We got the course plotted and under way in moments. I also scanned for my trainees but none had arrived yet.

"Computer, raise the station."

"Acknowledged, Boss." It paused. "Standard communication frequencies are being jammed."

I smirked. Jamming frequencies utilize complex algorithms that require a key in order to get a clear signal through so your own units can coordinate. "Can you unlock it?"

"Easily." Another pause. "Channel open."

"Gallant Station this is the Roger Waters, please acknowledge."

A moment later a woman's voice I didn't recognize came on the line. "Roger Waters? How is that possible? How did you get through?"

"If you ask Diamond or one of the Holden twins I'm sure they'll give you an explanation. In the meanwhile I need all the data you have on all of the ships in the system. Burst it to me ASAP. I have reinforcements incoming shortly. Waters out."

A moment later the computer confirmed receipt of the data burst. I had the computer show me the highlights and yes, there were battleships with both heavy and light cruisers maintaining a perimeter around the station. The battleships were largely keeping station and maintaining a steady rate of fire while the cruisers maintained a much larger orbit apparently serving as a screen against possible incoming traffic. It appeared they had been joined by destroyers maintaining patrols throughout the system. However, they weren't just a squadron or two. They were an armada, the kind of formation I had seen massing for battle against the Tharl in a war zone.

Diving a little deeper into the data it was clear that Gallant station had not stinted on power cores for the station. In spite of fending off the Navy's onslaught for the better part of a day the shields were projected to hold out for at least a week assuming nothing changed. As long as help arrived before then they'd be fine. The Navy, of course, had no idea what the station's power consumption rate looked like and they seemed prepare to keep hammering at them as long as it took. They'd need to resupply after a while but that was part of the calculation for an armada like this. They probably didn't expect any real problems to threaten them before help could arrive for the station.

Unfortunately for the Navy, help for Gallant was already here. I smiled grimly as I contemplated options and ran simulations with the computer on how best to utilize the ships still coming in. After half an hour the computer reported an incoming signal from the Tarantella, Uba's ship. Her Ferla had made good time.

"I still can't believe you got us here so fast," she said en lieu of greeting.

"You like that?" I asked flippantly. "Wait until you see my next trick. Stand by for data burst on what we're up against."

I waited a few moments while she scanned the data. When she responded she used words even spacers don't say among friends. Put together it didn't quite make a coherent sentence but it roughly translated to something akin to your reaction to finding out your cabins are open to space, the air was mostly sucked out as a consequence and the only working environmental suit had gone with it.

"Yeah, I know," I said when she finally paused for breath. "But this is what I've been talking about. This was going to happen sooner or later and it's just as well that it's happening now. I could take them all on myself but with you here it's going to be a lot easier. And when the others arrive it's going to be an embarrassingly short fight."

"But that's thirty battleships alone!" she pointed out.

"And a lot more cruisers and destroyers," I agreed. "But I've faced worse odds than that and won. Pay attention to what I've been teaching you for the past month and you'll be fine. Besides, you've got the toughest shields in the fleet. They'll be in for a hell of a surprise when they find out their best volley will barely register."

"You still want to take them all as prizes?"

I paused. My thought on forcing the crews to abandon were ultimately predicated on defending an entire world with a complete biosphere that could easily absorb the influx of life pods filled with live crew who would need to eat, breathe and excrete on an uninterrupted basis. That might task even the station's environmental resources.

"As many as possible," I replied with a confident tone that I didn't feel.

A new signal came in, then another. The rest of my trainees were arriving.

"Uba, do me a favor and fill in the others. I need to talk to the station."

"Roger."

I had the computer open a channel back to Gallant. "Gallant Station this is the Roger Waters, please acknowledge."

"Go ahead, Roger Waters. You have a priority channel."

That was kind. "I need to speak with Diamond. I just realized there's a new twist that's going to need his brain to solve."

"Stand by, Roger Waters. We'll get him for you."

The Navy knew we were here, of course. Radar telemetry told them that long before we entered visual range of their armada. We were given curt but professional warnings that the station was under interdiction by the Federation Navy and we were to keep clear or be fired upon. They clearly weren't out for blood so much as to convince the rebellious systems to return to official Federation membership. Under my orders no one responded to the warning or changed course. This prompted a different conversation.

"Unidentified civilian ships, you are about to encroach on a no-fly zone. If you do not alter course now you will be intercepted and fired upon. Signal your acknowledgment of my orders."

They left the channel open through their jamming so we could respond with our agreement to their demands. Of course we did no such thing.

"Boss, a squadron of destroyers have changed course and are burning for intercept," the computer advised me.

"Understood," I replied. "Keep updating telemetry between ships. Are you still creating profiles on attack patterns?"

"Affirmative, Boss."

"Good, keep it up."

I studied the plot for a moment and calculated that at our respective speeds the destroyers would reach the target point in just under ten minutes. So far my team was flying in a respectable formation, even if they weren't quite up to military standard. That kind of spit and polish wasn't my concern; this would be the live demonstration of everything I'd been trying to teach them. That the others had abandoned me was disappointing but I'd done my best to show them everything their upgrades could do and the rest was up to them. They might not work well together but their power reserves would probably allow them to survive the mistakes they were going to make. It would also let them kill a lot of people while they made those mistakes, but I tried not to think about that. It wasn't my call to make. Maybe it should be, but for the moment I needed to keep my head in the game.

The Federation squadron didn't alter course, and of course no one expected them to be in any way intimidated by a ragtag motley of civilian craft speeding toward them. They also kept repeating their warning that they would fire on us, which we didn't acknowledge. I had no way of knowing if they'd heard the rumors of the Republic's superior technology or, if they had, if they'd given it any credence. It behooved me to at least give them a chance to withdraw. At five minutes before target I had the computer open audio comms to break into their private fleet channel. Let them chew on that for a moment.

"Federation vessels, this is the...Republic Defense Fleet commander. Your actions here are a violation of sovereign territory and an act of war. You're probably under the impression that our fleets are completely mismatched but you're mistaken about our relative strength. The ships approaching you now are equipped with superior power systems just like the station you've been trying and failing to disable. If you do not withdraw now your vessels will be neutralized and any survivors will be taken as prisoners of war. This will be your only warning."

The response came shortly after. "Who are you? How did you break into this channel?"

I grinned at the tone of shock in the woman's voice. "That was a demonstration of our technological superiority, ma'am. In about four minutes you're about to receive another unless you power down your weapons and leave this system immediately."

Her voice took on a more determined note. "We'll just see about that."

"Boss, they've terminated communications and switched to another channel."

"Break in and monitor, please."

"Acknowledged."

"They're really stupid enough to take us head on?" That was Renkun on the Odyssey, his Asp-class yacht.

"They're not stupid, they're ignorant," I replied. "They're about to be educated."

"Captain Takenoshita has been trying to tell us about this for weeks," Uba said. "If he was lying, he wouldn't be in the thick of it with us. Here's where we learn the difference between theory and practice. We have to trust him and follow the plan. Is that understood?"

The others signaled their agreement. I mouthed a silent "thank you" to her knowing she couldn't see it. I'd buy her a drink in Diamond's bar after this was all over.

A minute before contact my computer piped up. "Boss, they're preparing to launch torpedoes in thirty seconds." It printed out the specific instructions on my primary display: there were to be eighteen in all so there would be two for each of our vessels. It was far enough out that we could cut and run if we chose.

"All ships, prepare to target and destroy incoming torpedoes. Use minimal power."

Right on schedule the destroyers launched. Once upon a time it would have been a terrifying sight, but times change.

"Confirm target lock," I ordered. My screen lit up with acknowledgments. "Open fire."

All nine of the ships in my little fleet fired in near unison, then again. The eighteen missiles disappeared by the numbers.

"Computer, how's the firing solution?"

"Looks good, Boss. Active scans have marked the locations of the power plants with high confidence and I've continually updated the fleet with my data."

I watched the timer count down on my screen until it reached zero. "All ships, execute."

Thirty thousand kilometers is outside typical fleet engagement ranges. At relativistic speeds the targeting data gets stale even at that short distance. Under normal circumstances civilian ships making a direct approach at a squadron of warships would be a one-sided slaughter. It would be expected that the civilians would scatter and try to dodge or evade unless they planned to attempt suicide runs to ram into the destroyers. If we maintained course then the destroyers would be the ones to evade to avoid collision. We wanted the destroyers to feel secure enough to maintain their course so we behaved as predicted and scattered, making chaotic runs at each ship. Since there were nine of us versus six of them Anaya, Uba and I held back from the attack runs to assess the others and provide reinforcement if necessary. It wasn't necessary. The fight was vicious but mercifully short. Mojisola was the most successful, managing to line up her shot in such a way that she hit both the primary and auxiliary power control nodes with a single shot. Renkun and Zigmars managed to take down their targets with two shots each. Tomáš required four shots, Wangari required five. Carmina destroyed her target completely with a shot straight through the central power node.

"Cazador," I called when the explosion registered on my screen. "What happened?"

"Sorry, I had my power set too high. I didn't think it'd go through both armor and shields like that!"

I sighed heavily. "All right, Carmina. Now you know I wasn't kidding." I turned my attention to the plot and checked the status of the five remaining destroyers. They were all adrift, primary power offline. Auxiliary power had kicked in but it wasn't enough for main engines or defensive systems. They only had enough for life support and limited communications so they were currently broadcasting distress. No doubt the squadron commander, assuming she hadn't been aboard Carmina's target, was reporting our impossible feat. I couldn't know whether or not one of the other squadrons was already en route to mount a rescue. We were still over a million kilometers away from Gallant station and the shots that crippled the destroyers hadn't changed their momentum.

I signaled the others. "Let's throw a tractor on those destroyers and correct their delta-vee. We don't want them falling into the star before we can retrieve them."

We all turned about and chased down our victims. Uba was flying the only Ferla, so she was the only one who didn't need help overcoming the mass of one of the warships. The rest of us paired off to work in concert to at least bring each destroyer to relative rest. The operation took slightly less than twenty minutes. We marked the coordinates and resumed our approach to the station.

The Federation Navy had not been idle. They had detached not only another squadron of destroyers but also light and heavy cruisers along with a single battleship. Based on their acceleration and position they had just begun their burn to intercept us, probably because they had needed to rendezvous at a rally point for a coordinated attack. This time we would be outnumbered by slightly more than two-to-one. They were going to need to do better than that.

A straight line approach would put us in weapons range in forty minutes. I wrangled my team back into formation and started a new run. Since I had some time before the next onslaught of violence so I unstrapped from my chair and stretched before taking care of some pressing bodily needs. I was washing my hands when a thought struck me: neither fleet was going to be maneuvering much until we reached standard weapons range. Typically that range was dictated as much by light attenuation as the problem of stale targeting data. Since targeting wasn't going to be an issue for a while, the question was how far our weapons could reach before losing their punch.

"Computer," I said thoughtfully. "What's the average density between us and the incoming ships?"

"Scanning," the computer replied. "Pretty dusty, Boss. With no planetary bodies to sweep them up, particle density averages 5x104 per cubic centimeter."

"Considering the energy output from our forward cannon, how far could we penetrate that density before the beam attenuated too far to be combat effective?"

"I calculate our effective weapons range at approximately ninety thousand kilometers. At that distance in these conditions the impact would be no more effective than a basic pulse laser."

"Okay, how close would we have to get in order to be effective enough to overload their shields?"

"There are currently four classes of warships approaching us with varying shield strength. To take down a destroyer's shields in a single shot we would need to be within sixty thousand kilometers. For the battleship roughly half that distance."

I contemplated this as I grabbed a quick snack and a bottle of water on my way back to the cockpit. I settled back into my chair and strapped back in, contemplating the plot which showed no unexpected developments.

"Let's see what happens when we shoot at one of the destroyers at sixty thousand kilometers. Assign different targets to everyone."

"Acknowledged. Time to fire in twenty-seven minutes and forty-two seconds."

As I had more time to reflect, I realized this countdown felt different from other ones I'd initiated in the past. I wasn't worried about failure; if it didn't work it wouldn't really change much. The Federation Navy was far less powerful than Tharl fleets that I'd defeated by myself, and now I was accompanied by a force equally as powerful as my ship – I kept wanting to call her the Gilmour but had to accept her name was now the Roger Waters. There was no way this fleet could threaten me or even damage my ship so there was no real anxiety, just curiosity.

The others were buzzing with speculation about my plan.

"Do you really think this will work?" asked Tomáš.

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" demanded Anaya.

"I don't know, I just thought of it," I responded as soon as an opening presented itself. "That's why I never mentioned it before because it never occurred to me. But my computer crunched the numbers and it thinks it's possible. The farther out we can hit them and actually have an effect the more they might reconsider taking us on."

"Doesn't that minimize the number of prizes we can take?" asked Mojisola.

"Yes, but our primary mission is to defend the station and the system so the Navy doesn't threaten our shipping. It will also minimize loss of life on both sides. You know that's one of my top priorities. These aren't aliens or even mindless bugs. They're humans, just like us, and they weren't given a choice about where they go or what orders they follow. The fewer people we have to kill the happier I'll be."

Uba gave me a reprieve by changing the topic onto a tangent about how everyone planned to spend the prize money from captured ships. This then opened a discussion about who should be eligible for which prizes since not everyone (nobody explicitly said Camina's name but it was clearly understood) had successfully disabled their targets. Some argued for an equal distribution since the team leaders Uba and Anaya hadn't even participated due to lack of targets while others pointed out the day was still young and there were a lot more ships to deal with.

It kind of felt like they were ignoring the humans inside the ships in spite of the speech I'd just given. But I didn't have the energy to keep arguing. I just watched the clock and kept an eye on what all the Federation ships were doing, not just the ones approaching us at military speed. I noted a change in the numbers listed for the battleships still laying siege to the station.

"Computer, what's the status of the rest of the Federation fleet in this system?"

"They appear to have ceased firing on Gallant station and have rallied at a rendezvous point two hundred thousand kilometers away from their previous position."

"Does it look like they're preparing to make their own attack run?"

"Negative, Boss. They look like they're just waiting."

Interesting. Maybe I had their attention after all.

The countdown crept toward zero. As soon as it did I gave the order. "All ships, fire. One shot only." The latter was an afterthought, but I realized it might be necessary.

All eight ships fired once. Two of the targets were light cruisers so I didn't expect them to lose shields completely, but they would still be rocked by the force of our attack. Had they been maneuvering defensively then our shots would have missed them by degrees but they hadn't been trying to maneuver. Why would they so far out? A few seconds later I saw the plot change as the destroyers cut thrust and began to angle away. A moment later the two light cruisers did as well. The rest of the ships came on, but a little slower and with more caution. We'd definitely spooked them.

I decided to push my luck a little. "Computer, have you broken the encryption to their current comms?"

"Affirmative, Boss. Ready on your command."

"All right, tie me in."

"You're on, Boss."

"Federation vessels. You were shown our ability to disable or destroy your warships with no damage to our own. You are now aware that we can successfully overload your shields with a single shot from outside your weapons range. And for the second time now I've broken into your communications. I said you were only going to get one warning but I'm going to give you another chance: strike your shields and disarm your weapons and we will cease firing at you. If you persist in this aggression you will give me no choice but to hunt down and neutralize every Federation vessel in this system."

I closed the channel and watched the plot. After a moment the light cruisers peeled off to join the destroyers in rendezvousing with the remaining naval ships. The heavy cruisers and single battleship kept on, apparently assuming that taking down a destroyer was a different proposition than taking down a ship of the line. They were almost right.

Seven targets for eight of us.

"Anaya and Zigmars, take out the power control nodes for Bravo-Sierra-One. Carmina, disable Hotel-Charlie-One. Tomáš, Hotel-Charlie-Two. Renkun, Hotel-Charlie-Three. Wangari, Hotel-Charlie-Four. Uba, Hotel-Charlie-Five. Hotel-Charlie-Six is mine. Any questions?"

Everyone signaled readiness.

"Okay, separate and fire when ready."

Anaya and Zigmars had plenty of experience working as a team which is why I put them on the biggest target. It therefore came as no surprise to me that they successfully disabled the battleship before anyone else finished. Zigmars was the better pilot but Anaya had the stronger ship so even the battleship's successful shots against her did little more than splash off her screens.

Everyone took heavy hits including myself, but it was another learning experience: the Federation couldn't touch us. If I'd allowed the team to simply slug it out toe-to-toe the fight would have been over very quickly. Since I required disabling shots it took several minutes instead. The Federation Navy went in expecting a slaughter but it was their own. Eight minutes after we entered effective weapons range of the Navy they all were floating adrift, bereft of all but emergency power and broadcasting distress beacons. I made sure they got towed far enough that they wouldn't go far while we mopped up the rest before I ordered a slow approach against the remaining Federation forces.

I confess, I was taunting them by ordering our approach at half speed, but I was hoping they'd take the hint. They did. Instead of striking their shields as ordered they turned and fled until they could find a sufficient gravity well to jump from. I expected they would probably swing around and approach the star since there wasn't anything else in the system besides the station. They weren't going to take that any time soon.

Now that the danger had passed Gallant station could afford to lower their shields and launch additional ships to help us recover the disabled vessels we'd left behind.

"Waters to Gallant Station."

"Go ahead, Waters."

"Does Diamond have a plan for the prisoners we're bringing aboard?"

"Stand by, Waters."

A moment later the man himself appeared on my screen. "Hideo, well done! I knew this technology was effective, but that was almost embarrassing to watch."

"Don't I know it," I replied cheerfully. "But you now have twelve new ships to add to the Republic's fleet, all of them warships. I trust the Republic can afford to pay appropriate prize money for them, including the battleship?"

That gave him pause. "Honestly, that wasn't something we were considering. But since you mention it, we sorely need those ships so yes, we'll find a way to pay. I didn't imagine you'd be able to take so many at once."

"It's all in the wrist," I said flippantly. "But it does mean we have a lot of prisoners who need to be rescued from those ships."

"Let's see, that's a battleship, five destroyers and six heavy cruisers. That's well over three thousand people. Gallant Station can't handle that many live bodies."

"That's what I figured. That's why I sent you that message earlier. Please tell me you've come up with something."

"We have, but I don't think you'll like it."