He stepped onto the bridge and glanced at the status display.  The carrier was still following the planned course, without any alien presence in sight.  Ted prayed, silently, that it stayed that way, although he knew that, with a little care, an alien ship could be shadowing them at a distance and remain unseen.  The only real risk lay in trying to follow them through a tramline ...

Sighing, he sat down and started to read through the next set of reports.

***

“So,” Yang said.  “Just how much danger were we in?”

James briefly considered telling him that they’d come within a hairsbreadth of being killed – the inhumanly-thin reporter was right next to him, looking so pale he could almost see her bones under her skin – but decided it would be cruel.  Besides, Yang probably had the experience to know that he would be lying.

“The aliens probed our defences, then broke off,” he said, shortly.  Yang might understand the real implications, but he had no intention of spelling them out for his partner.  “They didn't come near the carrier.”

“Odd choice of tactics,” Yang said.  “Modern-day doctrine dictates the immediate destruction of the enemy’s carriers.”

James couldn't disagree.  The vast majority of space navies – and God knew there was no sign the aliens disagreed – had poured resources into carriers, rather than fixed defences.  It gave them a flexibility, the admirals had concluded, that orbital battlestations couldn't hope to match – and besides, orbital battlestations were sitting ducks.  It was no surprise that the aliens had gone after humanity’s carriers during the Battle of New Russia; they’d known that destroying the carriers would eventually give them the victory.  And they’d been right.

“True enough,” he said.  “But the aliens might well have discovered who we are and backed off.”

“Or they have plans for a future ambush,” Yang said, with evident pleasure.  His partner whimpered.  “They might be ready for us.”

“It’s a possibility,” James agreed, shortly.  The Captain had planned their entry to minimise the chances of detection, but the aliens – assuming they knew how humanity’s drives worked – might well manage to catch their arrival anyway.  “But we have to press on anyway.”

The thin reporter looked up.  “You mean to fly right into a trap?”

James shook his head, reflecting privately that the reporter wasn't as stupid as she looked.

“It is a trap,” she insisted.  “Why else would they back off and let us go?”

“They would not have been able to assign too many ships to guarding all of the possible angles of approach,” James said, as patiently as he could.  “I don’t think they expected an armoured carrier and a small fleet of armoured warships.  The smart thing to do was to back off, which they did.”