Ted smiled.  “Pull us back towards the tramline,” he ordered, as the alien sensors started to sweep through space for a hint of the flotilla’s presence.  If they managed to get out of the system before the aliens got a clear lock on them, the aliens would waste hours searching for a flotilla that had already departed.  Or maybe they’d just blame everything on the Russian stragglers in the outer system.  “What about the Russian commandos?”

“They made it into the atmosphere,” Farley said, checking the live feed from one of the probes.  “Other than that ... we don't know.”

Ted silently wished them good luck, then turned his attention back to the swarming alien fighters.  The aliens seemed determined to ramp up their sensors to the point where human sensors would significantly damage themselves, although their ships showed no traces of the problems human sensors would rapidly develop.  Behind the sensor sweeps, swarms of starfighters were advancing forwards, heading towards the human tramlines.  Someone, Ted realised, was thinking ahead.  The tramlines were the only way out of the system and blocking them was the quickest way to prevent Ark Royal from escaping.

“Accelerate towards Tramline Three,” he ordered.  The alien starfighters would get there first, but he was quite prepared to bet that Ark Royal could blast her way through them even without the help of the flotilla.  “Launch a second set of drones towards the alien ships and ...”

The display flared red for a long chilling moment, then faded back to black.  “They swept us with a high-power radar,” Farley reported.  Long minutes passed as they waited to see if the aliens would lock on, then the display turned red again.  This time, it stayed that way.  “They’ve got a solid fix on our location.”

Ted swore, although he’d expected it from the moment the aliens had started powering up their sensors.  Ark Royal might have been impossible to separate from an asteroid if she’d been lying doggo, but a carrier moving at high speed was instantly recognisable.  On the display, a swarm of alien starfighters turned and gave chase, followed by the smaller ships.

“Order our starfighters to prepare to launch,” Ted ordered.  “Go active; ramp up our own sensors as much as possible.  There’s no point in trying to hide any longer.”

“I guess we poked the hornet’s nest,” Fitzwilliam said, from the CIC.  “Mass drivers are unlikely to score hits at this range.”

Ted nodded.  The alien ships were accelerating forwards, but they were also altering their courses randomly, making it impossible to predict their location in time to fire at them with the mass drivers.  Besides, with a swarm of starfighters covering their asses, it was unlikely that any projectiles would get through and do some real damage.  Shotgunning them might have an effect, but not enough to make the expenditure worthwhile.

“The newcomers are also on their way,” Farley noted.  “They’re pulling quite a high clip.”