Better here than on New Russia, he thought.  He’d gone through the sensor records carefully, but he had no idea if the Russians had made it to the surface or now.  Instead, all he could do was pray that they’d made it – and that their fellow countrymen were prepared to meet them.

Shaking his head, he started to organise the drill.  Everything else would have to wait until they returned home – or the aliens caught up with them again.

***

“There are only two known tramlines in this system,” Ted said, studying the display.  “Four more, if the assumptions about alien capabilities are accurate.”

There was no disagreement from his senior crew.  Barong – the crew were already muttering that the star should have been named Boring – was uninteresting, only really useful in times of peace, when a convoy could shave a few hours off the voyage to Vera Cruz.  The Russians might have been able to stake a claim in later years, or perhaps someone would set up an independent trading facility and try to charge passage fees for anyone making their way through the system.  They’d have to be careful, Ted knew.  It wasn't as if Barong was important enough to force people to pay.  They could simply detour around the system if necessary.

“Going back to New Russia would be extremely dangerous,” Ted added.  “They will certainly have ramped up their sensor networks – and there are those ships patrolling the edge of the tramline.  We may well jump straight into a trap.  This time, they’ll be ready for us – and we are already short on starfighters and projectiles.”

He looked over at Anderson, who shrugged.  “Unless the first survey of this system was rushed – and there is some evidence to suggest it was – there’s no hope of finding materials we can use to make additional nukes,” he said.  “The asteroids appear to be bog-standard pieces of rock and metal, not rare elements.”

“Pity,” Fitzwilliam observed.  “We taught them respect for our weapons, didn't we?”

“Yes,” Ted said.  “But that will make them all the more determined to prevent us from returning to human space.”

He wondered, idly, if Ark Royal was the only starship carrying the modified weapons.  It didn't seem likely.  The Admiralty might well have outfitted other ships with the weapons – if there was one thing humanity had in abundance, it was nukes – and if the aliens launched another attack, they’d get a nasty surprise.  But the aliens would still be hopping mad over the attack on New Russia.

“I have decided, therefore, that we will proceed down the tramline to Vera Cruz,” he added.  “From there, we will jump into unexplored space and work our way around to a point where we can return to human space.”

“Captain,” Fitzwilliam said slowly, “that will add several months to our travel time – at best.”