He shook his head.  If they were lucky, they would escape without further harassment.  But if they weren't lucky, they would just have to fight.

***

James couldn't help feeling enthused about the Captain’s plan, even though he knew that it was staggeringly risky.  But if he’d wanted to avoid risk, he would have taken that slot in the Admiralty he’d been offered when he'd been promoted to Commander.  It would have made him nothing more than a tea boy – one had to be a Commodore to gain attention at the Admiralty – but it would have been safe.  Instead, he’d attempted to gain a promotion that would ensure he'd see combat.

How careless of me, he thought, as he strode through the starship’s passageway.  He smirked at the thought.  If I’d known where I was going, I might have applied to a modern carrier instead.

Another piece of carelessness, he knew, was failing to keep himself occupied to the point where he could decline the chance to meet the reporters with a clear conscience.  Most of the work he had to do had either been delegated to subordinates – he'd hated being micromanaged as a junior officer and saw no reason to torment his subordinates, now he'd been promoted – or simply placed to one side.  There was no point in writing out endless reports if no one was ever going to see them.  And the only other duty that needed attention, sooner rather than later, was ticking off a handful of couples who had bent the rules on relationships onboard ship.

He pushed that thought aside as he stepped into the modified briefing compartment.  The reporters were sitting down, looking pale and worn.  It had taken several days, but the implications of their current location had finally dawned on them.  Their ship was going to have to run the gauntlet back to human space ... or make a long detour through space that might well be occupied by an alien colony or two.  James found it hard to feel any sympathy.  They should have known the job was dangerous, he told himself once again, when they took it.

“Commander,” Yang said.  “Is the story true?”

James smiled.  “Which one?”  He asked.  Like all ships, rumour spread through Ark Royal at the speed of light.  “The one about the Engineer, the Helmsman and the Navigator?”

Yang scowled at him.  “That we’re trapped here, in this system,” he snapped.  “Are we trapped?”

“Not precisely,” James said.  He didn't want to discuss any specifics with them.  It was absurd to think they might betray the ship to the aliens, but still ...  “We just have to run the gauntlet on our way out.”

Barbie looked up at him, nervously.  “Do ... do we need to use the tramlines at all?”

James stared at her in absolute disbelief.  “Do we need to use the tramlines?”