That was still the problem. None of the weapons aboard the ship had the power to do what I wanted, and while we were hitting the Kristang, they could hit back. If the star carrier's jump capability was damaged, we could be stuck in interstellar space for a very long time. I looked through the glass at Chang and Simms. "Does anyone have an idea?"

Before either of the people in the CIC could respond, Desai turned in her seat. "Could we jump someplace really far from any stars, so the Kristang would be stranded for certain?"

"We are already in deep interstellar space. Going further would increase the likeliness of the Kristang's jump engines failing," Skippy said, "however, there would still be-"

"Skippy," it was my turn to interrupt him, "you can control the jump engines on those Kristang ships?" Desai had given me an idea.

"Temporarily, yes."

"And we don't need to send teams aboard those ships, plug you in?" If we did, my plan wouldn't work, no way could we assault multiple Kristang warships.

"No, not this time. The Thuranin platforms have hardline connections to docked ships, to reduce EM signatures, so I infiltrated the Kristang ship computers shortly after I took control of this ship."

The next question was the key to my plan. "And how long would it take for the Kristang to charge their jump engines, for a short jump?"

"Warships always maintain a minimal charge in their jump engines, to escape ambushes." Skippy explained. "All the Kristang ships are capable of an immediate short range jump, right now."

"Good. How far are we from the nearest gas giant planet?" I asked.

Desai's mouth formed a silent 'O' as she realized what I was thinking. "You're thinking we jump in close to a gas giant, eject the Kristang and then jump their ships inside the planet, before they can react?"

"Whoa!" Skippy said derisively. "Whoa, hold on there, monkeys. You can't jump a starship inside a planet, the gravity will distort the exit point so it, oh, huh, I get it. Yeah, duh. That would be very effective in ripping those ships apart, especially since they would be trying to emerge into spacetime already occupied by the planet. Ooh, I've never seen that myself. This is gonna be awesome! Woo-hoo!" He sounded gleeful. "Yes, there is a Saturn-size gas giant well within two jumps from here. In an uninhabited star system. Pilot, course is laid in, ready when the jump engines reach sixty four percent charge."

"Wait!" I said quickly, before Desai could turn around in her seat. I should have trusted her not to engage the controls without my order, for she held her hands in the air, not poised over the controls. "Skippy, can you eject those ships, get clear, and jump them into this Saturn planet, before they can launch those drones?"

"Please, Colonel Joe, you insult me. Easy-peasy."