“Maintain active scanning at full power, Commander. We will remain at general quarters. There is an enemy ship out here, at least one…even if we haven’t found it.” He knew the sustained alert status was hard on his crew, that each hour he kept his people at battlestations wore down their effectiveness. But it would be far worse if they were blindsided. That had already happened once, and Barron didn’t intend to allow a repeat.

“Scanners at full, Captain.”

Barron had already suspected that Santis and its tritium production facilities would be a target, and the trap at the transwarp link had only reinforced that notion. His scanners hadn’t detected the enemy yet, but he knew they were out there. Somewhere close.

He twisted his head, trying to clear the knots from his neck. He’d been in his chair for over twenty hours without a break. He was going to have to order a round of stims for his people soon, that much was certain. But he knew such things only lasted so long, and he was going to need his people sharp when the battle he knew was coming actually began. He would wait, perhaps another few hours.

“Captain, Commander Fritz reports her people have fixed the reactor cooling system. All primary weapons are active and at full power.”

Barron felt a wave of relief. He’d pressed on from the transwarp link, moving toward Santis as quickly as possible, disregarding the damage inflicted by the laser buoys. He suspected time was not his ally in this situation. But he didn’t relish making contact, going into battle with half his heavy guns out of action. The particle accelerators were extremely powerful weapons, but they were greedy of energy, requiring almost all of the output of Dauntless’s massive reactors to fire. And he was glad to have them all back online.

“Give Commander Fritz my compliments.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Barron stared ahead at the 3D display. Santis was projected in the center of the tank, a fuzzy-looking gray-white sphere. The planet had two moons, Lyra and Assul, represented by smaller globes, currently at opposite edges of the tank. Barron had reviewed the data banks. Lyra was a dead rock, lifeless and airless, but Assul was as different from its frigid parent world as possible. Heated by massive volcanic activity, it was warm—too warm for humans to endure for more than a short period without survival gear. The large moon was covered with dense jungles, teeming with carnivorous plants.

“Approaching Santis, sir. Should I plot a course into orbit?”

Barron sat silently for a few seconds. Finally, he said, “No, Commander…not yet. All engines are to decelerate. Bring us to a stop half a million kilometers out.” Barron’s gaze was focused on the tank, his eyes boring into holographic light depicting Santis.

“Yes, Captain. Decelerating now.”

“Red squadron is to prepare to launch.”

“Sir?”