“More laser buoys, Red leader. We’re…” His voice was replaced by static.

“Red nine, report.”

Damn.

“Red nine…report.”

“Red ten here, Leader. The laser buoys have opened fire on us. They got Red nine, Lieutenant.”

Federov felt her hands balling into fists. “Get out of there, Red ten. Now.” She wasn’t going to lose another pilot, not needlessly. The laser buoys were primarily anti-ship weapons, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t target fighters, at least at very short range. As Red nine had just proven.

“Yes, Leader. I’m on my way.”

“How the hell did we not detect those farther out?”

“I don’t know, Leader. They’re fuzzy on my display…they must have some kind of stealth capability.”

Federov toggled her com unit, switching to the squadron-wide frequency. “Red two, Red three…Red six, Red seven, exert extreme caution. We have found active laser buoys in orbit around Santis.” She had no idea if there were more weapons orbiting the moons, but she was gaining respect for whoever they were facing in this struggle. She’d pretty much assumed it was the Alliance, just as almost everyone else had, though she knew little about that mysterious power. The fuzzy information she had suggested an almost totally militarized society. That was bad enough, but now she was thinking about the officer in charge, about the series of traps they had encountered. She had great confidence in Captain Barron…but now she was also beginning to wonder if he was facing his equal in this contest.

“Red leader, this is Red two. Active mode probes confirmed around moon number one.” A pause. “Detecting energy readings now.” Another second, perhaps two, passed. “Laser buoys confirmed, Lieutenant. Executing evasive maneuvers now.”

Federov shook her head. The planet and a moon. Both moons, she realized. She hadn’t gotten the report yet, but she had no doubt there were weapons in orbit around both Lyra and Assul.

She flipped the com again. “Red leader to Dauntless. Red leader to Dauntless. I need to speak with Captain Barron immediately.” She was half a million kilometers from the mother ship. It took nearly two seconds for her signal to reach Dauntless, and as long for any reply to travel back to her. It wasn’t a long time, not by any reasonable measure, but sitting in her cockpit staring out at Santis, it seemed like forever.

“What is it, Lieutenant?” Federov could tell as soon as she heard Barron’s voice that something else was going on.

“Sir, we’ve encountered laser buoys in orbit around Santis and both moons. Also, a string of probes in all three locations running active scans. Request permission to engage and destroy.”

“Negative, Lieutenant. Leave the buoys for now. All other squadrons are currently engaged with enemy fighters. Return to base at once to refuel and rearm.” A short pause. “And hurry.”