“Well, they ain’t gonna much like this, but if I was you, I’d get the whole platoon—minus Jones’s people, of course—and march ’em outta here. One blast from orbit, and the barracks is gone…and the armory too. The way I figure it, if that’s a Confed ship, or somethin’ else we ain’t thought of, then no harm done. But if this is an attack, we ain’t gotta chance sittin’ here. There’s caves all along the shoreline, and thick woods up north. Let’s just say some kind of enemy lands here…even if we put up a fight, you figure we’re beat in an hour. But if we’re all spread out, dug in…that’s a nightmare for an attacker. And if somebody does land here and occupy the place…we can do all sorts of hit and runs, keep ’em on edge. Might not be a way to win, but we can damned sure keep ’em on their toes.”

Plunkett sat quietly for a moment. Then he looked right at Hargraves. “Alright, Clete…let’s do it.” He paused. “They’re not going to like it…it’s cold out there.”

The veteran sergeant stared back, just the slightest hint of sadism in the crooked little smile on his lips. “They’re Marines, Lieutenant. They’ll complain about anything. But they’ll damned well do what they’re told!”

*   *   *

“Approaching firing range, Commander. Scanning data confirms our earlier conclusions. An orbital platform designed primarily for the loading of compressed tritium. It is armed, but minimally.”

Kat leaned back in her chair, feeling another twinge of Patrician guilt for enjoying the comfort as much as she was. “Gold Dagger squadron to the launch bay. Advise Optiomagis Junus his people are to target the enemy weapon systems only. I need those guns knocked out, but I want damage to the rest of the platform kept to a minimum.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Invictus had passed through three Confederation systems since the initial contact at Ishelar. They had blasted the first enemy ship they’d encountered there to atoms with a single volley, but it had taken almost two days to find and destroy the second vessel. Her fighters had finally run the wily patrol ship down and destroyed its engines. After that, it was just a matter of a few strafing runs to finish the job.