“Right now, running around like headless chickens, I imagine,” Shalus replied with a cold smile. “Even if they are hiding people in stealth, they can’t have enough firepower to stop us—not this far from the front line. My gut feeling is that what we see is what they’ve got; they’re just trying to get it all concentrated while they figure out what to do with it. As for what they can do—” She shrugged. “We’ve got the pods on tow, and we’ve got the advantage in numbers, and in tonnage, and in surprise, Sir. All I really see that they can do is run away… or die. And frankly,” her smile turned even colder and a predator glow flickered in her eyes, “I don’t really much care which.”

“I want options, people!” Rear Admiral of the Red Elvis Santino snapped.

In that case, you should have gotten off your fat ass and spent at least a few hours thinking about this sort of situation ahead of time! Andrea Jaruwalski thought coldly.

Santino had succeeded Vice Admiral Hennesy two and a half months earlier when the picket was reduced to its present strength, and he had not impressed Jaruwalski. He’d made a big deal out of retaining Hennesy’s staff when he took over Hennesy’s flagship, treating their retention as a generous sign of his trust in them. After all, if he hadn’t trusted them, he would have brought in his own command team, wouldn’t he?

Unfortunately, Jaruwalski didn’t believe for a moment that that was what had happened or why. Personally, she suspected Santino had been sent here because the system, however prestigious command of it might look on paper, was about as much use to the Star Kingdom as a screen door on an air lock. It was a supremely unimportant slot, suitable for shuffling off nonentities who might have been embarrassments in significant assignments. And Santino hadn’t retained Hennesy’s staff because he trusted them; he’d retained them because he didn’t give a good godamn. He certainly hadn’t bothered to set up anything remotely like an exercise schedule, after all. Or even arranged regular planning sessions, for that matter!

She let no sign of her contempt shadow her expression, despite her thoughts, but she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt less than total confidence in the CO of Seaford Station.

“Sir,” she said in her most reasonable tone, “assuming Sensor One’s figures on enemy strength are accurate—and I feel confident that they are—we don’t have a lot of options. There are at least twelve superdreadnoughts and eight dreadnoughts out there; we have three ships of the wall. They have twelve battleships and four battlecruisers; we have five battlecruisers.” She gave a tiny shrug. “We don’t have the firepower to stop them, Sir. In my opinion, our only real option is to order the immediate evac of the orbit base technicians and pull out.”

“Not acceptable!” Santino snapped. “I’m not going to be another Frances Yeargin and let the goddamned Peeps take out my command area without a fight!”