Roberts looked down, flicking the display aside for a second. “The Drasin ship is moving to bypass the Archangels while its fighter support keeps the squadron busy, Captain. They’ll be here shortly if they aren’t stopped.”

“Keep tabs on him.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Yang-boy is making a break for it, Steph!” Paladin called out over the tac-net.

Stephanos looked up from his HUD for a second, glancing over his shoulder through the canopy of his fighter to where a huge alien capital ship was pulling away. Stephanos cursed. “All right, Wings Five through Eight, break off and start harassing maneuvers. One through Four, provide cover!”

The squad split apart, the first team targeting the fighters as they swung in on another pass. The second team accelerated out of the dogfight and vectored toward the enemy capital ship.

Stephanos haloed another fighter in his HUD and loosed a Havoc missile, forgetting the target as soon as he did. That fighter was dead the second the missile dropped from its pylon, and Stephanos had more things to worry about than some soon-to-be flotsam.

Roberts sneered as he watched the Archangels break up and move to harass the enemy vessel. “Captain, Commander Michaels has initiated harassing maneuvers against the Drasin ship.”

Weston kept his attention focused on the cruiser he was going head-to-head with. He’s not going to make the same mistake as the others. He’s going to keep this up close and personal where we can’t duck his shots and adapt to his laser frequency. Weston could respect an opponent that was able to adapt as quickly as this. Which wasn’t, of course, the same as liking said enemy.

“Lock the forward laser array, and fire a medium beam,” he said.

Like any warrior, Weston liked the easy targets. The ones he could respect he’d rather have on his side than against him.

Admiral Tanner watched the board, wondering at the miracle that was being given to him.

The back and forth of weapons signatures echoed on the threat board, and the occupants of the room watched in rapt attention as the computer displayed the exchange of fire in clean, sanitized graphics for their consumption.

He and his people had been prepared to die for a few minutes’ delay, but this unidentified ship was buying them more time than they’d dared dream of.

Now, if only it would be enough.

Waters spun around. “Captain Weston! The ship just launched fighters and what looks like a planetary assault squadron.”

Weston focused on the descending ships, calling up the minimal profiles the Odyssey’s active sensors had managed to gather before they hit the atmosphere. “Project their landing point, Commander.”

“Aye, sir.” Roberts called up a vector projection and had the computer estimate probable landing sites. “Captain, looks like a major settlement on a continent in the northern hemisphere.”