“Pick a rock, Ensign,” he said, “and then erase it from my universe.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Waters leaned forward, his voice eager.

It only took a few minutes for the sounds of the shipboard weapons fire to die down, and throughout the ship, those without immediate access to the telemetry plots waited with half-held breaths for the results of the impromptu tests.

“Captain to all hands,” Weston’s voice sounded over the speakers in the Damage Control Command Center, as it did around the rest of the ship. “Congratulations on a textbook weapons test. Outstanding.”

“If you slackers don’t get off your flat butts double-time…I’m going to start knocking heads!” Chief Rachel Corrin said as she stalked through the DCCC.

The crew members scrambled to their feet as the harsh voice of the chief growled out at them. They snapped to as she marched down the length of the curved room and glared at them.

“Damage control drills—now!” she hissed, her tone brooking no argument as the crew snapped into action, grabbing their gear and rushing out the door.

Corrin sighed as she watched them go, letting her mask drop for a second once she was alone.

She shook her head, moving along behind the retreating figures. This crew needs more than drills, in the worst way.

Whoever had been behind the formation of the Odyssey’s crew had either been complete imbeciles or hidden geniuses.

Corrin wasn’t sure which, though she had money on the former.

The individual crew members had been drawn from some of the best pools of military talent available, and in the postwar economy of the North American Confederacy she served, that meant they had some damned fine people on board.

The problem was so very few of them had ever served with any of their shipmates before.

And that was a recipe for disaster if Chief Petty Officer Corrin ever saw one.

The Odyssey, now back en route to the Saturn refueling rendezvous, accelerated back to its “in-system” cruise speed of 0.3 light-speed. Ahead of the massive ship, its navigation beams blasted aside any debris unlucky enough to be caught in its path, causing the occasional shudder to run through the ship.

Shortly thereafter, the rings of Saturn became visible as the vessel roared toward the orbit of the sixth planet. Out of the rings, a black shape became visible, its trajectory altering almost as soon as it was spotted. It rocketed free of the big planet’s gravity well and slid into a parallel course with the Odyssey.

“Odyssey Command, this is the Indigo. Welcome to Saturn.”

“Indigo, this is the Odyssey. Thanks for the welcome, but I don’t think we’ll have time to sightsee.”

“Pity, we’ve taken in the sights for the past day while waiting for you. Least you could do is hang around and keep us company for a while.”

“’Fraid not, Indigo. We have a mission to start, and I understand you have something to help us along?”