There was something about his eyes, though. Weston couldn’t pin it down, but it was a look he’d seen before.

“Captain.” The Admiral was speaking again, forcing Weston to pay attention. “We all owe you our thanks for your intervention. I do not believe that my world could ever repay you for what you have done.”

Weston waved a hand, almost irritated by the suggestion. “Nonsense. Gratitude is fine, Admiral, but beyond that, it isn’t of any concern to me. We wouldn’t let anyone do what these things were planning to do. They killed two worlds, Admiral. My people wouldn’t let them take a third—not unchallenged.”

“Yes…” Tanner glanced down, his eyes flickering shut. “I was pained to hear of Port Fuielles. Is the system titualar there with you?”

“She is with her people at the moment, Admiral, though they are still sedated,” Weston said.

“Sedated?”

“When we’re finished, Milla can fill you in. Suffice to say that the sedation was as much for their sake as for ours. We would have woken them already, but given the situation, I didn’t want panicked civilians adding to our problems.”

“Yes,” the admiral nodded, “I can see that. We shall, of course, prepare a place for them immediately.”

“That would be welcome, sir.” Weston replied. “However, we have something else to discuss at this point. You are aware, of course, of the five ships currently approaching to join the one already in-system?”

“Yes, Captain,” Tanner replied grimly. “We have them on our long-range sensors now. It’s worse than I had hoped but much as I’d feared.”

“Admiral, I have to be frank, sir.” Weston leaned forward as he talked, clasping his hands in front of him. “The odds of the Odyssey mounting a successful defense against six of those cruisers is very nearly zero.”

Milla held herself still as the captain’s words came over the speakers, but her heart was in her throat at the admission. She’d known it, at least that it was likely, but to hear it put into words by Captain Weston was something else.

Was he going to leave them? Could he justify fighting a lost cause for a world that wasn’t his own? She didn’t know.

Words spoken with a calm assurance brought her back as she realized that Admiral Tanner was speaking again, so she tried to focus on what he was saying.

“I expected that might be the case, Captain,” the admiral said, sounding almost resigned. “Part of me wishes very much to ask you to stay; however, I understand that we are not your people.”

“I didn’t say I was ready to run out on you just yet, Admiral,” Weston’s voice came back over the suit’s systems. “I’m just giving you the odds.”

“I’m afraid that I don’t understand,” Tanner said, trying very hard not to sound confused.

“Admiral, the way I see it…Judging from reports from our ground forces, it’s not totally impossible to fight off these things on the ground,” Weston said. “I understand that your weapons aren’t as effective as you might like; however, if you were to adjust your tactics, you should have the people to take out any invasion force that might land—assuming you do it fast enough.”