Jennifer Samuels let out a long breath, laying her head back against the seat as the captain’s voice filled the deck around her and the other Archangels.

“You’ve proven that, and proven yourselves beyond all doubt, and I am honored to serve with each and every one of you,” he said.

Her nerves dimmed a little as she felt herself nodding in agreement.

“So, in this last battle before we go home, with one of the greatest discoveries ever made by man, I want you all to continue doing just what you have done and know that you have all secured your places in history.”

Dr. Palin glanced up disinterestedly at the speakers and reached over to shut them off. He stayed his hand when he saw the awed look on the technician’s face and sighed, rolling his eyes and letting the captain drone on.

“Just one more fight,” Weston said over the speaker. “One more fight against an enemy as ruthless as any we’ve seen. Then we’ll be heading home.”

Capt. Eric Weston took a breath, glancing around the bridge to where everyone had turned to look at him.

Then he continued to speak.

“So, if this is our last battle for a while,” he let his voice grow a little harder, “let us make it their last battle—ever. I want to go home with a victory painted on our bow, ladies and gentlemen. It’s not every day that we get to save a world. Let’s make sure that the name Odyssey is one hell of a challenge to live up to.”

He reached for the controls to the ship-wide communications again.

“That is all. Weston out.”

CHAPTER 33

COMMANDER ROBERTS STEPPED onto the bridge twenty-five minutes later and noted that the rest of the senior staff had already manned their stations.

“Ensign, what’s the current status of our friends out there?” Captain Weston asked as he nodded in greeting.

Roberts returned the greeting and stood at his station as Waters looked up from his board.

“Our soft lock has been upgraded to a seventy percent solution, Captain. Our current estimates have them right…here.”

Roberts looked at the section highlighted in red on the board while the Odyssey’s current position glowed a steady blue. The two points in space were closing rapidly as the icons and spatial reference points were constantly updated to include the latest ranging estimates.

“How long to our outer engagement range?”

“We’re looking at five minutes to extreme pulse torpedo range, Captain,” Waters replied, “but without a real time lock, we’d probably just give away our position for nothing.”

“Understood. Give me a range chart with incremental adjustments to our probable targeting solutions.”