They had two more men out there, she knew, and the rumble in the decks told Corrin that they weren’t going to make it.

Aw shit, she groaned to herself, reaching for another security line.

“We have men still doing EVA, Captain,” Lamont said.

“What?” the Captain said. “Hold acceleration!”

Daniels paused, his hand just millimeters from executing the order. “Holding, Captain.”

“Get those people inside, Ensign,” Weston ordered.

“Already being done, Captain,” Lamont said.

“Corrin to the bridge,” she croaked out, lying back against the floor with one of the men beside her.

Across the gash, she could see Kreuse with the other.

“We’re secured for acceleration.”

“All clear, Captain,” Lamont said, sounding a little shaky.

“Thank you, Ensign,” Weston said, taking a breath. “Mr. Daniels…All ahead flank.”

“Aye, aye, Captain. All ahead flank.”

The rumble in the decks grew, and the deck pitched slightly, despite the full application of the CM generators. The big ship began to accelerate through space again.

Weston eyed the numbers for a moment, then opened another channel.

“Archangels, we are moving to rendezvous with another contact. Do not engage the enemy, break from your current vectors, and form up on the Odyssey.”

Only then did he turn back to the board and look at the contact clock.

Twelve light-seconds and still closing, although the closure rate was dropping off slightly.

Weston didn’t have to do the math in his head to know that it wasn’t going to turn out in his favor this time.

“Maybe I should have stood and fought,” he thought, an ironic song suddenly filtering in through his head.

“And the race is on and here comes…”

“The Odyssey has altered her course, Captain.”

“Thank you, Ithan. What is their arrival time?” Tianne asked.

“Four rotations.”

“And the Drasin intercept?”

“Two rotations.”

Tianne scowled, shaking her head. “I suppose that we may as well become somewhat…proactive in this situation, before Admiral Tanner comes up with another brilliant plan.”

The men and women around her shifted nervously, but there was no reply.

“Calculate a targeting path for our lasers.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Tianne watched the plot, eyeing the shrinking line between the two ships. “And do give the Odyssey some space to breathe. It would be ludicrous to do all this and then kill them ourselves.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“The Odyssey has completed its maneuver and is accelerating away from the Drasin and toward the Cerekus, Admiral.”

“Thank you, Ithan,” Admiral Tanner replied, watching the board. “Has Captain Tianne made her combat plans?”

“She has begun calculating for weapons fire.”

“Let us hope that this new class is everything Central claims,” Tanner said, pacing the room before he caught himself and forced his body down into a chair.