On the aft-facing imagers the lasers shot out into space, refracting intermittently off the exhaust gas left by the passing Hornets. The batteries pulsed in a seeming random pattern as individual projectors fired and then shut down to cool before firing again. Celesta could see that the Icarus was venting atmosphere from the aft section, but her focus was on the boxy Darshik cruiser bearing down on her. The last two Hornets from the aft tubes were destroyed by the cruiser’s point defense, but the heavy beams of the aft batteries were another story.

The image washed out momentarily as enormous amounts of thermal energy were released from the lasers hammering the enemy’s hull at such a close range. The tactical computers detected the damage and redirected all the other projectors to that area. The prow of the cruiser mushroomed out and the metal sagged and sloughed away, blown clear by the explosive decompression every time the Icarus’s guns breeched another compartment.

“Cease fire!” Celesta called. “Helm, come to port another ten degrees and keep the throttles to the stops. Tactical, two Hornets right into the damaged prow, if you please. Wait until we’ve opened the range up to ten thousand kilometers.”

“Aye aye, ma’am,” Adler said.

“OPS, get someone on the intercom and tell them I better get a status on my ship within the next few minutes,” Celesta said as she watched the tactical display. The Darshik ship was still under power, but appeared to be flagging and was no longer turning to pursue.

“We’re clear, ma’am,” Adler announced. “Firing Hornets.” Celesta watched, fascinated, as the weapons streaked out of her ship and, at such close range, seemed to impact the Darshik cruiser almost instantaneously. The gashed prow swallowed both missiles and then the hull rippled and undulated before rents appeared in the side and high-pressure gas pushed the ship into a tumble. A split second later the imagers washed out as the cruiser exploded with enough force that even with the safety buffer she’d put between them the Icarus was pelted with debris and the hull reverberated with more than a few hard bangs.

“Target destroyed!” Adler called. “Scanning for more.”

“OPS, what’s the status of the Hyperion and the Atlas? Check their Link broadcast,” she said. “Nav, plot us up and away from the Darshik defensive perimeter and preferably away from the incoming missiles of our first volley. Put us back close to where we started. Helm, engines to zero thrust until you get your new course and then come about at half power.”

“Engines to zero thrust, aye.”

“Both our other ships also had Darshik shadows, ma’am,” Accari said tensely. “The Hyperion is exchanging fire and maneuvering, the Atlas destroyed their target but took significant damage to their starboard main engine. The data is about forty-five minutes old.”