The admiral’s staff, along with Celesta and Accari, made their way down the wide, sweeping corridors of the facility past many curious onlookers before passing through the security checkpoint that led to the station’s command and control section. When Jericho Station had been lost, Marcum had moved his offices to the New Sierra Shipyards, an enormous orbital production facility, and had promptly set about refitting the sleepy, civilian-controlled platform into a bustling hub from which he controlled Fleet operations. Many of the production slips had been converted to maintenance berths and most of the ships docked on the outrigger arms were simply parked there, not even being serviced. Celesta had been concerned about the fact that their largest ship-building facility had been absorbed by CENTCOM at a time when they needed ships built more than they needed paper pushed, but she’d been told with a wink and a nod that it was all under control.

“Have a seat, all of you,” Marcum said as the door closed and locked. He motioned Celesta to the seat across from his desk. “So we’re all agreed that it was really the Ares the Darshik dragged all the way back to Xi’an?”

“Yes, Admiral,” Celesta spoke up. “Several former crewmen, including Ensign Accari, positively identified her from the damage she took that prevented her from coming back home.”

“If Wolfe had properly scuttled the ship like he was supposed to we wouldn’t have this problem,” Marcum growled, rubbing at his receding hairline with the palms of his hand.

“I disagree, Admiral,” Admiral Pitt said, walking into the office from a room off to the side that Celesta hadn’t noticed before. “The location of Wolfe’s derelict was highly classified and it was a system of no interest save for the Phage core mind that had been hiding there. We must assume that the Darshik found the Ares due to some connection to the Phage. That’s likely going to be an important fact later.”

“Thanks for stealing my thunder, Pitt,” Marcum snapped. “Okay … yes, we know the Darshik have a connection with the Phage, but not the one you’re probably thinking. Do those in this office with the proper security clearance remember the message Wolfe got at the end of the Battle of Nuovo Patria?”

“Something about a test being concluded,” Celesta said, trying to remember the exact phrasing.

“Our Vruahn friends had told us this was unprecedented, but that wasn’t necessarily true,” Marcum continued. “While I doubt Colonel Blake, or the copy of him, lied to us, we know that his area of operation was very limited … we’ve also learned that the Phage were everywhere, and when I say that I mean everywhere. We were so damn lucky that it’s almost comical. Many species far more advanced than us fell before them.”

“What do you mean ‘We’ve also learned’ … learned from where?” Pitt asked.