"Smart," Jackson said. "Without that drive signature, all we have is a dark outline and a vague radar return. Okay, let's mark that as probably Kohl on the threat board. We can't afford to chase after it right now, but I want it tracked and observed the entire time. Let's not have it sneak up on us. Are we getting good idents on all the individual ships flying around?"

"Yes, sir," Falcone said from Tactical. "CIC has started making sure all the Xinjian ships are listed as neutral in the tac computer's database. They'll upgrade them to hostile if things change."

"What we don't have is—"

"Admiral, we have an incoming message routed through the Saber," the coms officer said. "It's a transmission from a ship identified as the Dragon's Claw that claims to be in charge of the Xinjian defense effort."

"Let's hear it," Jackson said, raising an eyebrow at Barret.

"Admiral Wolfe. This is Senior Captain Chang of the Xinjia Homeguard Fleet," the message began. "As you can see, we are growing desperate. While you are not my friend, right now, you do not appear to be my enemy. Admiral Kohl's forces are too advanced, and we lack experienced leadership in such battles. Admiral…sir…we need your assistance. We need you to lead our forces and help us repel the rogue fleet that has attacked our system. Please, respond on this frequency."

"I…did not expect that," Barrett said into the silence.

"Neither did I," Jackson admitted. "I gave even odds we were either being threatened and ordered to leave, or they wanted us to get involved with our ships."

"What will you do, sir?"

"OPS, do we have the capability to manage the battlespace from the Nemesis without moving her down into the system?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, sir," Hori said. "You'd have to be in CIC, but with the high-bandwidth Link, you can route sensor feeds from the rest of the taskforce and use the Saber's com suite remotely. You could do it with direct access, bypassing the need for their com operators to relay orders."

"Tell Commander Hawkins I'm on my way down and to set up the link," Jackson said. "Coms, put me on so I rebroadcast through the Saber on the designated frequency."

"Go ahead, sir."

"Captain Chang, this is Admiral Wolfe. We find ourselves having a mutual goal. While you are not my friend, in this case it would be wise to set aside hostilities between our nations and work together. Please, transmit a list of ships and class types, and we will get to work. Once I have Kohl in custody or his ship is destroyed, we will withdraw with no conditions."

"Your offer is accepted, Admiral," Chan's voice came back almost thirty minutes later, meaning he wasn't too far away from the Saber. "Sending requested data now and standing by for orders."

"Fucking crazy," Falcone muttered under his breath. Jackson decided to pretend he hadn't heard him as he walked for the bridge hatchway.