"As you were," Russo said loudly. "Focus on your tasks." His admonishment worked, and they fell silent, focused again on their terminal screens.

"Reserve ships are away, Captain," the XO said. "It will take them nineteen hours and some minutes to reach their positions."

"Understood," Russo said. Looking at how Wolfe ran their ships around, he didn't think they had nineteen hours.

* * *

"How're you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Pike said, taking the steaming mug from Celesta Wright. He'd been in the com center on the Prowler almost non-stop since the antimatter bombs wiped out four Federation planets. The attack had happened just after Pike had been warned by Vincent Russo, but the time it took for them to verify the information meant they'd been too late to act on it. The fact they'd never have had enough time to find and neutralize the devices, most of which had been smuggled onto the planets over a year in advance, didn't assuage his guilt.

Celesta knew him well enough to know that saying it wasn't his fault would be the exact wrong thing to tell him. Instead, she let him work himself half to death and supported him by having food sent down at regular intervals. Pike was a complicated man, and she knew he'd have to work through all this himself. He'd open up to her when he was ready, or he wouldn't. Either way, she'd let him have his space.

"Anything new?"

"Not since Russo sent me the decryption key for whatever file he's trying to transmit to Wolfe. I did get an update from the Nemesis and, apparently, their senior officer on-site has turned over control of their defense fleet to the admiral in hopes he can save them." Pike leaned back, rubbing his eyes.

"What I wouldn't give to be there right now," Celesta said. Pike caught the wistful tone and looked over at her.

"I've been so busy wallowing in self-pity I really haven't thought about what this must be like for you. Sitting on the sidelines isn't something you're used to."

"Not at all." She smiled. "But it's what's required of me. Director Perez is ordering the Bluebird network ships to safe harbor. Apparently, Marcum has found someone willing to shelter us. Right now, the fallout from this attack is just winding up. I don't think the Federation survives this."

"Probably not," Pike admitted. "And maybe it shouldn't. The Federation was just a rebranded Confederacy, which was just a mash-up of different enclaves that retained the same grievances and grudges as the places the people came from on Earth. Obviously, a brutal war isn't ideal, but starting from scratch wouldn't be a terrible thing as long as we win the fight against the ESA. I'm not sure I'm fit to be a member of a totalitarian society."

"We'll need to make sure we win then," Celesta said, standing back up. "You'll need to get some rest soon. You're not as young as you once were."