“I’ll have to have a word with them,” Connor shrugged. “I told them to let you know. No matter. Have you secured the Gamma site?”

“Yes sir. Only Epsilon remains unsecured,” Eric said. “We’ll move on it in the morning.”

“Never mind that. I’m redirecting heavy lifter transports to your location, along with full crews. A National Guard division will be on your doorstep in an hour. I need you to get your men to pack up everything in the warehouses at Gamma and get them ready to be loaded on the transport,” Connor ordered. “Then pack yourselves into the transport. Your team is flying security on this one.”

“What are we transporting?”

“Shells for a tachyon waveguide cannon.”

Eric expected that he could have been blown over by a stiff breeze upon hearing that.

“Sir? What ship are we loading them onto?”

So far as he knew the only ship on the planet, or in the Solar System for that matter, with waveguides was currently sitting in scattered pieces across Long Island Sound and Manhattan Island.

“No ship, Captain. Don’t worry about that. You’re just to concern yourself with protecting the shipment. Orders will follow,” the President said. “We do have some good news for you, personally, however. As of oh three hundred twelve hours, Admiral Amanda Gracen reported back in system with seven starships crewed by, among others, former members of the NACS Odyssey crew. Congratulations, Captain, your people have come home.”

Eric reached out, a hand grabbing the table to steady himself.

“A . . . are you sure?” He shook his head. “Of course you are. How did she get the ships, sir?”

That dulled the President’s humor just a bit. “Don’t worry about that, Captain. She did what she had to do, you do what you have to, and we’ll all pull through this one way or another. Admiral Gracen is currently commanding her squadron from the Odysseus.”

“Odysseus . . .” Eric whispered, tasting the word. A smile played at his lips as he nodded slowly. “Fitting.”

“Yes, I thought so. They’re currently running silent, but her intention is to scout the system and begin thinning the ships in orbit of Earth. Your job, our job, is to provide her with whatever aid we can. So get those shells on that transport, Captain.”

“Yes sir,” Eric snapped. “We’ll be in the air by dawn.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Go to it, son.”

The moment for indecision had passed.

The ship minds consulted, considering the new data available to them. More arrivals in system, new configurations, but clearly built by the same people who built the anomaly that had plagued them on this crusade already. One of the ships matched, or came close, but the others . . . the others were larger, and the power curves were . . . dangerous.