The swarm had doubted from the beginning that they were up against just one planet, but now there was confirmation. There had to be an infestation in this region, something that spanned possibly the entire arm.

It was a tragedy that so many systems would have to be cleansed, but that was the way things were.

The immediate issue was that there was no prior information that might tell them just how dangerous the new ships were. Unknown configuration, unknown weapons, but there were two things about them that the swarm knew.

First, they arrived using the same signature as the anomaly ship. That made them dangerous, more dangerous than anything in this swarm’s memory. Second, unlike the anomaly ship, six of these vessels had power curves that marked them as vessels of war. Those two items of knowledge made the situation very, very dangerous.

That meant that they had to eliminate the planet now. There was no more time for finesse. Whether it crippled the swarm or not, this world must be cleansed.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“PASSING THE ORBIT of Saturn, ma’am. No sign of activity from the Drasin fleet.”

Admiral Gracen nodded, trying to look calm even as she felt the nervous tension crank up. She knew that the Drasin had to know they were in the system, so she had expected some kind of activity before this point. The Drasin were alien by nature, however, so she supposed she might be judging them on human expectations, which would be a potentially lethal trap.

“Keep them under the eye,” she ordered. “Let me know if anything changes.”

“Aye ma’am.”

With the Odysseus taking the vanguard position, the squadron had begun a spiraling drop into the solar system about five hours earlier, and it would be another two days to Earth’s orbital path once deceleration time was accounted for. That left a long time for them to act, she supposed, but the lack of motion still bothered her.

What if they’re up to something?

That was just stupid, though, since she knew damn well that they were up to something. It was just exactly what that was that escaped her.

“Admiral, we’re getting the first high-resolution images of Mars.”

Finally, something to distract me.

“Put them on the display.”

She wished, a moment too late, that she’d not given that order.

The surface of Mars, such as it was, was broken up and drifting away from the central mass. Though that was something she wouldn’t have thought possible upon consideration, seeing was believing. In the closer shots she could see that the pieces floating away from the whole were unmoving Drasin drones, having completed their task.