“Admiral, this isn’t a war,” Eric said gravely. “This is an infection. They don’t care about their individual ships. They care about the endgame, and nothing else. Tactically it only makes sense if you remember that these things aren’t enemy soldiers. They’re bullets. Bullets fired from a gun a billion years ago, maybe, but bullets just the same.”

Gracen slumped, mind awash as she tried to see it the same way he did. She couldn’t, she finally decided. Her brain just wouldn’t wrap around it like that. That didn’t, however, mean that her captain wasn’t right.

“What are you suggesting, then?” she asked, leaning forward.

“Let’s try something sneaky.”

The entity listened in to the conversation between her captain and the admiral, and admired the thinking that had brought him to his point. She had not considered some of the things he did, which was normal in a way. Despite having all the thoughts of everyone within her sphere, she didn’t think like them herself. She too had been caught in the prevailing concept of fighting the war like, well, a war.

“An army has different priorities than a disease, and must be combated differently.”

She dropped back into herself, dropping her focus on the Odysseus and soaking in the entirety of the planet once more. It was different, and she didn’t like doing it right now. Before the Drasin it had been like stepping into a hot bath, warmth and comfort, even with all the violence and war. Now, however, it felt like someone had opened a sewage line into the tub, and so she avoided it as much as she could.

“That has possibly been a mistake in judgment.”

The currents of people were in disarray. Everything was out of place, but she could also feel the flowing sewage that was the Drasin as they gained strength. In places a flash of disruption would instantly clean the filth out, but leave scarred tissue behind. She normally rather disliked nuclear weapons, but for now they were a . . . medical necessity.

Disgusted by the feeling, but now determined, Gaia stepped into the flows and began to study them. It only took instants to recognize some of the patterns and realize just how right her captain had been.

She emerged, wishing for the metaphysical equivalent of a shower, but that would have to come later. For now she had the glimmer of an idea, and she needed help to see it through.

“My captain is not available, so who?”

Gaia cast about, considering, then smiled.

Of course, the answer was simple. If one could not reach the supervisor, one looked to his subordinates. Gaia slid back out into the world, her first target locked in her mind.

Lyssa scowled as she looked over her board, trying to determine something . . . anything from the mess she was looking at.