“After the war ended, the Block flooded the market with most of what it produces,” she shrugged. “They still have much lower wages than we do, so for things like this the mine’s owners couldn’t compete. Better to cap the mine and save the materials for when they’re more profitable to get out. Unfortunately, it looks like the Drasin beat us to it.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this, not in any city . . .”

“The cities are decoys,” Lyssa cut him off. “They replicate there, yes, but they don’t even bother going to ground. They just swarm around, catching our attention. I’ve located a dozen other mines just like this one through our recon packages worldwide. Colonel, we need to retask.”

“It’ll have to go right to the President,” Marion shook his head. “This is . . .”

“This is vital,” she stressed. “If you have to go to the CinC, then do so. Now. Before it’s too late.”

He nodded slowly, reaching for her system and keying open a channel. “This is Colonel Marion. I need to speak directly with the Chiefs.”

“Yes sir,” the woman on the other side said, sounding disinterested.

The screen flickered, and in a moment the logo of the Joint Chiefs appeared and another woman’s voice spoke. “Joint Command and Control, how may I direct you?”

“The Chiefs,” Marion said simply.

“I’m sorry, I require authorization . . .”

“Marion, Colonel, Confederate Air Force. ID Number Zero Niner Five Niner Alpha Zeta Bravo One Two. Omega Protocol.”

There was a pause, then the screen instantly changed to show a man in a suit staring off at something else. It took a second before he glanced down and was apparently surprised to see someone looking back at him.

“Holy hell, son, you scared a year off my life.” The man snorted. “What is it?”

“I’m about to scare more than a year off, sir,” Marion told him, nodding to Lyssa. “Send the file.”

She nodded, hitting a few commands.

The man on the other side frowned, eyes flicking to the left. He stared for a moment, then paled. “Is this what I think it is?”

“It’s worse. We need to retask all Shiva groups.”

Far from Earth, the front line of the Drasin force pursuing the fleeing Odysseus exploded into clouds of expanding plasma. The ship minds noted the destruction, were again frustrated in their attempts to locate a source, but otherwise did not flinch from their mission.

The furor of destruction lasted only seconds, peaking as over a dozen ships vanished into plasma at once, then dwindled off before finally ending with just over three hundred ships destroyed. The ship minds noted that again, and the lack of follow-up as time continued to trudge on, and decided that the enemy was either in the process of reloading their unknown weapon or had spent their final shots.