“Alphas, stand by to fire,” he ordered. “Remember, we’re not going to saturation fire here. Make every shot.”

His team acknowledged the orders as he finished assigning targets, picking ships from around the edges of the swarm where they weren’t likely to double up with the ships the Odysseus or even the Enterprise’s own torpedoes would strike.

They didn’t have enough weapons to saturate the enemy, so it was going to be a snipers’ game.

“Alpha Lead . . . Fox Three.”

Carrow watched the tracks of Alpha Flight even as Bravo poured from the flight decks like water from a hose. He noted their choice of targets, as well as the restraint on Briggs’ part, and approved.

They wouldn’t be able to guarantee that there would be anyone around to reload the Vorpals in just a few minutes, so making every shot count was just good sense.

“Give me an attack run,” he said. “Shannon, you pick the target.”

“Yes sir,” the helmsman said. “Got it. Tactical, do you have the data?”

“Roger that.”

“Alright, we’re going in.”

Carrow nodded, sitting back. “Lead with the primary laser as soon as we’re in range, but I want our own HVM banks firing as soon as possible. Fire them dry. We don’t get bonus points for bringing ammo home.”

On the Odysseus, Eric was studying the instrument data so deeply that he looked completely disconnected from the events around him.

“Captain . . .”

He glanced to one side, nodding to the admiral. “Yes ma’am?”

“What are you looking for?”

He looked back, eyes on the enemy disposition, and his finger came up as he pointed.

“That.”

Eric turned. “Steph, bring us hard to port! All flank to our new heading . . . One One Eight, Mark Three Negative to the system plane!”

“Coming about,” Steph confirmed.

“Captain, that brings is into the center of the enemy ships!” Winger warned him.

“I know.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY

THE FIGHT WAS not turning out as calculated, though things were still progressing within the normal tolerances one might expect with a species of the red band. The ship minds had been momentarily surprised by the entry of the second ship into the fight, but in the end it wouldn’t make a significant difference.

All it did was increase their room for error slightly, giving them a second ship to capture in case one was destroyed in the battle.

Still, they had to detach a section of their ships to deal with the newcomer, which was a distinctive annoyance at the moment. It would cause a slight derailment of the combat plans, but that was the way fighting happened sometimes.