Fletcher stared at the old man. A red flush had crept up his neck. “Damn you,” he whispered.

Cook waited in silence.

Fletcher looked down at the ground far below. Thoughts swirled in his head both pro and con. Finally, he said, “Yes, I’ll do it.” But Heaven help me if I fail.

-2-

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

JUNCTION SYSTEM, “C” QUADRANT

Fletcher had been dreading this moment for a long time. He had seen the cracks growing but hadn’t expected the earl to move this soon.

“You do realize this is exactly what the New Men want us to do, don’t you?”

“Nonsense,” Third Admiral Bishop replied.

The pale-skinned earl was the image of a quintessential British military man of old: tall, with a long face, a monocle over his left eye and a chest full of medals.

“The scoundrels are counting on our fear,” Bishop added. “They need time, clearly. I expect that’s what motivated their ruthlessness. The New Men did not anticipate our united and swift effort, especially after sending the horrible Destroyer at the Wahhabi homeworld.”

Fletcher leaned back in his chair. They were in Flagship Antietam’s conference chamber. The “they” were the leaders of the coalition forces that made up the Grand Fleet.

Being in charge these past seven months had reinvigorated Fletcher. The Grand Fleet had already passed through the Caria 323 System. It was the same there as elsewhere: radioactive wastelands and smoking craters where cities once flourished. So far, they hadn’t found any planetary survivors anywhere in “C” Quadrant. Instead of facing the Grand Fleet, the New Men had retreated without a trace of a sighting. As the enemy pulled back, they burned the inhabitable worlds, slaughtering the people in the process.

“The New Men are playing for time,” Bishop was saying. “We simply cannot allow them the luxury any longer.”

“I agree,” Sub-commander Ko said, as if on cue, which it probably was.

“So we’ll split our forces,” Fletcher said, “making everything easier for them?”

“You fear a sudden ambush,” Bishop said. “I’m afraid we’re giving the New Men too much time to find another preposterous weapon. We must defeat their armada before they achieve whatever their next goal is. That means we must thrust at the enemy, not tiptoe like thieves in a dark house.”

“Exactly,” Sub-commander Ko said, slapping the table.

Fletcher felt heat rise in his neck, but he worked on maintaining a stoic face as he waited for Bishop to continue.

The earl plucked the monocle from his eye, polishing it on a sleeve and replacing it to squint at Fletcher.