Mandelbaum and Moore stood at parade rest at the center of the room as the officers filed out. There was no buzz of conversation. Each person was alone with their thoughts, reconciling themselves to their fate, whatever it might be.

* * *

Commodore Mandelbaum and Admiral Moore stood on the on-axis bridge of the Resolute, Velcro slippers helping maintain the illusion of a martial stance. All preliminaries being accomplished, Captain Norman Harding awaited their orders.

Mandelbaum turned to him and nodded, a minimal movement with a large meaning.

Turning to his crew, Harding ordered, “Signal all ships. Let’s move.”

On the status board, icons began to shift. The floor became down. As the minutes stretched, the graphic representing Lagrange Four fell farther to the bottom of the monitor. Finally, with a flicker, the gaps decreased as the scale changed. They were underway.

* * *

The Signals officer turned to face Captain Harding. “Message from base, sir. Tagged CEO.”

“Transfer to my Ready Room.” Captain Harding glanced at the commodore and the admiral, and they followed him. A Command Eyes Only communication at this early stage would not be routine.

The three made themselves comfortable, and Captain Harding pulled up the message, repeated onto each officer’s tablet.

TO: Harding, Capt. (Resolute)

FROM: SSC/UENN

COMMAND EYES ONLY

RE: Bogeys

LRS confirms 6 bogeys trailing your position. Silhouette and drive flame spectrum indicate SSE Class-3 Destroyers.

Captain Harding, these were launched without the usual chest-thumping and paranoid threats. Strategic Space Command analysts suggest the SSE wants as little visibility on this as possible. That can’t be good.

Maj. Christina Furlong

Cmdr, Monitoring & Analysis

The three officers looked up at the same time. There was a moment of silence before Captain Harding ventured, “The Sino-Soviets are so mad they’re speechless?”

Mandelbaum stared into the air for a moment longer before responding. “Might as well look at it that way, Captain. I bet their orders include the very real possibility of weapons exchange. And without phoning home first.”

“Destroyers.” Harding grimaced.

Moore nodded. “Yep. What the SSE lacks in technology they more than make up for by just building bigger and badder. Six destroyers aren’t quite enough to take on our task force, but they can certainly make a mess.”

Captain Harding glanced at his tablet before placing it carefully on the table. “Well, it doesn’t really change our immediate strategy, does it? We’ll just have to figure it out when we get there.”

The intercom gave a short beep, followed by the Signals Officer’s voice. “Another CEO, sir. Forwarding.”

“Busy day,” Mandelbaum commented.

Captain Harding reached for the control to share the missive, but stopped with his hand in the air. “Wow.”

“Really, Captain? Care to share?”

“It’s for you, Commodore. Seems you’re getting a field promotion, of sorts.” He handed his tablet to her.