“No need to worry about that,” Aymes said. “There is only one place that they could be going that would matter to us right now. They are coming for us.”

Indeed, he was well aware that any other course didn’t make any difference. If they were running, he’d let them run. His mission wasn’t to antagonize the Oathers any more than they already had been. He and the Cohn were here to track the Drasin. That threat had to be secured.

The Oathers could come later.

It was more likely, however, that the target vessel and its presumed Oather crew were coming straight for the Piar Cohn. There was little reason to light off their reactors and twist space as urgently as they clearly were, except to come head on to try to save their little friend playing games in the gas giant.

That suited Aymes just fine.

His mission might not be to aggravate the Oathers, but he wouldn’t shed any tears over them if they happened to find their end here in this forsaken system.

“It’s better this way,” he murmured.

“Captain?”

“I was just saying, Commander,” he told his alternate, “that this may be the best of all possible outcomes.”

“Our orders were not to engage the Oathers.”

“True. However, I believe that they are about to engage us . . .” Aymes lifted his right hand, palm up. “And less witnesses to our mission is a good thing.”

“As you say, my Captain.”

“Dispatch orders to our parasite destroyers,” Aymes said. “Spread them out. Give me an Alep Six formation. All weapons are to be considered available.”

“Captain . . .” The alternate turned to look at him.

“All weapons, Altern Commander.”

“Yes Captain.”

The order was probably overkill, Aymes knew, but this arm of the galaxy was dark territory to the Empire right now. He wasn’t going to underestimate anything here, not if he could help it.

Not even Oathers.

►►►

AEV Odysseus

► “Captain, we have a real-time lock,” Lieutenant Waters offered. “We can hit them with t-cannons.”

Eric considered the idea for a moment, then shook his head, “No, Lieutenant. For one, we don’t have eyes on Commander Michaels and Lieutenant Chans . . . and I’d rather not expose our trump card until we can be sure we’ve locked them all down.”

“Yes sir.”

“Besides, we don’t know they’re hostile yet,” Eric said. “Our ROE allow for first strike against the Drasin, no quarter, but not against unconfirmed targets.”

“Yes sir. Sorry sir.”

“Don’t apologize, Lieutenant. It was a good suggestion, just not one we can implement right now,” Eric said. “For now, we play it straight.”

“Aye sir.”

Commander Heath walked over to Eric’s side, speaking quietly. “Does playing it straight mean we fly right at each other and try to blast one another out of space like men? Because if it does, as the ship’s ranking woman, I would like to enter an objection for the record.”