Milla had a sinking sensation that she knew what Steph was attempting. “The missiles will not target the enemy frigate, not even by mistake!”

“Of course they won’t,” Steph said as he tripped the shuttle’s full countermeasure suite and set a program running on the cam-plate controls at the same moment. “Any second-rate IFF system would ensure that.”

“Then what are you—” Milla said, but was cut off as she was physically slammed back into the seat and the shuttle jerked as the entire universe descended into chaos around her.

►►►

► The angel silhouette of countermeasure flares exploded away from Eagle One as the vessel accelerated and then banked over, pulling hard along another path. Collision alarms exploded on both the Terran shuttle and the Imperial frigate as Eagle One skirted within mere meters of the parasite.

The pursuing missiles, in the process of calculating safe evasion courses to maintain pursuit of their target while not impacting their ally, were scrambled briefly by the blast of countermeasures released by the shuttle. They briefly lost the target, then just as they reacquired it through the confusion, the shuttle vanished entirely from their active scanners.

The lead missiles, the most affected, mistook the countermeasures and loss of positive acquisition for proximity and detonated. The explosion tore through the veil of countermeasures, intangible as they were, and gutted the ventral flank of the Imperial frigate even as the other missiles either evaded or harmlessly hit the frigate’s armor without detonating.

Parasite Eight began smoking in the high atmosphere and started losing altitude.

►►►

PC Parasite Five

► Penae was stricken silent as he stared, unbelieving, at the data.

“That should not have worked.”

The silence, punctuated once, stretched on again for a time.

“Uh . . .” His second gulped. “Orders, Subaltern?”

Penae shook his head, trying desperately to clear it of the image of the impossible happening. “Status on Eight?”

“They can no longer maintain orbital velocities and are descending,” the scanner tech responded.

“Find the enemy craft,” Penae said. “Have Three quantum lock Eight and pull the parasite out to a stable orbit.”

“As you command, Subaltern. And us?”

“Track the enemy craft, pursuit course,” he growled. “We will bring them down.”

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11

AEV Odysseus

► “Captain, we have light-speed data I think you should see.”

Eric turned from his station and walked over to the scanner displays. “Show me.”

“Aye sir.” Perez pointed to a display. “We’ve intercepted light that shows where the frigates came from.”

Eric watched the display, eyes widening as he saw the smaller pocket destroyers, or maybe frigates, break off from the main ship.

“Well,” he murmured, “they’re not Archangels, but that’s a twist I didn’t see coming.”

“There’s more, sir,” Perez stated, highlighting a point on the display. “This is Commander Michaels and the lieutenant.”

Eric glanced at the plot, but didn’t see anything. “How can you tell?”