He supposed it didn’t matter either way, of course. They were in Oather space, in an Oather ship, and they’d seen the Piar Cohn. They would have to go.

“Recalculate solutions,” Aymes ordered, checking the range to target.

They were now close enough, he decided.

“Calculations complete.”

“Fire.”

►►►

AEV Odysseus

► The alarms screamed to life just as Eric was about to order the fifth course change, startling him slightly but only for a split second. Even as others were calling out reports, Eric was rising to his feet.

“Evasive action!” he cried. “Tactical, what happened?”

“Laser strike, forward armor, Captain. Armor deflected eighty percent clear, but the rest burned through three ablative layers and royally screwed our adaptive armor at that point.”

“Did we get a frequency?” Eric asked.

“Aye Captain.”

“Adjust for full deflection,” he said, “but keep an eye on those pocket destroyers. I’d wager that they’re running different frequencies on their laser gear.”

Or they are if they’re smart.

“Aye Captain, armor adapted,” Ensign Sams answered. “Damage-control teams are responding. They’re bringing ablative foam to the damage location.”

Eric glanced over, concerned. “Did they get through the hull?”

“No sir. The crews can inject the foam through the hull in an emergency.”

Eric filed that away, kicking himself for not being fully familiar with the capabilities of the Heroic Class ships. Unfortunately, while most of the Heroic captains had been reading tech manuals, he had been leading the counterstrike against Drasin forces on Earth during the invasion.

He supposed that was a valid reason, but it was certainly no excuse.

“Weapons free,” he ordered, almost snarling. “All safeties are to be considered off. Redesignate Bogey One to Bandit One.”

What the hell is it with these people and first strikes? Not that I expect a nice formal declaration of war, but it would be nice if they’d say hi before trying to kill us for once.

“Aye Captain,” Sams responded. “Weapons free. Target Bandit One redesignation completed.”

Eric turned to Commander Heath. “Coordinate with the damage-control teams. Make sure you know where they are at all times. When things get hot, we could easily lose more people to them tripping over each other than to enemy fire.”

“Yes sir. I’m on it.”

He nodded, turning his focus back to the situation at hand. “Distance to target?”

“Eight light-seconds and closing, Captain,” Sams answered instantly. “Enemy ship has initiated turnover.”

“Do we do the same, Captain?” Kinder asked, half turning in his seat.

“Negative.” Eric’s face was cold. “This bastard isn’t my first priority. We blow through.”

“Aye Captain.”

“Do we fire, sir?” Sams asked, sounding nervous.

Eric nodded slowly, eyes on the telemetry plot.

“Yes, Ensign, we do indeed.”

►►►

IBC Piar Cohn

► “Hit, Captain!”

Aymes grimaced. “Damage assessment?”

A moment passed as the numbers were crunched and the data reflected back from the laser strike were analyzed.