Garrick stared at the ceiling above him. He didn't know how long it had been, but since Silas had transmitted over the record of Fenig's interrogation, sleep eluded him. Garrick glanced over at the clock on his bed-side table and rubbed his eyes to get a better view--it read 0347 hours. That meant he had been lying there for over five hours.

Was Allison the traitor?

The evidence they had was still inconclusive. The charges against Allison, whilst damaging, weren't enough to arrest him so Silas had ordered Garrick not to reveal them. So far it was just one man's word, and that only showed Allison was sympathetic to the cause of some political prisoner. But for Garrick, it was still a game changer.

He had idolised the Admiral after he had settled into the military and realised what a sacrifice Allison had made for him. The man had saved his life. For an Alliance officer to stick his neck out the way Allison did for Garrick was something that nearly wrecked his career--risking the Alliance's reputation for the sake of an orphaned teenager. The courts on Aklovat were not forgiving, and nor were they lenient. It had taken a colossal effort on Allison's part to get Garrick released.

He wanted to believe that the charge now laid against Allison of trying to help those most in need could have also applied to his efforts to save Garrick. He wanted to, but now that he stopped and considered it, there were too many coincidences.

It was after Fenig had come to Caxis that the attacks started; first on Silas' convoy, on the Sorrel Repository, and now the threat of one at the Forge. Fenig's package had somehow kicked off a galaxy spanning operation for insurgents to get their hands on the means to build a gravity bomb. Only, Fenig had been picked up by the Mandrake. All signs pointed to the package being for someone here. Getting to the Forge would be the next phase of the plan, but he and Silas had them worked out. They would trap the insurgents there.

So far though there had been no communication going out of the Mandrake mentioning system 213B. No one had tried to tip the insurgents off yet, which surprised him. Garrick thought if there was a leak, they would have wanted to act now to limit the damage of Fenig's interrogation.

None of this made sense.

Garrick sighed, admitted defeat and rolled out of the bed. He took a capsule from his quarters' compact kitchen and stuck it in the coffee machine. Within seconds, the powerful aroma of fresh coffee filled the room. Garrick lifted the cup, scalding his hands in the process, and took a long sniff of the smell. He never grew tired of it.

It was about a five-day journey to system 213B, and it had been a day already. There was still time, though. In the meantime, Garrick sipped his coffee and considered his next move. When inspiration didn't come, he resigned himself to the fact there was nothing to do but wait it out.

#

Two more days passed and still nothing.

Garrick did the zip up the navy jumpsuit, tried to flatten a tuft of hair that was sticking out, and headed out of his room. It had been a slow couple of days, and the tension was getting to him. There had been no sign of a transmission, nor any word of an attack.

While the Admiral slept, Chi-Young was on the night shift and Garrick had asked to join him on the bridge crew. It was notionally so he could develop his command experience, but he had only volunteered as an opportunity to monitor what was happening. Allison hadn't been able to say no, not with Silas' authority behind Garrick.

Garrick walked into the bridge; there was an indistinct murmur of noise, the feeling of being in the calm before storm extended here too. Only Chi-Young looked up as he walked in. He headed for his usual station behind Chi-Young, but he stopped him. "Commander Walker is in the infirmary this evening, so you'll be joining me here Mr Karn." Chi-Young gestured to the chair to his right--where Chi-Young himself would have sat if the Admiral was on deck. Garrick obliged, taking his seat next to the Captain. "It suits you, Commander." Chi-Young nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Garrick looked out again at the viewport. The Leamington system featured a main sequence star at its centre and seven orbiting planets--a mix of gas giants and smaller rocky worlds, one of which appeared on the screen as the Mandrake flew through the lanes towards it. If he remembered correctly, this system featured two habitable worlds, and the Alliance had colonised them twelve years after the Exodus. They were both well developed and thriving worlds now; a statement if there ever was one about how the Alliance brought prosperity to worlds that were once barren.

"Captain, there's incoming unidentified ships on our scopes," someone called out.

"What?" Garrick swung around. This is it. Something is happening.

Chi-Young became all business. "Are they the same class of ship that attacked Sorrel Bank?"

"Unknown, sir."

"Where are they, Ensign?" Garrick asked and wished he had paid more attention to the rest of the bridge crew's name. He would just have to be 'Ensign'.

"Three ships, travelling down the lanes towards us."

"Why didn't you spot them sooner? They should never have been able to sneak up on us," Garrick said.

"I'm sorry sir, I--They don't have any transponders active, they--they must have been hidden behind the planetoid. It's a miracle we even saw them. The gates were behaving strangely up ahead, so I asked the ship to run a scan."

"Excellent work, Peters," Chi-Young stepped in. "At least we have some notice. What do you make of it, Commander?"

Garrick thought for a moment. It was these kinds of decision that made officers' careers. "Recommend we exit the lanes and wait for them to pass and if needed, engage."

"Agreed," Chi-Young nodded. "Signal the Phoenix Rises--we're pulling out of the lanes and request that they do likewise."

"Acknowledged, sir." Peters spoke for a moment with his counterpart on the Phoenix. "They will follow our lead, Captain."

"Excellent. Helm, trigger the exit sequence for the lanes. Pull us out nice and slow."

The Mandrake slowed as the lanes decelerated it, and the ship came to a stop outside the path of the lanes, but still within weapons range of anything using them. Garrick pulled up a view from the rear of the ship on his personal screen to follow the Phoenix Rises, which followed the Mandrake out and took up a position alongside.

The unidentified vessels were still too small to see on the viewport, but Peters added a marker to show their distance and speed on the screen. All they had to do now was wait.

By the look of the data coming through, there were three ships. The readout showed that they too were slowing. All things pointed to a confrontation with the Mandrake and the Phoenix Rises. Garrick didn't understand it. Even with a numerical advantage, these three vessels were going up against the most powerful ships in the Alliance fleet. It made little sense. He didn't like it.

"Energise the armour plating and power up the beams," Chi-Young said. He motioned at one of the young officers standing near the lift at the rear of the bridge. "Ensign, wake the Admiral. He'll want to be here if there is an engagement." He straightened up in his seat. "Let's see who we're up against. Send them a transmission."

"Recording, sir," someone called out from behind them.

"This is Captain Chi-Young of the Alliance. State your identity and purpose."

The bridge fell silent as they waited. "No response, sir," Peters said.

"Send the message again."

Garrick had a nasty feeling about this. "How are they armed?"

"Sorry Commander, our scanners are struggling to get anything off of them." Peters frowned at his screen.

That's not good. Garrick turned to the Captain. "Sir, I recommend we open fire. We have no way of knowing what they are equipped with and if we strike first, we get the element of surprise."

"Patience, Commander. We don't know their intentions yet." Chi-Young didn't look at him.

"Sir, I respectfully disagree. In all likelihood these are the same ships that attacked the Sorrel Repository." Garrick didn't bother hiding his frustration.

"Commander." Chi-Young turned to face him. "I--"

"Signal coming in from the Phoenix Rises sir, encrypted band."

"Put it on Chi-Young said with a look towards Garrick.

Admiral Jansen's face appeared on the screen. She looked exhausted. Behind her, Mediator Silas sat in Captain Peterborough's customary chair on her right. Good--we're where we need to be.

"Captain." Jansen nodded at Chi-Young. "Where's the Admiral?"

"Here."

Garrick turned around to see Allison walk onto the bridge. Somehow, despite being disturbed, he still had an air of complete control and his uniform was immaculate. The only sign of fatigue were the bags under his eyes. Garrick stood up to allow Chi-Young to shift over to free up Allison's seat.

"What have we got?" The Admiral sat down before motioning to Garrick to sit on the pop out stool on his left.

"Three unidentified ships refusing to answer our hails Chi-Young said. "We've come out of the lanes in the Leamington system, somehow they snuck up on us. Our scanners are finding it difficult to lock on to them."

"Let me speak to them Allison said.

Jansen nodded in agreement on the viewport, so Allison motioned to Peters to open another transmission. Jansen's face stayed in another window on the screen.

"This is Admiral Allison. State your purpose or we will open fire."

"Admiral Allison a distorted message came back. "You and the Alliance have committed war crimes with your acts in the Auldearn system. You will pay for what you've done."

So they are the insurgents, Garrick thought. There was something symbolic in hearing their voices for the first time, however garbled the link was.

"They dropped the connection, sir!" Peters shouted. "They're breaking formation!"

"Fire beams at them Allison said.

Lances of light shot out from the Mandrake towards the moving ships, but they all missed their mark. Garrick was speechless. They should have sliced open the opposing ships, he couldn't remember an Alliance ship ever missing their target.

"What's happening?" Allison turned to face the tactical station manned by a stern looking woman.

"Targeting is difficult, sir, somehow they're stopping the computer locking onto them."

"Aim manually." Allison swung back around. "Keiko, are you having the same problem as we are?"

"We're struggling Ben." The feed from the Phoenix Rises shook an impact. "Can't hit them, but they sure as hell pack a punch."

"What if someone has been feeding the insurgents a way to disrupt Alliance ship's sensors?" Garrick asked. "Why else would they miss?"

"Evasive action, keep us moving Allison said with a glance at Garrick beside him.

"Sir, the enemy ships are firing the stern woman said

The ship rocked from the force of impact. Garrick fell off his stool and others on the bridge slammed into the floor. The lights on the bridge flickered and the screens dropped for a split second before springing back to life.

"Damage report." Chi-Young got to his feet and dusted himself down.

"Sir, I--I don't believe it. Their beam went straight through our armour, slicing through decks ten through thirteen."

"How many casualties?" Allison said.

"I--Um..." she froze.

Garrick walked over and pushed her out of the way. "Thirteen dead sir, but reports are still coming in.

"Keep moving Allison ordered. "Have we hit one yet?"

Garrick grimaced. "Doesn't look like it."

"That's not good enough!" Chi-Young marched over and stood at his shoulder.

"I'm going to get the computer to use the contrast between the ships and the black of space behind them to help the lock," Garrick said. He ignored how Chi-Young spoke to him. The most important thing was surviving this attack.

"Will that work?" Chi-Young said.

"There's only one way to find out." It took a minute for him to program the sensors. "It's helping."

On the viewport, the outline of the insurgents ships appeared. They reminded Garrick of the vultures that were so common back on his home planet, the beams firing from where the claws would be. There was no time to sit and watch them, so he started feeding targets into the computer. One ship took a hit near the engines from the Mandrake's weapons, but it seemed to shrug off the damage.

How strong are these ships?

"Send over the programme to the Phoenix Rises Allison said. "Let's see if we can even out this fight."

"They're coming around for a run at us, the armour is failing!" Garrick clung to the console to anchor him.

More hits rocked the ship. Screams filled the bridge as the Mandrake shook violently. At least one person lay unmoving against a bulkhead after being thrown against it. The smell of burning filled the room.

Garrick pulled himself up and consulted his console. "We've lost almost half of our beam launchers, and the reactor is almost critical." He looked up at Allison. "A beam passed within about a meter of the core. We were inches away from being vaporised."

"We weren't though." Allison gripped both the arm rests on his chair. "What's the status of the Phoenix Rises?"

"Not good, sir, her power's out and she's adrift." How were they being beaten so badly?

"Can we get to them?" Chi-Young said.

The Mandrake shuddered from yet another hit. "We've got our own issues Allison said.

On the screen in front of them, one of the insurgent ships spun out of control after a hit from the Mandrake's cannons. "Ship's disabled, sir he tried not to sound too smug given the situation they were in.

"Good," Allison said. "Go--" The disabled ship exploded before them, filling the screen with an expanding cloud of fire and debris. It forced the viewport to dim the screen to save their eyesight. "What happened?" Allison said.

"Looks like they triggered a core overload Peters said. "Must not have wanted anyone to board them."

"The same can't be said for the Phoenix Rises," Garrick said before Allison could respond. "One of the insurgent ships has sent over hoppers to Jansen's ship, the other ship is circling." For the first time in the battle they had a window to press their advantage.

Allison must have thought the same thing. "Helm, get us over there."

The Mandrake swung round and Garrick felt the engines drive the ship forward through the deck. The other insurgent ship noticed what they were doing. "Sir, we've got incoming," Garrick said.

Before Allison could respond, the insurgent ship opened fire on the Mandrake. With a great shudder, the engines died.

"I don't believe it. We're drifting." Peters shook his head, a pale look on his face.

With a start, Garrick remembered that Hamasa and Fenig were on the other ship. "Sir." He turned to Allison. "Permission to take a hopper and a contingent of officers to assist the Phoenix Rises? We can't let--"

"Denied. I'm sorry Commander, but you would be shot out of the sky by that other ship." Allison sighed. "The Phoenix Rises is on its own."