Marcus was sure he should feel elated at what they'd achieved, but he didn't. Instead he felt a growing dread about what came next. Hamasa had pulled him into a council of war meeting by Hamasa, with Admiral Allison chairing. He hadn't seen the Admiral since his capture off the Mandrake. To Allison's credit, he had come straight up to Marcus when he saw him and welcomed him with a brilliant smile on his face. Marcus didn't feel like he deserved it, but it still made his heart warm. Allison had this aura as a leader.

There had been a quick discussion about what had happened with the Constitution and a wrap up of the Forge operation, but everyone's attention was looking forward.

"Marcus?"

The entire room was staring at him. "Sorry Admiral, I zoned out for a bit there he felt his face go red.

"That's all right. I was asking about the data from the Forge computer."

"Yes he took a big gulp of water to calm his nerves. "The Forge database contained a record of the ships that had docked there in the last year. It wasn't a lengthy list, and we can rule out those ships we know are most likely too small to have a bomb. That leaves us with about six that might have one."

"How many that were also at Sorrel Bank?" Chi-Young said.

Marcus consulted his tablet in front of him. "Just two--the Edinburgh and the Manifest Reality."

"And the algorithm you made? The one that plots ship positions?" Allison prompted.

"Yes, sorry Marcus flicked the image on his tablet in the projection's direction the Perseus Arm in the centre of the room. Two shaded funnels appeared on the map to show the likely position of the ships over time, with the ever increasing uncertainty shown by the widening path. "One is too far for us, the Manifest Reality is near Icheon."

"And the Edinburgh?"

"At least a week away at a best guess."

"And at a worst guess?" Bronikowski asked.

"The nearer we get to the expected position, the more ledgers updates, but it could be as far out as a month away he said glumly.

"The Edinburgh was in the Caxis system when we were last there." Allison stood up from his chair and walked over to the viewport. "It will have to be the Edinburgh. The question is, how do we do it? Are we prepared?"

"And now we must assume that the Alliance know what we're up to Bronikowski said.

"I would hope that we can maintain the illusion for a bit longer Chi-Young started but Allison turned and held up a hand.

"No, Napia is right. We can't take our time perfecting the algorithm to find the ships or the Alliance will move the bomb-carriers out of reach. I would welcome suggestions on how to solve it." Allison looked at each of them in the eye.

"I know you don't want to hear it, but there is another thing we could do." Hamasa picked at her fingernail. "Sabotage the gates."

Marcus recoiled in shock and Allison stiffened her words. To damage a jump gate risked unleashing a black hole that would destroy the system it was situated in.

"That is a last resort only Allison put fire behind his words.

"Mine them then." She shrugged.

Allison shook his head. "They're not a long term solution. You need a way of replenishing them otherwise the Alliance could just keep sending ships through the gate."

"Admiral, this insurgency won't survive unless you show you're willing to make the sacrifices needed," Bronikowski spoke up.

"I think my record proves that I will make the hard decisions when required Allison's voice was ice cold. His eyes didn't leave Bronikowski's. "This isn't a new debate." He got up and walked around the table. "It's gone through the ruling council several times, and every time the decision is the same. We need to steal a bomb. Having a ship running dark in Alliance space with a gravity bomb is the only way to ensure they leave us alone."

No one spoke, the reality of the situation was almost tangible in the room, but there had to be something. "Could we bring the Edinburgh to us?" Marcus said.

"Impossible Bronikowski shook her head.

"Let him speak," Hamasa said. "Go on."

"I--I think it is possible. We would just need to use diffusion." He looked at all their quizzical faces struggling to grasp what he meant. "It's like dropping a stone in a pool--diffusion transmissions ripple out across the systems. You can model it to an extent--it's what we're doing here in a roundabout way." Marcus pointed at the model of the Perseus Arm. "We need the Edinburgh to travel in a direction that we chose, right? So we just need to drop the stones in the right place."

"I'm not sure I follow," Chi-Young said.

Marcus reached over and took the tablet from the Admiral so he could control the projection. "See here." He expanded the area where his model predicted the Edinburgh's location. "If we started broadcasting--not a single message, a broadcast--from this area he pointed to the lower edge of the Perseus Arm, "it would draw the Edinburgh in that direction. Once it was on its way, we can move the broadcast to refine its heading.

"We won't be able to track a ship in real-time for obvious reasons, but we can make assumptions which would give us a window."

"How wide a window?" Allison rubbed his chin but Marcus couldn't see opposition in his eyes.

"I'd have to run the numbers, but I would have thought three or four systems Marcus saw Allison frown. "It's not ideal I know. In a perfect world we could pin it to a precise system, but it just isn't possible. Not unless someone has a way of getting communication faster than light."

Allison was silent for a moment as he considered this. "Well it's better than sabotaging a gate.

"There is no way the Alliance would ever fall for something like this." Pierce threw her hands up and scoffed.

"I dunno," Hamasa said. "I feel like if you gave the Alliance a reason to bring it nearer, one they couldn't turn down, it would work."

Marcus wasn't sure what she meant, but judging by the stone faced reactions from others in the room there had been tough conversations he hadn't been part of.

"It's not time Bronikowski shook her head. "We'd be crushed."

Hamasa opened her mouth to speak again but again, Allison held up a hand. "There is merit in what Hamasa suggests."

"Admiral!" Pierce cried. "You don't mean that--it would be the end of us before we'd even begun."

"Captain Pierce," Allison voice was quiet. "If we do nothing, it will also be the end of us. He placed both his hands on the table and lent forward. "I think we should consider it. And before you object he shot a glance at Pierce, "you have to provide a serious alternative. This is the moment we have been building towards. The time is now--we need to declare independence. We need to tell the Arm about the Independent Systems Coalition."

"I've been waiting for this Hamasa oozed confidence that Marcus didn't share.

"Marcus?" Allison gave him a look that made Marcus question whether the Admiral could read minds.

"There's a lot to account for he gestured somewhat helplessly at the projection of the Arm. "I could always do with more data, but we know what the risk of waiting is."

"Then that's settled then." He slammed his hand on the table. "Chi-Young, get the fleet in position based on Marcus' data. Hamasa, prepare a force to take the Edinburgh--take Marcus with you so you can finesse the projection en route."

Marcus swallowed. He knew something momentous had just been agreed, but he was more worried about Caxis. This was going to be awfully close.