Marcus

#

The Vengeance exited the lanes and moved through the intersection in space towards the next set that would take them to the jump gate. Marcus had been monitoring all the activity behind the--including the Ezekiel, but it was too far away and too damaged to be a threat.

Their two escort ships were now engaged in a battle of their own with a group of smaller Alliance ships that had broken away from their confrontation with Allison. Marcus didn't care for them. His primary concern instead was the Alliance landing troops on the surface of the planet. The sudden appearance of the Mandrake and the rest of the main ISC fleet may have buoyed Bronikowski, but Marcus' panic grew at the thought of Sophia being caught in the fighting. It was almost impossible at this distance to get a sense of which continent the troops were landing on. The thought of his actions putting Sophia even more in harm's way was a knife to his heart.

Focus, Marcus. We've just got to get the bomb away. That's the key thing.

"Hamasa, update please," Bronikowski said through the communications link.

"We're close. A few more minutes and we'll have the bomb loose. So far no sign of there being any risk of it going off."

"Thank god for that. What's the status of the fleets?"

"They've just engaged, sir," Jenkins said quietly.

The battle against the Caxian ships had been an immense spectacle despite how one sided it was, but to see the two heavily armed fleets clashing filled Marcus with awe. The Mandrake and the Phoenix Rises were two titanic monoliths launching beam after beam at each other, with the streaks of torpedoes lingering against the stars after striking their target. The new ISC vessels were a blur, cutting and twisting around the Alliance vessels, leaving gashed wounds on their hulls as they passed. If the ISC had more of their more manoeuvrable and more powerful ships, the fight would have been one sided. As it was, the Alliance's greater numbers had the battle leaning to their favour.

Hamasa's voice broke the spell. "We've got the bomb loose. We're moving it into the hopper now."

Marcus could hear the relief in her voice. It was a feeling he couldn't share.

"Excellent!" Bronikowski jumped up as others cheered. "Get it over here she turned to Jenkins. "Signal the rest of the crew on the Edinburgh to retreat to their hoppers. We're getting out of here."

#

Garrick

#

Okoro did not look in good shape, but to her credit she had come to the bridge as ordered and without complaining. She was pale and walked with a noticeable limp before collapsing into a chair in front of him.

"Let me get this straight she frowned. "You want me to use our access codes to prevent the lanes from slowing us down so we can close the distance ram to the ISC ship? Are you insane? The Ezekiel would shatter from the impact."

"I will put that outburst down to the concussion and ignore it. This is why I need you--I have no intention of shattering the Ezekiel--if we destroy the Vengeance the bomb will go with it. I need you to work out how hard we have to hit them to cripple them, but keep our hull intact."

"We'll still detonate the fu--" she stopped herself. "Garrick, I can't do this."

"You will, because I'm ordering you to."

"Garrick--"

"Okoro, I'm doing this one way or another so if you want to avoid a bomb going off then you better do as I say. Otherwise I'll throw you out an airlock."

Tears were running down her face, but she started crunching the numbers. Garrick left her to it and tried to suppress the anger building inside him. She continued to let him down. They all did. Even Jansen had somehow let an entire fleet sneak up on her and Caxis.

They were an embarrassment. He was the only one who had done their job.

The bridge crew occupied their time travelling through the lanes by watching the ongoing battle between the Alliance and the insurgent fleets nearer the planet. The Alliance seemed to be winning, but Garrick didn't feel much satisfaction about this. He had never been a religious man, though it had been popular both on his planet and with his parents. Now he prayed to anyone that would listen for the chance for one more shot at Allison. He needed to make that man pay.

"I've got it, Captain." Okoro lent back in her chair, looking exhausted. "I think I can get us to ram the ship and not die. It'll be close."

"That will have to do." Garrick stood to honour the moment. "Peters, plug the numbers. We're ramming those insurgent bastards."