Out of the Black (Odyssey One, Book 4) (69 page)

CARROW LOOKED OVER his command, both proud and ashamed of their performance in past actions. Both emotions were self-explanatory in his eyes. They had done exemplary duty whenever he had sent them out, yet in the end it all proved useless.

The
Enterprise
was settling into a low earth orbit, preparing to take on refugees just like the members of the Heroics, and he had little doubt that everyone on those ships felt just as he did. To have come this far, accomplished so much, and then failed . . . no, it just wasn’t the way things were supposed to go.

We should have waited a little longer,
he decided. If they’d had a proper convoy, with resupply ships, the story might have ended differently.

That was easy to say in retrospect, of course. No one had known that the enemy would lay a trap like this. It wasn’t in their previous actions to even think along those lines. They learned a lot from Captain Weston in their previous engagements, as unfortunate as that was.

“Clear the lower decks,” he said, walking across to where his comm officer was coordinating the arrival of the refugees. “We’ll pack them in like sardines if we have to.”

“Yes sir.”

It wouldn’t really make much of a difference, a few hundred heads more or less, but it would make his people feel like they were accomplishing something. That was more important just now than anything else. If they lost hope, if they let this all get to them, well then it was game over. The question would just be how long until the end rather than whether it was coming.

He could feel that already seeping into the crew’s mood, and it was something he needed to head off as quickly as he could. The problem was, even he didn’t really want to try and keep up pretenses. This was the Earth they were talking about, damn it!

I am supposed to die in its defense. That is my world, my nation. Packing my hull with warm bodies and running for the stars wasn’t what I swore an oath to do
.

They lay in wait. That isn’t how these things operate. What changed?

Eric shifted in the command console chair, uncomfortable with how it felt. He’d been living in armor for the last five weeks or so, and now the form-fitting seat felt too soft for him. The records and current instrument scans of the Drasin formation were puzzling him, though, and distracting from the discomfort.

They didn’t do all this for Earth,
he decided, frowning in thought.
They
had
the Earth right where they wanted it. Anytime
they chose they could have ended it, so what the hell are they up to? It’s almost like they think
. . .

He rocked back in his chair, eyes bulging as he realized just what it was that the aliens were thinking.

“Holy shit,” Eric whispered out loud. “They think we’re a colony world. They think we have reinforcements coming . . . They don’t
know
that Earth stands alone.”

That was the only thing that made sense, the only thing that changed the alien actions from incomprehensible gibberish to something resembling an actual
plan!

Eric half turned. “Susan?”

“Yes sir?” Lamont looked up instantly.

“How many more ships are we due to pick up?” he asked.

“The
Odysseus
or the squadron?”

“Just us.”

Susan bent to the console for a moment. “Fifteen more and we’re at capacity.”

“How long will that require?”

“Another three or four hours,” Susan admitted, eyes flicking to the tactical map.

He didn’t blame her. That would bring the enemy ships into a much tighter noose, making their getaway plan all the harder to execute. He settled back, nodding, mostly to himself. “Are the other ships about the same?”

“Yes sir.”

Eric stood up. “Steph, make ready to break orbit.”

Michaels turned around, confused. “Sir?”

“Trust me.” Eric grinned.

Stephen stared for a moment, then slowly smiled back. “Alright, you got it sir. Starting engine fire-up. How fast do you want it?”

“Yesterday. I want to be in the orbit of Jupiter . . . yesterday,” Eric said. “Get everyone awake, all weapons stations ready, all defensive systems primed.”

“Yes sir,” Steph said, nodding to Milla, who also nodded. “And Raze?”

Eric glanced back. “Yeah?”

“Good to have you back.”

“Good to be back,” Eric said, walking to the back of the bridge. “By the way, you have the con,
Commander
.”

Steph scowled at the chuckling his boss let loose as he walked out, knowing that Eric was making a little dig at him for not being able to strap on his fighter anymore. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got the con.”

“Captain Weston to see you, ma’am.”

“Send him in,” Gracen said, glancing to the screens. “I’ll just be a moment.”

The President and Premier, two of the most powerful people on the planet, had differing expressions at being told that they were being put on hold. It was almost amusing, really. The Premier had a constipated look that told her he really wanted to complain, but since he was negotiating for places on the ships under her command, he knew he should keep his mouth shut. The President, on the other hand, just nodded and waved casually at her.

“Of course. Give the captain my regards. He did a superb job for us down here while we had him.”

Gracen tipped her head. “I will, sir.”

The screens blanked and she nodded to her aide, who opened the door. Weston looked good in his clean uniform,
now that he didn’t appear ready to strangle her with augmented muscles. He strode in, and she puzzled about his actions for a moment until she realized that he looked almost . . . chipper.

“Captain,” Gracen said neutrally. “What brings you to my office?”

“Admiral, I want to take the
Odysseus
out of orbit.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, caught between curiosity and irritation. Leaving orbit would mean abandoning hundreds of people they could save on this ship, possibly even thousands. She’d have to check those numbers.

“You’d better have a good reason, Captain.”

“I’ve been looking at the enemy actions and they don’t make any sense,” Eric said. “Tactically they’re complete gibberish. Why wait with an ambush force, Admiral? Why not just destroy the planet. They could have done it anytime they chose.”

Gracen shrugged. It seemed rather obvious to her. “They wanted to entrap reinforcements.”

“Exactly.”

She hated to admit confusion, but that was where she was at the moment. “I’m afraid you’ve lost me, Captain.”

“Admiral, they
think
we have reinforcements. They
think
we have other planets,” he said. “They don’t want just the Earth. They want it
all
.”

Gracen thought about that for a moment. “I don’t see where that is a good thing.”

“Good? Admiral, it’s a great thing,” Eric said. “I don’t think that they’ll risk destroying the Earth until they have a good lead on our other worlds.”

“Which we don’t have,” she said slowly. “But why attack it so powerfully then?”

“To encourage us. You really,” Eric said, “to call for more reinforcements, or to flee back to your home system.”

Gracen shook her head. “No. There’s no way they want us to call for reinforcements, Captain. A few more of our ships will tear that whole fleet right from under them.”

“I know, but I guarantee you that they’ve got a few stealthy ships stationed around the outer system waiting to follow you home,” Eric said.

“That’s
insane,
” Gracen objected. “Captain, Eric, no one would sacrifice that much just for . . .”

“Admiral, this isn’t a war,” Eric said gravely. “This is an infection. They don’t care about their individual ships. They care about the endgame, and nothing else. Tactically it only makes sense if you remember that these things aren’t enemy soldiers. They’re bullets. Bullets fired from a gun a billion years ago, maybe, but bullets just the same.”

Gracen slumped, mind awash as she tried to see it the same way he did. She couldn’t, she finally decided. Her brain just wouldn’t wrap around it like that. That didn’t, however, mean that her captain wasn’t
right
.

“What are you suggesting, then?” she asked, leaning forward.

“Let’s try something sneaky.”