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system.
“Stay on course.” It took all Commander Keyes’ concentration to say that matter-of-factly.
Lieutenant Jaggers turned and started to speak—but Commander Keyes didn’t have time to address his
concerns.
“Lieutenant Hikowa,” Commander Keyes said. “Arm a Shiva missile. Remove all nuclear launch safetylocks.”
“Shiva armed. Aye, Commander.” Lieutenant Hikowa’s face was a mask of grim determination.
“Set the fuse on radio transmission code sequence detonation only. Disable proximity fuse. Stand by fora launch pilot program.”
“Sir?” Lieutenant Hikowa looked confused by his order, but then said, “Sir! Yes, sir. Making it happen.”
The alien frigates in the center of the view screen no longer looked remotely like toys to CommanderKeyes. They looked real and larger every second. The red glow along their sides had become solidbands . . . almost too bright to look directly at.
Commander Keyes picked up his data pad and quickly tapped in calculations: velocity, mass, andheading. He wished they had an AI online to double-check his figures. This amounted to no more thanan educated guess. How long would it take theIroquois to orbit Sigma Octanus IV? He got a number andcut it by 60 percent, knowing they’d either pick up speed . . . or be dead by the time it mattered.
“Lieutenant Hikowa, set the Shiva’s course for mark one eight zero. Full burn for twelve seconds.”
“Aye, sir,” she said, tapped in the parameters, and locked them into the system. “Missile ready, sir.”
“Sir!” Lieutenant Jaggers swiveled around and stood. His lips were drawn into a tight thin line. “Thatcourse fires the missile directlyaway from our enemies.”
“I am aware of that, Lieutenant Jaggers. Sit down and await further orders.”
Lieutenant Jaggers sat. He rubbed his temple with a trembling hand. His other hand balled into a fist.
Commander Keyes linked to the NAV system and set a countdown timer on his data pad. Twenty-nineseconds. “On my mark, Lieutenant Hikowa, launch that nuke . . . and not a moment before.”
“Aye, sir.” Her slender hand hovered over the control panel. “MAC guns are still hot, Commander,” she
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reminded him.
“Divert the energy keeping the capacitors at full charge and route them to the engines,” CommanderKeyes ordered.
Lieutenant Hall said, “Diverting now, sir.” She exchanged a glance with Lieutenant Hikowa. “Enginesnow operating at one hundred fifty percent of rated output. Red line in two minutes.”
“Contact! Contact!” Lieutenant Dominique shouted. “Enemy plasma torpedoes away, sir!”
Scarlet lightning erupted from the alien frigates—twin bolts of fire streaked through the darkness. Theylooked as if they could burn space itself. The torpedoes were on a direct course for theIroquois .
“Course correction, sir?” Lieutenant Jaggers’ voice broke with strain. His uniform was soaked withperspiration.
“Negative,” Commander Keyes replied. “Continue on this heading. Arm all aft Archer missile pods.Rotate launch arcs one eight zero degrees.”