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  "Bugger it," I said.

  There was instant movement as everyone checked their restraints. The twins rose from their normal seats, and the two magicians took them. On each ship, I knew the same thing was happening, now they all carried at least one magician. Only Unassailable didn’t, but only because there was no life support at all. Part of our arrangement with the Karn sisters was for them to supply mages who could move at least ejected pilots, with some of them being capable of moving fighters, or missiles. Syrinx was still the only one who could use rifts to move ships around.

  "Follow me through," I went on, "and form up in two lines of five."

  I nodded to Jane, and she set us going, as the captains acknowledged the order. BigMother jumped, and Jane took us forward from the jump point far enough to give the others room. More or less in order of seniority, the other ships came through, with Unassailable bringing up the rear, but taking the middle slot in the second row. The top row was all carriers, with Relentless on one end. The bottom row was four fifths dreadnaughts, with Dauntless on the other end.

  "Launch fighters," I said.

  "Launching," said Lacey, his Gunbus appearing on the navmap only seconds later, before the first fighter launched.

  Within two minutes, the squadrons had formed up, each one plugging a hole between the larger ships.

  "Missile launch," said Jane.

  "That was slow," said BA. "They should be well within range. For them."

  I agreed, but didn’t say anything, just nodding at Jane. Mosquitos launched, followed a couple of seconds later by more of them for the anticipated second wave.

  "Let's go meet them," I ordered.

  Jane sent the order to all ships, and the AI's had us moving up to cruising speed in perfect formation.

  "Is this wise?" asked Aline.

  "Probably not," said George on Scimitar, "but sometime we have to prove to them we can take them in a straight up fight, without hiding behind a jump point."

  "Are we going to give them a straight up fight?" asked Alison.

  I grinned at her.

  "Apparently not," muttered Alana, and several of them checked their restraints again.

  "What's the plan boss?" asked Lacey.

  "We'll proceed to missile launch range and stop, and wait for them to come into gun range. Jane will coordinate firing. Wait for my order to break, and we take out what's left."

  Jane was still firing mosquito missiles five hundred at a time, and ahead of us, space was boiling. Nothing was coming through.

  I let us close for ten minutes, waiting for Jane to indicate an optimum missile firing position had been reached. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded. All our ships came to a halt, and missiles launched. They formed up into two waves, the first being all the forward facing launchers, and the second being those launchers facing sideways or rearwards, and which had to curve around before heading for the targets.

  Ralnor missiles were larger and faster, with significantly more flight time, but we fired ours faster.

  The Ralnor closed up their formations so their point defense would be more effective, and kept coming without changing speed.

  "We need bombers," muttered Lacey.

  I knew what he meant. We had fighters which were best suited to fighting other fighters, but so far, we hadn't seen any, and for all we knew, none of the three species we were at war with seemed to have them. Bombers instead of fighters would double our initial missile firing capacity, although in truth, we were firing a lot more than the enemy fired at us, even being outnumbered more than three to one.

  One of these days I needed to get Jane to compare tonnage. Although I knew we were out massed as well. Their battleships were even bigger than my dreadnaughts, but in spite of them being warriors, we packed more weapons on ours, albeit not as powerful ones. And we tended to concentrate our fire. It all came down to how you used what you had.

  "On my list," I said quietly, and his image nodded.

  I looked at Jane.

  "Fire as they bear."

  "Confirmed."

  Everyone waited, missiles continued to fire, and space still boiled ahead of us where the incoming missiles were destroyed.

  "Firing titans," announced Jane, a short time later.

  Four turrets, six battleship targets, and the closest four took four pulses each. It was enough to knock down their shields, and do enough damage to force them to slow down. The number of missiles coming back at us lessened.

  "Firing battleship turrets," said Jane.

  Eight ships fired an almost solid looking wall of pulses. The other two were still firing missiles, as were the rest of us, but they had more of them.

  "Torpedoes by ten," I ordered.

  Every ship and fighter now fired ten salvoes of torpedoes as fast as they could launch. The fighters fired one at a time, but the carriers and dreadnaughts fired fifty each, each time. Another wall of firepower shot off towards the oncoming fleet.

  BigMother took the first hit from incoming fire, and the ship trembled a bit as the shields went down slightly, and began to rise again.

  "Break and attack!"

  Each squadron had a preset vector, and they shot away as units. A few seconds later, the ships did as well. Only BigMother and Unassailable continued on straight ahead, now accelerating. Escorting us were seventy five brand new hives, made up of a modified drone version of the new Brawler heavy fighter, and centered around a new power core containing a corvette sized power crystal. This mini fleet continued firing torpedoes as fast as they could launch, and guns as they recharged.

  "Strafe in five," announced Jane.

  Screens popped up so we could see the rest of our fleet. Defiant and Undaunted were opening the range, still firing missiles, in four hundred and eight hundred broadsides. The rest of the fleet were englobing the enemy fleet, which was now showing signs of major damage.

  "Now," ordered Jane.

  All of them, fighters included, turned their engines off, causing them to continue on their same course balistically, and used their maneuvering jets to flip the ship so their forward guns all pointed at an allocated target. Within seconds of each other, the entire fleet fired everything they had again, including ten salvos of torpedoes, flipped back to the way the ship was travelling, and turned their engines back on again.

  The Ralnor fleet came apart. Ships collided with debris, and while they were still firing on us, all cohesion was gone.

  "Break and reform," I ordered, while keeping BigMother heading straight ahead.

  Jane began using the cruiser guns on the top deck to take out debris in front of us, while I targeted the last of the battleships which was still mainly intact. Given the amount of debris around the ship, it looked like the cruisers had tried to protect it. But the next titan pulses finished the job.

  "And we have a winner," said Jane, smiling.

  A screen popped up, showing a single more or less intact destroyer on the other side of the debris field. It was heading away as fast as it could limp. I nodded, and Jane opened a channel.

  The bridge looked like a wreck, but they obviously had full coms. The roo in the raised center seat looked at his own screen, and wasn’t quite successful in covering his surprise.

  "Humans? How can humans do this to one of our fleets so quickly?"

  "Times change," I said. "Our tech advantages are different to yours, and we know how to use them against you. We don’t want to, but we will as long as you threaten any of our planets."

  He looked like he didn’t know what to say next.

  "We will not surrender," he said, after I didn’t say any more.

  "I'm not asking for it. Take what happened today back to your people. Tell them we want peace with you, but as long as you threaten our planets, we will defend them any way we can."

  "I will do so, but my superiors will not listen."

  "Tell them all they need to do is send a single scout with a negotiator on board. Once we begin talking, I'm certain we can find tr
ade which will…"

  "They will not listen."

  "Then your people will continue to die."

  "They will not accept this as possible."

  "Show them what we did here today. And tell them we took no damage doing it."

  He looked shocked, but a subordinate caught his attention, and obviously confirmed it.

  "What of our survival pods?"

  "How long will they keep your people alive?"

  "Days."

  "Is that long enough to get them back to one of your stations or worlds?"

  "Only just. But I'll need to call for more ships to tow them."

  "As a show of good faith, I'll allow you to call for them. But understand this. Any ship which jumps through into our space, will be destroyed." I paused. "Will it help if we collect your pods and take them to the next jump point for you?"

  "You would do that?"

  "Yes. We have cargo capacity for the job. Where the pods will be put will be open to space, so warn your people they cannot leave them. Any who do will die. You may depart for the jump point now. We'll collect your people, and follow you."

  "You have my thanks, but my superiors will not."

  He saluted me roo style, and the channel closed. The destroyer continued limping towards the jump point on the other side of the system.

  "Collect pods?" asked Jane.

  "Yes. Use the cargo decks of Relentless and Dauntless, and keep them open to space. Better have repair droids look each pod over to make sure the life support isn’t damaged."

  "Confirmed."

  "Let's collect the debris as well. Let them see we salvage what we can."

  "Confirmed."

  BigMother changed course to return to the rest of the fleet, while the two original dreadnaughts eased up to the outskirts of the debris field, and opened their cargo airlocks. Within minutes, salvage droids began stacking pods inside, while others started collecting the major debris where salvageable tech might still exist.

  "Was all that wise?" asked Aline again.

  I tapped my nose with a finger, and grinned at her.

  Four

  "Let me get this straight."

  The Mage King of Kelewan sat his throne, looking down at us. The rest of his court was silent and straight faced. Every face in the room was void black, except mine and Syrinx's. Well maybe they weren’t all straight faced, but it was damned hard to tell, since their lips where the same black as the rest of their faces. And now I looked at Syrinx, her expressions were hard to pick as well, since her lips were the same white as the rest of her face.

  "Once upon a time, your people were about the same colour as I am, but separated into five kingdoms, all at war with each other. Then a mage came along who moved you all to your own planets, ending the wars, and saving you all from a planet freeze."

  He nodded. I was summing things up as Thorn had told me, but history wasn’t the issue here.

  "So millennia later, having changed skin colour dramatically over time, you're telling me I can't bring one of my crew with me to talk to you, because three thousand years ago, you were at war with her people?"

  He nodded again. I could see Syrinx grinding her teeth.

  "So what gives her away? You can't know by the colour of her skin. Or is it the fact she's a woman?"

  I could hear the grinding now.

  He sat there, and let a smile spread across his face.

  "Any mage reveals themselves as such by radiating the power," he said, not losing the smile. "And since we've only known one kingdom of female mages, she must be one of them, colour notwithstanding."

  "Jane?"

  "Jon?"

  "Rift on the way."

  "Confirmed."

  I opened a rift from where we'd stepped out into the throne room, and my ready room door. Mage Celestine stepped through. She came to stand next to Syrinx. A mutter went around the room. She waved a hand towards the mage king, and he dropped slightly as his royal cushion vanished. His smile vanished as well. The muttering increased, then silenced when he raised his hand.

  "Let me introduce Mage Celestine from the planet Solidario, which was in Trixone space. And I might add, formerly one of the other five kingdoms."

  The muttering started up again. The mage king's eyes raked around the room, and it stopped.

  "And your point?"

  "It's been three thousand years of isolation from each other. The other four kingdoms formed five societies, two of them with mages. And while the mages of Karn have not yet opened up their society to the others, they are at least talking to them all."

  "Still waiting for your point."

  "Is it mages or women you have a problem with?"

  "Neither. I decide who approaches my throne."

  "His is bigger," said Syrinx.

  I shot a glance at her, and she was grinning madly. Celestine was trying to keep a straight face, and mostly succeeding. Someone behind us sniggered. Just once.

  "His what is bigger?"

  Laughter was coming through the rift I'd forgotten to close. The mage king was frowning now. But of those around the room I could see, a number were now lifting hands to hide mouths.

  "His throne," replied Syrinx. "And it's not just a chair either. Yours is an elaborate seat which says ego wank in progress. His is a statement of deeds."

  Ok. So maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. His kingship was not at all happy now.

  "How can a throne be a statement of deeds?" asked someone.

  "Because it's made of weapons taken from those he personally defeated in hand to hand combat."

  Well most of them were. And not really hand to hand either. Also, Jane had a hand in collecting some of them. But point taken, they had all come from combat situations I'd ended up in.

  "Sounds very uncomfortable to me."

  "Not with our level of technology," I said, realizing it was me saying it after I’d said it. "I don’t need a cushion, that’s for sure. Not that I ever sit in the stupid thing."

  "You think a throne stupid?"

  "I can't say I've ever thought about it that way. It was made as a joke." I paused, thinking back. "I think."

  "So now a throne is a stupid joke to you?"

  "That’s not what I said."

  "Yes it was."

  He was standing now, fists coming up as if he wanted to fight. Instead, he pumped his right fist at us, and a fireball came right at me.

  I didn't even think. A rift formed in front of me, with the other end above us. The fireball entered the rift, exited above our heads travelling upwards, and ripped a hole in the ceiling above us, and several more above that. Debris fell back through the hole, entered the rift above us and spat back out the exit in front of us, covering the mage king in dust and small rubble.

  "Oops," I said.

  I looked around, seeing fists being raised all around the room now. Tanith vanished, followed quickly by Syrinx and Celestina, leaving me the sole remaining target.

  "Down," yelled BA, and I threw myself on the ground, landing on my left side.

  BA herself stepped through the rift, and swept the room with her meson streamer, cutting everyone there in half. The firing stopped when no-one was left standing, and I gave it a moment before sitting up.

  "Misogynist bloody elitist pigs," grated BA. "Who else wants some of this?" she yelled.

  A fireball hit her in the back from the doorway we hadn't used, and for a moment she was engulfed in flames, before falling down on top of me, still blazing. I realized her suit had failed to protect her, and mine hadn't shifted either.

  The fire spread to cover me as well, and I screamed, bolting upright in bed, covered in sweat.

  Five

  I went down to see the Mage King on my own.

  Bad dreams were usually your sub-conscience trying to tell you something, and being both fallible and mortal was definitely a possible reminder in this case. But I’d had enough prophetic dreams to never ignore them.

  I'd freaked out both Aline
and Angel, given I’d woken both of them with my screaming. The twins had turned up a few seconds later, likewise freaked out. And getting back to sleep had proven difficult. For me anyway, as tired as I still was.

  I overslept, meaning it was early afternoon the next day before we were once again over the planet Kelewan. I'd left the rest of the fleet still cleaning up the mess from the last battle, having first made sure all the pods were sent through the jump point into the next system.

  The rift opened out exactly where it had been in the dream, and I gave it a few moments before stepping through. The mage king was on his throne as I expected, and there was a hush, as if I was expected. Well, of course I was. Magicians and seers, and all that. I was beginning to get used to it.

  "You are sorry for the delay. Yes, I know. And I'm glad to see you didn't bring the witch, as I asked."

  I stood there for a moment, debating responses.

  "And why would you ask such a thing?"

  There were several indrawn breaths of surprise.

  "This is my throne room. Only those I invite get to enter here. Surely this is so in your own throne room?"

  "I don’t have one."

  He smiled at me, in a way which he thought showed me I’d told a lie, and he knew it.

  "Come now Admiral. Let us be honest with each other. I've seen your throne. Very ornate in fact, but not to my tastes. But then, you are more military than I am. Perhaps your tastes run to the gauche?"

  "I will admit to having a throne, but not a throne room. I no longer have any civilian rank, and I do not lead my people. In any case, that throne was a joke, but I've been too busy to have it broken down."

  "And yet you come before us as the leader of your people. Have you not?"

  "Not."

  "In what capacity are you here then?"

  "As the current commander of our mobile fleet. The one which is currently keeping the Keerah away from your planet."

  "And we thank you for that. But it does not give you the right to ask questions of why I request things."

  "No?"

  "No."

  I gave him a half nod, turned, and stepped back through the rift, closing it behind me. By the time I was seated, everyone else was standing.