The Moment

James Carstairs had seen many things in his life. He had seen the innards of cows burst from disease and stinking in the heat of the sun on his grandfather's farm. He had seen the light leave a man's eyes after being stabbed for the money in his pockets. He had ships burning in the void of space, set alight because a word from his mouth. But never in his life had he seen the pictures before him now. He had read of mad men doing such things but never in his life had he seen it with his own eyes.

Genocide. The systematic destruction of all life on a planet.

And the Dilgar did it.

This wasn't just propaganda. This wasn't just murder. This was...something else, something that he had no words for. And as he watched the last of the virus bombs fall on Demeter, he didn't know how to feel. What had he ever seen, ever experienced that could compare to this?

As the viewscreen went dark, he knew it had to be time. Something had to be done about the Dilgar and it had to be now.

The next report would present the opportunity he was looking for. The Delphi, which had sent back the pictures and readings from Demeter, followed the Dilgar to a point in deep space not far from the routes Earthforce had been using for shipping and resupply. The biggest massing of ships thus far seen was waiting for something to happen. Carstairs studied the reconnaissance information. The Dilgar had picked on a number of ships, but not badly enough to cause real damage to the effort. They were trying to get our attention. It was a trap. The Dilgar were setting a trap for Earthforce. This was the time to give them what they deserved.

Carstairs ran his finger down a list, choosing ships with the touch of a name from his datapad. When all was done, he had chosen much of the system fleet. With one slow, deep breath of finality he pressed the send button. He could see in his minds eye was happening outside his office. His adjutant would relay his orders to the War Room. Orders would start spitting out for all the ships. Logistics and transportation would be revised and rerouted. Officers and crew all over the system would begin rendezvousing with his at his location in 18 hours. And where would that location be? On the bridge of the Winfield Scott, waiting for the Dilgar to attack.


William Cargano, lying in (or rather tethered to) bed, drank his tea from a pouch. He hated pouches but, with no gravity, a teacup wouldn't work. A tragedy, he thought. A beautiful teacup wasn't just a receptacle of liquids but rather a work of art that made the experience more than jus...

His XO broke in on the intercom. "Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you, but we just received a message for you from Admiral Carstairs. 'The balloon has gone up', sir."

Cargano perked up his ears. "Timeframe?"

"Eighteen hours."

Cargano's eyes darted back and forth in thought for a second. "Relay full orders to my screen. Let the subordinate captains know I want both watches get 9 hours of sack time each. It'll probably be a while before they're going to get any real sleep. I also want readiness drills for every ship on each watch. Auxiliary instructions to come in four hours."

"Anything else, sir?"

"That is all. Cargano out." A button made the screen black out. Cargano knew that the details would be attended to. His crew was the model of efficiency and their attention to detail was exemplary. He even felt confident about getting a little sack time himself. He would need it, too. Contrary to popular belief, he was just a man.

The screen came back to life with orders and dispositions. His eyebrows arched with the fleet size. This offensive was a make or break proposition. If this battle failed, there wouldn't be much left to fight with. But they came to Krish to fight, not fly around and look pretty so war it would be.

Fleet Roster as follows:

Orestes Winfield Scott
Orestes Alexander Suvorov
Nova Chronos
Nova Medusa
Hyperion Delhi
Hyperion Richmond
Hyperion Veracruz
Hyperion Savannah
Hyperion Jakarta
Hyperion Stockholm
Hyperion Missile Marakesh
Hyperion Assault Guan Yu
Hyperion Assault Vostok
Avenger Mitchell
Artemis Escort Hawk
Artemis Escort Norden
Oracle Hind
Oracle Curran
Oracle Malachi
Sagittarius Morgan
Sagittarius Franklin
Sagittarius Barber
Sagittarius Mercury
Alpha Wing (Novas)
Beta Wing (Novas)