Part 36 (1/2)

Rawlon continuedto stare in disbelief at the viewscreen.

”There are more T'kaan s.h.i.+ps on my viewscreen...than there are stars,” he whispered grimly. As Rawlon continued to watch the approaching fleet, Curja approached him and whispered excitedly in his ear.

The Admiral turned slowly to face Curja.

”Did I hear you correctly?”

Curja's desperate eyes spoke for him, as he repeated the dire message again. ”We are vastly outnumbered, five s.h.i.+ps to one. Our sensors do not lie.”

”The Mothers.h.i.+p is on-line, sir. With an urgent message.” Shouted a third officer.

Rawlon turned.

”We must retreat, Grand Admiral.” Mother said matter-of-factly from the comm unit. ”I have identified s.h.i.+ps of both the T'kaan First and Second Fleets, along with the Third. We must recalculate our options in light of this new data. We did not plan for this scenario.”

”All three T'kaan fleets are here?” Curja whispered in disbelief.

Rawlon slammed his fist into his palm as his dark eyes narrowed. He growled as confusion fogged his mind.

”Tarlog is demanding you, Rawlon,” another Kraaqi officer shouted.

Rawlon nodded, feeling suddenly weary and old-and so very tired.

The Hrono's visage appeared on-screen. ”Rawlon. We will be easily out-flanked. We do not have enough s.h.i.+ps to stop their maneuver around the right wing.” The Hrono admiral stared back as if in shock. ”There are too many.”

Rawlon nodded. ”Order the retreat. And order the humans back.” Rawlon paused. ”Can our fleet complete the turn and make hypers.p.a.ce before the main fleets engage?”

Curja's hands flashed over his console, and he smiled. ”Yes. Barely.”

”Order it.” Rawlon stared back at the viewscreen filled with T'kaan s.h.i.+ps. Under his breath, he cursed.

Across the battle line, Kraaqi wars.h.i.+ps turned in solemn unison. Within seconds, the Hrono fleet began a similar maneuver.

Curja approached again. ”The Mewiis Admiral is calling for you.” Rawlon shook his head. Closing his eyes, he waved his hand to accept.

Admiral Saris appeared onscreen. ”What are you doing? We came here to fight. Too many Mewiis children-too many Mewiis worlds-have already perished waiting for this day. If we do not make a stand here, the Mewiis home world will fall next.”

Rawlon did not answer.

The Mewiis' eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line. ”Do you run? Do you fear this enemy?”

Rawlon shook his head tiredly. ”There are too many...” He began.

”There will always be too many!” Saris shouted.

The Kraaqi warlord sighed. ”We must replan...”

”No. No more planning. Our fleet will stay! We will hold the left wing. We must stay with our original plan!”

”You cannot-not against these odds,” Rawlon said. ”You will be overrun within the hour.”

”The Mewiis will not leave.” She growled. ”We stand between Mewiis worlds, Mewiis children. We draw the line here. We will fight here.” Saris raised her fist at Rawlon. ”Now!”

For the first time Rawlon understood the diminutive Mewiis race. But he did not answer, feeling a sudden shame inside his warrior's breast.

With an angry gesture, Saris's image disappeared.

”Fight bravely,” Rawlon said absently. He had spoken the Kraaqi honorific given only to Kraaqi and their warrior brethren as they entered into battle.

Chapter Forty-Two.

The s.h.i.+elds ofthe last T'kaan frigate attacking her buckled and it turned away disabled, but Mother had no time to finish the job. Already the swarm of T'kaan fighters attacking her had doubled, and her s.h.i.+elds were dropping dangerously low.

”Kyle, form up with what's left of Jaric's wing. I'll join Becky,” Mother ordered. ”We are retreating with the Kraaqi fleet.” ”This can't be.” Kyle snarled into his viewer. But he banked his s.h.i.+p sharply in compliance, not knowing what else to do in the face of the combined T'kaan fleets.

”We're already cut off,” Jaric said with a hollowness.

”Then we fight our way through, just like the old days,” Kyle snarled.

Rok's fingers squeezed the triggers and two T'kaan Scout fighters exploded in his sights. ”The old days were not so good,” Rok said as he turned to fight another T'kaan.

”Mothers.h.i.+p, this is Minstrel.”

”Go ahead,” Mother said.

”I am with the Mewiis on the left wing. T'kaan s.h.i.+ps are bearing down on us, formation after formation.

The Kraaqi fleets are turning, retreating, but the Mewiis are standing firm. They will not retreat.”

Minstrel's voice trailed off. ”I am fighting the best I can alongside the Mewiis, but the T'kaan just keep coming.”

Mother started to speak, but a dozen Hunter fighters suddenly leapt out of the darkness for her.

Focusing her processing power, she brought all of her main guns to bear and fired at them as she turned hard to avoid their fire. s.h.i.+ps exploded under her direct hits, and the Hunter formation broke up and retreated.

Another T'kaan formation now came into range to engage her.

In that instant, her sensors focused on Becky's s.h.i.+p. So near-and yet so far.