Hello, my name is Malcolm.\u00a0 I was born in a time of peace.\u00a0 It was a time of healing with new medicines, and a time of building hundreds of new colonies.\u00a0 We laughed and danced and loved.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t perfect by any means, but it was a good time.\u00a0 But to everything there is a season, a time to every purpose in the heavens.\u00a0 Even War.\u00a0 Sometimes especially War.\u00a0 My time of War came later than others.\u00a0 I got to build something great.\u00a0 And then I threw it into The War.\u00a0 It was time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Malcolm McDonnell held the controls as a dull vibration ran through his fighter.\u00a0 She was an old fighter, built a century ago when gravtech was the latest revolution in military technology.\u00a0 She was a work of art; graceful curves running from nose to tail, and built to proclaim the power of America to all the worlds.\u00a0 Newer and better fighters replaced her in time, leaving her to be part of a system defense force until even they retired her for something better.<\/p>\n
Malcolm rescued her from her mothballs, and the Peloran replaced her aged-warped structure with new alloys, her weapons with Peloran technologies.\u00a0 They made her into a fighter that could stand with the best of them once again.\u00a0 But no matter how much work they did, there was one system she\u2019d never been built to use.\u00a0 The gravitic cannon in her nose twisted the very fabric of space into a swirling vortex that twisted and tore at anything it came into contact with.\u00a0 That sent a dull vibration running from one end of his fighter to the other.<\/p>\n
Eleven more fighters of Malcolm\u2019s squadron fired their gravitic cannons in unison with his.\u00a0 The beams of twisted gravity shot across space at targets still coming to terms with the idea that they were targets.\u00a0 The Artificial Intelligences running the Shang warships\u2019 defense grids did everything they could in the time they had left.\u00a0 Missiles streaked out to meet Malcolm\u2019s fighters, and the ships turned to perform anti-fighter defensive maneuvers.<\/p>\n
But the living Shang crews had known<\/em> without a shadow of a doubt that they were alone with the eight destroyers they were here to kill.\u00a0 They knew they were winning.\u00a0 They knew they could simply turn away from any force that could threaten them and never be forced into any battle they didn\u2019t want.\u00a0 And they knew they could kill Murphy\u2019s squadron without taking any losses at all.\u00a0 The Shang were the superior race of man in their own eyes, and in those first seconds they simply could not conceive that they had been suckered.\u00a0 It was even worse for their destroyers.\u00a0 The cruisers at least had been firing on Murphy, but the destroyers had not yet fired a shot in anger.\u00a0 They were escorts, there to protect the larger cruisers that did the work of executing their targets from range.\u00a0 It took time for them to realize the execution had been called off.<\/p>\n It took the counter missiles fired by their AIs several seconds to cross the half-lightsecond between them and the fighters, but the gravitic beams traveled at lightspeed.\u00a0 One-half second after firing, two of his squadron\u2019s twelve gravitic cannons missed their target.\u00a0 Half a second after that, Malcolm saw<\/em> them miss as the light traveled back to him.\u00a0 He smiled though.\u00a0 Two misses out of twelve shots was amazingly good.<\/p>\n Dawn had spent the last several minutes monitoring the Shang evasive maneuvers until she knew what their AIs were going to do almost as well as they did.\u00a0 Ten of her gravitic vortexes smashed into the Shang destroyer without pity, ripping its deflection grid apart.\u00a0 Then they twisted and tore its armor, sucking it from the ship.\u00a0 Atmosphere flowed into the gravitic beams as they cored through the battle hull and into the destroyer\u2019s inner core.\u00a0 The destroyer twisted away, trying to escape the new threat, and the vortexes slashed through the maneuvering target.<\/p>\n It pulled away, ten horrible claw marks riven deep into the hull, deflection grid fluctuating wildly.\u00a0 One moment it was accelerating away.\u00a0 The next, it simply came apart.\u00a0 Sections of the ship began to break away, one at a time, until only the engines remained, flaming for a few more seconds until they ran out of fuel.\u00a0 It was almost an anticlimactic way for a warship to die.<\/p>\n \u201cYippie ki-yay!\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm blinked at Smith\u2019s transmission as the fighters began to bob and weave in an elegant dance against the wavefront of coming missiles.\u00a0 He glanced at the displays to see another destroyer disappearing in a massive explosion.\u00a0 Two more, the targets of the other Blackhawk squadrons, remained under power, but wreckage and atmosphere belched out of their horribly wounded flanks.<\/p>\n There was nothing anticlimactic about Smith\u2019s target, and with one glance Malcolm understood the man\u2019s exclamation.\u00a0 Of thirty-nine gravitic cannons the thirteen Avengers fired, almost thirty impacted the ship, and he watched explosions ripple out of the massive rents they made in its hull.\u00a0 Again and again, each one more massive than the last, it took the ship barely two seconds to die.\u00a0 The final explosion left nothing but an expanding fireball in the formation of mighty Shang cruisers.<\/p>\n Then it was the Shang\u2019s turn.\u00a0 Hundreds of missiles streaked in, many from ships already dead, hunting for the fighters that had dared to attack their masters.\u00a0 Malcolm\u2019s fighters ducked and weaved around him in the best defensive maneuvers Dawn could conceive of.\u00a0 Decoys and jammers shot out, and scores of missiles lost target lock.\u00a0 Laser cannons pulsed against missiles still diving in, and scores more died.<\/p>\n Malcolm relaxed back in his seat, sighed, and held his hands on the controls as the surviving missiles came in for the kill.\u00a0 His left hand rested on the throttle controlling movement in every direction, his right hand holding the stick directing orientation.\u00a0 It was deceptively simple and complex at the same time, especially for someone who\u2019d never played fighter sims in his life.\u00a0 But training turned it into instinct.\u00a0 He no longer thought about moving, and that was the point.<\/p>\n Thousands of years of civilization had taught humans to think things through before acting.\u00a0 But humans used such a tiny percentage of their mind to form coherent thoughts.\u00a0 The rest was always working.\u00a0 If a person paid attention to all the seemingly random feelings that pushed on the edges of the conscious mind though, they could be so much smarter.<\/p>\n At the moment Malcolm felt the undeniable urge to be elsewhere, and he went elsewhere.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t think about it.\u00a0 The training was enough that he moved the throttle to the left without taking time to form a coherent thought on the matter.\u00a0 He simply wanted to be elsewhere, and a dozen fighters shot to the side, maneuvering thrusters flaring.\u00a0 A second later, a score of missiles his conscious mind did not have the time to recognize as a threat came careening through where they would have been.\u00a0 They vainly tried to swing back towards the fighters, but were no longer able to make the turn.\u00a0 They lacked the fuel, and even Malcolm\u2019s subconscious mind paid no more attention to them.<\/p>\n He had far bigger worries.\u00a0 The fighters\u2019 engines sent long torches of flame into space and the entire formation began a slingshot maneuver that would take them around the Shang fleet.\u00a0 One of the destroyers flashed on his displays, and Malcolm nodded towards Dawn\u2019s holoform, sitting on console.\u00a0 She smiled and the gravitic cannon spoke again, reaching out to rip at their new target.\u00a0 Their new target was ready though, deflection grids and jamming systems oriented to protect against the fighters.\u00a0 Only three cannons found the target, and though the destroyer flinched, it continued to fight.<\/p>\n This time though, missiles rippled out of the launchers on either side of the fuselage, adding their own brand of chaos to the developing battle.\u00a0 The fire from a dozen fighters, and four dozen more including the other squadrons, filled space with wildly accelerating miniature guided weapons with a single goal. \u00a0Death by mutual extinction with their target.\u00a0 Malcolm\u2019s fire poured into the destroyer, even as its point defense grid ripped them apart by the scores.\u00a0 Cruisers and other destroyers joined in, adding their point defense to his target, and Malcolm smiled at the thought of cruisers actually protecting the ships that were meant to protect them.<\/p>\n Only a few missiles made it through the first wave of point defense, most of them horribly blinded by the destruction of their fellows.\u00a0 They missed the destroyer entirely.\u00a0 But more missiles followed them, far enough back that their sensors survived.\u00a0 They flew through the expanding gases of their dead compatriots and shot into their target with a vengeance.<\/p>\n The first missiles ripped the already destabilized deflection grid apart, leaving the destroyer open to the rest.\u00a0 Later missiles poured into the vulnerable destroyer, some of them carrying old style chemical warheads that exploded around it, filling space with more flames and debris.\u00a0 Some attacked the destroyer with electronic countermeasures, blinding its sensitive systems to other incoming missiles.\u00a0 The last missiles came in almost unopposed, generating miniature black holes that ripped through the destroyer without mercy until nothing remained to fight.<\/p>\n \u201cYippie ki-yay,\u201d Malcolm said with a smile.<\/p>\n Dawn snorted.\u00a0 \u201cYou need to work on your delivery,\u201d she said in a wry tone.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll do that,\u201d Malcolm responded and scanned the displays.\u00a0 Two more destroyers exploded from the fire of other Blackhawk squadrons, leaving the Shang flank almost denuded.\u00a0 Ten cruisers and ten destroyer escorts had started the battle.\u00a0 Now only five destroyers remained, three of them streaming atmosphere from the wounds in their flanks.\u00a0 As he watched a second cruiser broke apart and Smith whooped another victory.\u00a0 That made eight remaining cruisers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got movement,\u201d Dawn announced, sending a flicker through the displays.\u00a0 He followed the shift to see Murphy\u2019s squadron of eight Austin<\/em>-class destroyers.\u00a0 Three of them, each horribly damaged by the Shang bombardment, continued to run towards the Bosphorus forts.\u00a0 But as he watched, five of the destroyers snapped around in a swift u-turn to face the beleaguered Shang fleet.<\/p>\n \u201cBloody hell,\u201d Malcolm growled.\u00a0 Murphy\u2019s destroyers leapt as their engines came to full power, and they began to close the range with the Shang.\u00a0 Malcolm shook his head.\u00a0 This was not supposed to happen.\u00a0 Then one of Malcolm\u2019s Blackhawks took an engine hit from a Shang missile and he forgot all about those other ships.\u00a0 The engine disappeared, fragments flying in every direction, and their complex defensive maneuvering pattern unraveled.\u00a0 Blackhawks scattered to avoid the fighter now spinning out of control.\u00a0 The fighter passed within meters of Malcolm\u2019s cockpit before careening out of the battle and the blood drained from his face.\u00a0 That had been far too close.<\/p>\n Other squadrons\u2019 Blackhawks, and even some Avengers, spun away from the battle or simply came apart altogether as missiles meant to shatter warships found them.\u00a0 Then five massive gravitic vortexes swept in from Murphy\u2019s squadron, bracketing a single cruiser with their devastating power.\u00a0 Three barely missed the wildly maneuvering cruiser, but two gravitic beams smashed through the deflection grid.\u00a0 They tore into the nose, opening her armored core like a can opener.\u00a0 They dug deep into the structure, and further into the core, ripping the ship apart from the inside.\u00a0 In less than a second, nothing but the lifeless wreck of a warship remained.\u00a0 Malcolm had to suppress a shudder as he realized how truly deadly those destroyers were.<\/p>\n \u201cSmith?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I see it,\u201d Smith answered, his voice unhappy to say the least.<\/p>\n Malcolm pulled the right stick over and the Blackhawk spun to avoid an incoming missile.\u00a0 \u201cWe can\u2019t abandon them now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAgreed.\u201d\u00a0 Smith\u2019s tone was full of reluctance, but the voice he used a second later was devoid of any hint of that.\u00a0 \u201cAll fighters, continue circling and maintain fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm glanced at the fuel display as the five fighter squadrons swung around the Shang fleet, keeping half a lightsecond away.\u00a0 Far enough away to be hard to hit, close enough that the cybernetic minds could successfully calculate the far dumber Shang artificial intelligences.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Blackhawks were short-range birds, and he watched the display drop further down towards the absolute minimum it would take to return to Normandy<\/em>.\u00a0 They would not be able to continue the fight for long.<\/p>\n A cruiser flashed on his display and he nodded to Dawn.\u00a0 She opened fire, and nearly half of their remaining fighters hit the larger target.\u00a0 But Shang cruisers carried deflection grids far more powerful than any destroyer, and it shrugged off the minor assault with contemptuous ease.\u00a0 Missiles followed the grav cannon assault, peppering the deflection grids with more gravitic interference.\u00a0 The grid fluctuated, but held against everything a Blackhawk squadron could throw against it.<\/p>\n Malcolm gritted his teeth in anger just as a quartet of much larger missiles swooped in from the flank.\u00a0 Last-ditch point defense lasers burned one away, and then a second.\u00a0 The third detonated just short of the cruiser\u2019s deflection grid, generating gravitic sheer that no mere fighter missile could ever dream of.\u00a0 The cruiser\u2019s deflection grid flickered and faltered long enough for the fourth missile to penetrate the cruiser\u2019s last line of defense.\u00a0 It burrowed deep in the cruiser\u2019s bow before exploding and ripped the ship\u2019s forward section wide open.\u00a0 The cruiser initiated a desperate spin, trying to bring fresh deflection grids between it and the true threat now hounding it.<\/p>\n One display showed Smith\u2019s Avengers bringing down one more cruiser, while a focused salvo of destroyer grav cannons smashed yet another cruiser into expanding debris.\u00a0 The other Blackhawk squadrons focused on cruisers of their own, and if they did only minor damage like Malcolm, Murphy\u2019s destroyers spared just enough attention to send missiles their way.\u00a0 The cruisers that made up the heart of the Shang fleet writhed under the combined assault, belching armor, atmosphere, and other debris into space from mounting numbers of wounds.<\/p>\n The Shang made tough ships though, and even as damage codes filled the displays, Shang launchers filled space with their missiles.\u00a0 More fighters disappeared or spun away after barely surviving near hits.\u00a0 Murphy\u2019s destroyers lurched as deflection grids flickered and the missiles dove in for the kill.\u00a0 But as the Shang missiles smashed into them, they learned once again how resilient the Austin<\/em>-class destroyers were.\u00a0 With forward hammerheads wrapped around armored cores made of the densest alloys known to humanity, the Austins<\/em> truly were America\u2019s best destroyer.<\/p>\n Explosions wreathed the wedges, tearing weapons and outer hull plating away from the destroyers, but meters of armor behind them stopped every weapon the Shang could throw at them.\u00a0 They melted under the assault, torn and twisted by the devastation wrought on them, but they held, and Murphy\u2019s destroyers continued to close the range.<\/p>\n But no destroyer could carry enough armor to protect them from all angles.\u00a0 A swarm of missiles arced around a hammerhead and attacked the thin hull plating protecting a destroyer\u2019s main engines.\u00a0 She lurched to the side, half of her engines ripped away, and began to drift out of formation.\u00a0 Then three Shang cruisers focused fire on one destroyer and their combined fire actually cracked the armored wedge, ripping it off at the base of the ship\u2019s main fuselage.<\/p>\n A mad house of destructive energies flashed back and forth across the space that separated the Shang and Terran forces.\u00a0 Malcolm watched everything without concentrating on any of it, just observing the flickering images of chaos.\u00a0 Dawn fired on their target again, and five of their gravitic cannons hit the cruiser\u2019s deflection grid.\u00a0 Another salvo of Murphy\u2019s missiles struck the Shang cruiser and it belched fire, shedding armor and internal systems.\u00a0 One more of his fighters to a missile-hit dead center, engine pods shooting away in four directions before running out of fuel.<\/p>\n Another cruiser broke in half, victim of Smith\u2019s Avengers.\u00a0 A single gravitic beam smashed into a different one, and flames and armor erupted into space.\u00a0 A Shang destroyer blundered into a stream of missiles meant for one of its charges and came apart.\u00a0 The staccato images of destruction flashed across his displays as Malcolm reacted to missiles swarms he had no time to focus on.<\/p>\n Then without warning, the Shang stopped firing.\u00a0 All<\/em> fire stopped in fact, and Malcolm looked at the empty space around them in confusion.\u00a0 He turned to aim a questioning look at Dawn and saw a triumphant smile on her face.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re signaling their complete and utter surrender,\u201d she reported.<\/p>\n Malcolm frowned and looked at the surviving warships, every single one torn open to one degree or another.\u00a0 They continued maneuvering for combat, making themselves as hard to hit as possible, and he could see the telltale result of jammers still trying to confuse enemy targeting systems, but no weapons remained in space.<\/p>\n \u201cDirector?\u201d Smith\u2019s voice asked.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm looked at Dawn and she just smiled.\u00a0 He pursed his lips, weighing his options.\u00a0 On the one hand, he could order them to start firing again and would not lose any sleep.\u00a0 The Shang had killed enough people over the years.\u00a0 On the other hand, he could accept their surrender.\u00a0 Though he was not in a position to do anything with it.\u00a0 Then here was Murphy.\u00a0 If she<\/em> accepted their surrender, she would have to stop following him while she secured them.\u00a0 And if she didn\u2019t, he would know what to expect from her in the future.\u00a0 \u201cTell Commodore Murphy we\u2019ll follow her lead.\u201d\u00a0 Dawn blinked at him in surprise, then nodded in response.\u00a0 Malcolm relaxed back in his seat and waited to find out what Murphy\u2019s decision would be.<\/p>\n Finally her holoform appeared on the console, standing next to Dawn with her hands clasped behind her back.\u00a0 A display showed she was broadcasting on an open frequency.\u00a0 \u201cThis is Commodore Murphy, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Star Fleet,\u201d she announced in a hard tone.\u00a0 \u201cI accept your surrender.\u00a0 Stand down and prepare to be boarded.\u00a0 Any resistance will be considered a violation of your surrender.\u00a0 I trust I am understood.\u201d\u00a0 It was not a question, and Murphy remained in place, waiting for the Shang\u2019s response.<\/p>\n Within seconds, the Shang warships ceased maneuvering and shut down their deflection grids.\u00a0 The displays showing target lock warnings went green as the Shang targeting systems turned off, and Malcolm smiled in relief.\u00a0 They\u2019d done it.<\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d Murphy intoned, and then her holoform turned towards Malcolm.\u00a0 \u201cDirector McDonnell?\u201d was all she said, but Malcolm smiled as a display showed her transmission shifting to private frequencies.<\/p>\n \u201cCommodore Murphy,\u201d he answered and waited for his transmission to reach her.\u00a0 His holoform would be appearing on her display as soon as it arrived, relaying his words just as her holoform did to him.\u00a0 He wondered what her next words would be.\u00a0 Would she demand his surrender as she had in Alpha Centauri and Sunnydale?<\/p>\n Murphy smiled at him before speaking again.\u00a0 \u201cThank you for your help.\u00a0 I regret that I must ask you to surrender as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm shook his head, but managed a questioning raised eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cAlways with you it is \u2018surrender and prepare to be boarded.\u2019\u00a0 Can\u2019t we start with something else?\u201d<\/p>\n Murphy frowned at him, betraying a mix of confusion and something else he couldn\u2019t quite identify.\u00a0 \u201cI have my orders,\u201d she noted with a shake of her head.\u00a0 \u201cYou know why I\u2019m here, and yet you helped my squadron.\u00a0 Why?\u201d\u00a0 Her holoform took on a curious look, cocking her head to the side.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the Shang have killed far too many of us, and I couldn\u2019t stand by and watch them kill any more,\u201d Malcolm answered her question without hesitation.<\/p>\n Murphy nodded very slowly, deep in thought.\u00a0 \u201cYou are not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI try not to be,\u201d Malcolm answered with a chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cIt keeps people on their toes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I can see that,\u201d Murphy sighed and aimed a considering look at him.\u00a0 \u201cAre you going to surrender or keep running?\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm laughed and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cCan I ask you a question of my own before answering that?\u201d<\/p>\n Murphy examined him for several seconds, far longer than the time delay imposed by the transmission lag could explain.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose it would be rude of me to say no,\u201d she finally said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is your Christian name?\u201d\u00a0 It was an oddly formal question, long out of use in common society, but it just felt right.<\/p>\n \u201cMy?\u201d\u00a0 Her eyes opened wide and she stared at him for several seconds, mixed shock, worry, and confusion written on her face.\u00a0 \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou chased me across the known universe,\u201d Malcolm said, his tone wry.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m curious who would do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Murphy arched an eyebrow at him.\u00a0 \u201cThis is hardly the known universe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just saved your life,\u201d Malcolm said with a shrug.\u00a0 \u201cYou can grant me at least one<\/em> grandiose statement, can\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n She stared at him for another few seconds, and he caught just a whiff of disappointment in that gaze.\u00a0 \u201cCaroline,\u201d she finally whispered, long and slow, emphasizing each syllable.<\/p>\n Malcolm blinked, surprised by the answer.\u00a0 He\u2019d expected Dana.\u00a0 She looked so similar.\u00a0 He glanced at Dawn and she brought a holodisplay to life, showing side-by-side pictures from his high school\u2019s senior yearbook.\u00a0 One was of Dana Murphy, from the freshman class.\u00a0 He still couldn\u2019t remember her, but she had an odd ring of familiarity to him.\u00a0 The other holo was of Caroline Murphy, a face he most certainly did<\/em> remember.\u00a0 Underneath, a single word blinked in red.\u00a0 Sisters.\u00a0 And that explained why she seemed familiar.\u00a0 He probably met the younger sister when Dana took him home.\u00a0 They\u2019d had a nice pool.<\/p>\n \u201cI see,\u201d Malcolm whispered, momentarily caught unawares by the memory of that pool.\u00a0 They\u2019d had good parties there as he remembered.\u00a0 But that was a long time ago, and he looked back to the Caroline Murphy who stood before him now.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I see why they sent you.\u201d\u00a0 She blinked and seemed prepared to contest his statement, but he rolled right on before she could ask.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t know what to say if she asked, and that would just make things awkward.\u00a0 \u201cWell, my name is Malcolm, and now that we\u2019re on a first name basis, can I tell you why I\u2019ve been running?\u201d<\/p>\n She pursed her lips.\u00a0 \u201cI can hardly wait for your explanation.\u201d\u00a0 There was a slight mocking tone to her voice, and part of Malcolm growled in anger.\u00a0 But there was a color of\u2026something in it.\u00a0 Familiarity.\u00a0 It was like the echo of a joke he couldn\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n He buried the part that wanted to be angry with her.\u00a0 There were far better targets for that anger after all.\u00a0 \u201cTwenty-five,\u201d he intoned, his voice harsh.<\/p>\n She frowned.\u00a0 \u201cTwenty-five?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWinter Contingencies,\u201d he declared and she looked away from him.\u00a0 He understood why.\u00a0 The New Washington Winter Contingency had horrified him five years before.\u00a0 Now it was a statistic, the first of the twenty-five worlds that Shang bombardments sent into new ice ages.\u00a0 It made him sick to realize that millions dead were a statistic, just one small number in a growing War.\u00a0 \u201cAnother hundred worlds with no measurable industrial output,\u201d he continued after letting her think about the devastation.\u00a0 \u201cAnd can you give me the name of a single colony near the Hyades Cluster that hasn\u2019t been abandoned or conquered?\u201d<\/p>\n Her face looked grim when she returned her gaze to him.\u00a0 \u201cSunnydale.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSunnydale,\u201d he repeated with grim agreement.\u00a0 It was the only remaining major Alliance colony left within striking range of the cluster.\u00a0 \u201cWe can\u2019t keep on going like this.\u00a0 I know the newsies say we\u2019ll have this wrapped up in a year.\u00a0 That The Fleet assembling at Sunnydale will wipe them out.\u00a0 \u2018Victory is coming\u2019 and all that tripe.\u201d\u00a0 Malcolm shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s just propaganda and we know it.\u00a0 One more Epsilon Reticuli and we\u2019re done.\u00a0 That\u2019s all she wrote.\u201d\u00a0 He paused to stare at her, daring her to object.<\/p>\n Caroline let the silence linger for several seconds before nodding.\u00a0 \u201cOK.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say I agree with you on that.\u201d\u00a0 He could almost feel part of her deflating as she admitted her true feelings.\u00a0 \u201cFor argument\u2019s sake,\u201d she added, but he had her.\u00a0 She agreed with him.\u00a0 And in her eyes he saw the proof that she knew he knew.\u00a0 She shook her head to clear it.\u00a0 \u201cWhat does this have to do with us?\u00a0 Right here.\u201d\u00a0 Her tone was sharp, defensive.<\/p>\n Malcolm just smiled.\u00a0 \u201cEverything.\u201d\u00a0 The woman who stood in Bosphorus was not the Commodore Murphy who demanded his surrender at New Earth.\u00a0 He supposed that almost dying could change anyone\u2019s perspective, but he had the feeling that it hadn\u2019t really changed her.\u00a0 More like burned something away to reveal the true woman.\u00a0 The Caroline that pinged memories he couldn\u2019t place.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to build colonies in their space,\u201d he began, his tone more hurried than he wished.\u00a0 \u201cWe have to fly to their stars.\u00a0 We have to land on their worlds.\u00a0 We have to show every Alien race out there that we can come to them<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He paused for a second, willing her to understand.\u00a0 Pleading with her.\u00a0 \u201cThey can\u2019t just come over, kill a few of us, and go back home, safe in the knowledge that we can\u2019t do anything about it.\u00a0 We can\u2019t let<\/em> them.\u201d<\/p>\n Caroline gave him a half smile, but shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cSo what?\u00a0 You steal some money, use it to buy a fleet, and run away from everything?\u00a0 How does that help us?\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm chuckled very slowly.\u00a0 She\u2019d asked the right question.\u00a0 And the answer was waiting on the tip of his tongue.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t steal the money.\u00a0 An official member of the Hurst Family Council gave it to me.\u201d\u00a0 She raised an eyebrow to say just how slim that excuse was, but he raised one finger to stop her.\u00a0 \u201cYou and me, we\u2019re stuck in a family squabble, but to everyone else out there, this is so much bigger.\u00a0 Charles Edward Hurst is sending us out there as a warning.\u00a0 We won\u2019t be stuck in our measly few hundred lightyears of space forever.\u00a0 We\u2019re coming.\u00a0 We\u2019re not just one colony.\u00a0 We\u2019re every<\/em> colony!\u201d\u00a0 Malcolm paused to take a breath, knowing he was betraying a missionary\u2019s zeal.\u00a0 But he just couldn\u2019t help it.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re humanity, we\u2019re Earth<\/em>, going where no man has gone before.\u00a0 That is the true<\/em> heart of the Wolfenheim Project.\u00a0 Both a warning and a promise.\u00a0 We will not be forgotten. \u00a0We will not<\/em> go quietly into that long night.\u201d<\/p>\n Caroline pulled in a long breath, and he saw her wanting to believe.\u00a0 But then she shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cI can see you\u2019ve thought this through,\u201d was all her voice said, but her eyes betrayed her inner turmoil.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had years<\/em> to think it through,\u201d Malcolm whispered.<\/p>\n She smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t stop you from running.\u201d\u00a0 She shrugged and shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cBut I can\u2019t ignore my orders.\u00a0 And sooner or later, I will<\/em> catch you.\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm nodded in acceptance.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we are<\/em> a colony expedition.\u00a0 Hiding isn\u2019t really on my list of things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n She aimed a grim smile at him.\u00a0 \u201cThen consider very carefully how you want this chase to end.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will,\u201d Malcolm answered and gave her a long look.\u00a0 \u201cIf you do the same.\u00a0 We can compare notes when we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n She pursed her lips and the hologram looked at a display filled with Shang warships.\u00a0 \u201cI would<\/em> prefer an end to this that doesn\u2019t including shooting at each other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen we\u2019ve already agreed on one very important detail,\u201d Malcolm said with a broad smile.\u00a0 \u201cAnd with that progress in hand, maybe I should leave before we find something else<\/em> to argue about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean you should run while you still can?\u201d she asked, snapping her gaze back to him.<\/p>\n Malcolm shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d prefer to call it a carefully performed extraction from\u2026well\u2026perhaps not entirely<\/em> unfriendly territory,\u201d he finished with another smile.<\/p>\n She met his gaze for several seconds, measuring him again before answering.\u00a0 \u201cI can think of worse things to call it,\u201d she finally intoned.<\/p>\n \u201cThen by your leave?\u201d<\/p>\n She shook her head with a rueful smile.\u00a0 \u201cWhere you run, I will follow,\u201d she warned, but her eyes betrayed the promise.<\/p>\n \u201cThen until we meet again,\u201d he acknowledged and turned to tell Dawn to cut the feed.<\/p>\n \u201cMalcolm.\u201d\u00a0 Caroline\u2019s single word stopped him short, and he turned back to her holoform, one eyebrow raised in a wordless question.\u00a0 Her smile reminded him of Dana so hard it hurt.\u00a0 But it was different.\u00a0 Dana had been a girl the last time he\u2019d seen her smile.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t known how hard life could be.\u00a0 Caroline\u2019s smile spoke of a lifetime of adulthood\u2019s disappoints, but somewhere in there was a child\u2019s hope.\u00a0 \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled and gave her a bow of his head.\u00a0 \u201cAnytime, Caroline,\u201d he said, emphasizing all three syllables as she had.\u00a0 Then he turned to Dawn, nodded, and she cut the feed.\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s time to go, Smith.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAgreed,\u201d Smith\u2019s voice answered without hesitation.\u00a0 \u201cAll fighters, return to base.\u201d\u00a0 With no more warning than that, their main engines came back to full power, and the fighters began accelerating.<\/p>\n Malcolm pursed his lips and watched the receding warships in the holofield.\u00a0 It was odd.\u00a0 He really did feel like he knew her.\u00a0 Understand her.\u00a0 But he couldn\u2019t remember her.\u00a0 Though if she was Dana\u2019s sister, they had to have met.\u00a0 \u201cShe is<\/em> going to catch us sometime,\u201d he said to Dawn.\u00a0 She just nodded, recognizing his need to think his words through.\u00a0 \u201cSo we\u2019re going to have to make some plans for that.\u201d\u00a0 Malcolm glanced at the ships again.\u00a0 \u201cPlans that don\u2019t involve getting all of us killed.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn followed his gaze to the diminishing cruisers and destroyers.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll get Smith and Olivia on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Malcolm let out a long breath as Olivia\u2019s face flashed through his mind.\u00a0 If there was a way, those two would think of it.\u00a0 \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn just smiled.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t need to say anything else.\u00a0 She never did.\u00a0 Behind them, the wrecks of the Shang fleet and the barely victorious Murphy faded into the distance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, my name is Malcolm.\u00a0 I was born in a time of peace.\u00a0 It was a time of healing with new medicines, and a time of building hundreds of new colonies.\u00a0 We laughed and danced and loved.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t perfect[…]↓ Read the rest of this 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