hands.
“Finlay. Talk to me,” Henricksen snapped.
“No,” Serengeti said, saving Finlay the heartache. “They’re too far away. Too many ships, too much fire between us and them.”
Henricksen flushed angrily. “So we’re supposed to just leave them out there? That’s crap, Serengeti .”
“I have no intention of leaving them. We can’t get to the lifeboats, but there are others in the fleet who can.”
She checked the schematic and passed the pods’ coordinates to the other ships in the fleet. Acknowledgements came back— Tsunami and Zephyr, and a half dozen other small ships shuffled about before moving off line to intercept Seychelles’s escape pods.
Henricksen nodded his thanks to the camera and then thumbed ship-wide comms open to address his crew. “Alright. Listen up!”
Serengeti cringed as Henricksen’s voice echoed across fleet-wide comms. A mistake , she thought. It has to be a mistake . Even Henricksen wouldn’t be that bold .
Brutus led this fleet—not Serengeti, certainly not her human captain—and only Brutus addressed the ships en masse. She flashed a private message to Henricksen’s panel, letting him know about the error.
Henricksen saw it and smiled, eyes lifting to the camera. “Oops.”
Totally unapologetic. He’d done it on purpose.
“You cheeky little monkey.”
Henricksen shrugged and temporarily shut down comms. “Fleet’s in turmoil, Serengeti. We need to bring it back together.” A nod at the schematic on the front window, the two battles raging on two different fronts. “And we need to do it soon .”
“What do you suggest we do?”
Henricksen reached to the mash-up panel in front of him and started adjusting ships’ positions, running scenario, mapping out a plan of attack that moved Serengeti to the fore with Antigone and Sechura , using the more heavily armed and armored Valkyries to bust through the line and take Trinidad out.
A bold plan, and definitely risky. Not at the stratagem Brutus had laid out.
“ Brutus won’t like it,” Serengeti warned.
Henricksen shrugged again, obviously not caring. “It’ll work. Trust me,” he said, tipping a wink at the camera. Serengeti started to object but Henricksen thumbed comms back over and spoke right over her. “This is Henricksen on Serengeti. Parallax is gone and Seychelles with him. So while Marianas and Atacama make mincemeat of the Aphelion’s cousin back there and the rest of those wrecks he brought with him, we’re going to bust through this line and tear holy hell outta that Heliotrope Trinidad. The Valkyries—”
“ Serengeti. ” Brutus’ grating voice echoed over fleet-wide comms, drowning Henricksen out. “You are to hold position with the other Valkyries.”
An order—no doubt about it, with the entire fleet as witness. To disobey was to invoke mutiny, creating a schism in an already divided fleet. But she couldn’t let this go.
A long-ignored sub-mind flashed a warning, pulsing insistently to get Serengeti’s attention. She dismissed it, pushing the sub-mind to the background while she sent Henricksen’s battle plan to Brutus , using a private channel in the hopes he’d hear her out.
Brutus deleted the message without even opening it. Deleted it and kept going, as if nothing had changed. As if the second fleet of ships behind them didn’t exist, and Seychelles hadn’t exploded before their eyes.
Bastard. Seychelles is dead because of you. You’re so full of pride you won’t even listen to reason.
Serengeti opened a channel, hesitated, thinking through the ramifications of what she’d be doing, and belatedly shut it back down. “Acknowledged. Holding position,” she sent, and then flashed an apology to Henricksen.
Henricksen glanced at the message and shrugged. He’d seen enough battles to know the score—knew when to question authority and when to fall into line. “Remind me when this is over to have a word with Brutus’ captain,” he said, glancing upward
“Finlay. Talk to me,” Henricksen snapped.
“No,” Serengeti said, saving Finlay the heartache. “They’re too far away. Too many ships, too much fire between us and them.”
Henricksen flushed angrily. “So we’re supposed to just leave them out there? That’s crap, Serengeti .”
“I have no intention of leaving them. We can’t get to the lifeboats, but there are others in the fleet who can.”
She checked the schematic and passed the pods’ coordinates to the other ships in the fleet. Acknowledgements came back— Tsunami and Zephyr, and a half dozen other small ships shuffled about before moving off line to intercept Seychelles’s escape pods.
Henricksen nodded his thanks to the camera and then thumbed ship-wide comms open to address his crew. “Alright. Listen up!”
Serengeti cringed as Henricksen’s voice echoed across fleet-wide comms. A mistake , she thought. It has to be a mistake . Even Henricksen wouldn’t be that bold .
Brutus led this fleet—not Serengeti, certainly not her human captain—and only Brutus addressed the ships en masse. She flashed a private message to Henricksen’s panel, letting him know about the error.
Henricksen saw it and smiled, eyes lifting to the camera. “Oops.”
Totally unapologetic. He’d done it on purpose.
“You cheeky little monkey.”
Henricksen shrugged and temporarily shut down comms. “Fleet’s in turmoil, Serengeti. We need to bring it back together.” A nod at the schematic on the front window, the two battles raging on two different fronts. “And we need to do it soon .”
“What do you suggest we do?”
Henricksen reached to the mash-up panel in front of him and started adjusting ships’ positions, running scenario, mapping out a plan of attack that moved Serengeti to the fore with Antigone and Sechura , using the more heavily armed and armored Valkyries to bust through the line and take Trinidad out.
A bold plan, and definitely risky. Not at the stratagem Brutus had laid out.
“ Brutus won’t like it,” Serengeti warned.
Henricksen shrugged again, obviously not caring. “It’ll work. Trust me,” he said, tipping a wink at the camera. Serengeti started to object but Henricksen thumbed comms back over and spoke right over her. “This is Henricksen on Serengeti. Parallax is gone and Seychelles with him. So while Marianas and Atacama make mincemeat of the Aphelion’s cousin back there and the rest of those wrecks he brought with him, we’re going to bust through this line and tear holy hell outta that Heliotrope Trinidad. The Valkyries—”
“ Serengeti. ” Brutus’ grating voice echoed over fleet-wide comms, drowning Henricksen out. “You are to hold position with the other Valkyries.”
An order—no doubt about it, with the entire fleet as witness. To disobey was to invoke mutiny, creating a schism in an already divided fleet. But she couldn’t let this go.
A long-ignored sub-mind flashed a warning, pulsing insistently to get Serengeti’s attention. She dismissed it, pushing the sub-mind to the background while she sent Henricksen’s battle plan to Brutus , using a private channel in the hopes he’d hear her out.
Brutus deleted the message without even opening it. Deleted it and kept going, as if nothing had changed. As if the second fleet of ships behind them didn’t exist, and Seychelles hadn’t exploded before their eyes.
Bastard. Seychelles is dead because of you. You’re so full of pride you won’t even listen to reason.
Serengeti opened a channel, hesitated, thinking through the ramifications of what she’d be doing, and belatedly shut it back down. “Acknowledged. Holding position,” she sent, and then flashed an apology to Henricksen.
Henricksen glanced at the message and shrugged. He’d seen enough battles to know the score—knew when to question authority and when to fall into line. “Remind me when this is over to have a word with Brutus’ captain,” he said, glancing upward
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